Beetlejuice at the Saenger Theatre through November 17
It’s showtime at the Saenger Theatre through November 17 as the musical Beetlejuice has come to town. And for those looking for “a show about death”, as the opening number promises, and, perhaps more importantly in these challenging times, an evening of pure entertainment, walk, drive, fly or teletransport over to the box office on Canal Street to get tickets.
I had not seen the original 1988 Tim Burton film, but my companion, a huge Beetlejuice fan, assured me that the musical’s book replicated about 85% of the movie’s script with shifts more in tone or emphasis than any major plot points. (Hmmm…just checked Wikipedia and seems like the opening set-up has actually been substantially changed.)
And what a plot it is! There’s the wild, green-haired Beetlejuice himself who hopes to live in the mortal world and “be seen.” And Adam & Barbara Maitland, a straightlaced couple, whom Beetlejuice offs so someone will come live in their now-empty house who will say his name three times which will make him mortal. And Lydia Deetz with her Dad Charles; their mom/wife has recently passed and Lydia can’t get over that, while feeling that Dad is moving on too quickly. Lydia, by the way, is an uber-Goth gal with few friends but kewl powers that allow her to see and communicate with the departed Maitlands.
There’s more, much more, and if you think too hard about it, it would probably make no sense at all, but, while watching it, it’s oodles of fun. I especially enjoyed the opening when, after Mrs. Deetz’s funeral, Lydia started singing a mopey ballad; I thought “Ugh” but then Beetlejuice jumped in with “Holy crap! A ballad already!” and launched into the real opening “The Whole ‘Being Dead’ Thing” that’s full of knowing meta humor.
Justin Collette and the cast of Beetlejuice (photo by Matthew Murphy)
Director Alex Timbers does an outstanding job of keeping things moving and Act One, especially, flies by (in retrospect, the whole production could’ve been a little tighter/shorter but nothing’s a real deal killer); sure it’s wacky and wild, but I’ll take that over such other recent Saenger musicals-based-on-movies as Tootsie or Mrs. Doubtfire that just kinda plodded along.
If composer Eddie Perfect’s lyrics are perfectly witty, his tunes, as in so many other musicals these days, are not terribly memorable, though “Creepy Old Guy” almost manages to rise above forgettability. Still, unlike most other musicals, the songs’ buoyancy propels the show and keeps the audience entertained; even Lydia’s eventual two ballads, while not earthshaking, give you a chance to catch your breath from the zaniness that surrounds them.
Scott Brown & Anthony King’s book is well-done and full of subversive humor. I just wish we had gotten a better sense of the late Mrs. Deetz so we would care more about Lydia’s plight of desperately missing her; as it is, her pain feels rather generic.
The cast all give topnotch performances. Justin Collette brings a manic, almost piggy energy to Beetlejuice; if he’s the kid who’ll do (almost) anything for attention, you don’t mind him (too much) cause he’s immensely amusing. Madison Mosley, a recent college graduate, sings with a clarion tone and makes Lydia droll, determined and dewy.
Megan McGinnis and Will Burton have fun as the Maitlands shed their repressions; Burton’s an especially sexy nerd. Jesse Sharp convinces as Mr. Deetz wheels’n’deals, and, ultimately, shows a tender side. Sarah Litzinger as Delia, whom Charles has hired to be Lydia’s life coach (she’s also his paramour), strikes the right note of weirdness in a New Age-y way without going completely overboard, a wise choice.
Beetlejuice had an odd history on Broadway, becoming such a cult favorite that, when theaters reopened post-pandemic, it returned after what was expected to be its final curtain. Now I can understand why.
[For tickets go to https://www.saengernola.com/events/beetlejuice/ Next at the Saenger is the holiday-themed Elf The Musical (Dec. 3-8) (https://www.saengernola.com/events/elf/) followed by the bio jukebox musical The Cher Show (Dec. 17-22) (https://www.saengernola.com/events/the-cher-show/) whose subject, like Beetlejuice, is seemingly immortal.]
Open Up the Kingdom Mama at the New Marigny Theatre through November 16
Anita Vatshell’s new play, Open Up the Kingdom Mama, couldn’t be more timely. In it, a woman experiences an unintended pregnancy and we see how it affects her–physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually, existentially, etc. It ain’t easy…or pretty.
This is, in part, due to the new draconian laws that regulate women’s bodies that have swept over much of the country in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. Hospitals seem to care more about procedures than patients. Abortions can only be attained legally in states far away from where many women live. Embryos have been given “personhood” and women face terrible consequences if anything should happen to them in their own bodies.
The results of such laws can be harrowing for women. At the recent Planned Parenthood gala here, two women described their tortuous experiences when complications arose during their pregnancies. It is truly a miracle that they survived. Just before writing this, I saw a segment on the PBS Newshour, that said that over 2,000 women have been investigated in the past few years because of such laws; often this results in mothers being separated from their newborn babies, a much worse situation than allowing a baby to stay with a mother who, to give just one example, used marijuana during her pregnancy to ease her tension and anxiety.
In Kingdom, we see Nina, the newly pregnant woman, dealing with friends, family, representatives of Catholic-run medical institutions, and Derek, the father of her unborn child, a decent younger man with whom she had had merely a casual sexual relationship. All good.
What I had trouble with is that Vatshell, who also directed, makes clear that Nina is a 56-year-old postmenopausal woman who had had a tubal ligation many years ago. So how could she get pregnant? The only explanation seems to be a “hex” possible put on her by Derek’s estranged wife. I don’t buy it.
And neither do the characters who say things like “This is fucking absurd” and “I think a supernatural something is at work here” and refer to it as this “hex nonsense”. Yet none of them, including Nina, seem to want to get an explanation for what really has happened. Instead, Nina goes to a local Botanica where she gets candles and bath salts and other items to try to undo the hex. Given that all the characters seem to be sensible people otherwise, none of this makes any sense.
With this in mind, something about Open Up the Kingdom Mama was annoying me and a few days after seeing the production, it hit me. Since Nina has had that tubal ligation and last had a period “15 years ago”–as she says “I’m too old to get pregnant”–such a pregnancy would be nothing short of a miracle. In all likelihood, she’d wind up in the news as, perhaps, a newly crowned symbol of the right and the left. As a media sensation, all eyes would be on how she handles her pregnancy and whether she would get special treatment…or not. The play could thus be an impactful social satire while still underscoring the potential tragedy that anyone who gets pregnant these days can face.
Another option might have been to lean into the spirit & supernatural world and explore this situation through a lens of magical realism, a possibility the show’s New Orleans locale might be well-suited for.
So while I certainly don’t want to tell a playwright what kind of play she should write, it just seems like this is a missed opportunity for what could’ve been an even keener exploration of the topic at hand.
As Nina, Jen Pagan gives yet another accomplished performance, detailing the many emotional stages (or as many as the script allows) that such a woman would undergo. She’s strong and sensual, but also scared and unsure of herself and what best to do; all these phases Pagan captures.
Jen Pagan and Samantha Beaulieu in Open Up the Kingdom Mama
With delicate nuance, Samantha Beaulieu portrays Nina’s neighbor and friend Jules, a lesbian who’s strong and understanding, but frustrated and disappointed that Nina doesn’t return the romantic feelings she has for her. It’s a pleasure seeing Beaulieu and Pagan back on stage after too long an absence. The rest of the cast does well in roles that mostly serve to move the plot along.
Vatshell has some vitally important things to say and I suspect they’ll need to be said again and again over the next four years, if not beyond then. I just hope her next play won’t stretch the boundaries of believability even if, more and more, our current headlines do.
[For more information and tickets, go to https://newmarignytheatre.com/event/open-up-the-kingdom-mama-nov-7-16th/]
