28The creators of the “Beetlejuice” musical‘tried to run toward Burton’ visually“It’s the first film where youreally see his visual imprint,”says director Alex Timbers,in Washington getting “Beetlejuice”on its feet followinghis premiere of the new $28million “Moulin Rouge”musical in Boston. “Do youtry to make your own thing,or run toward it? We sort ofdid a little of both. We’vetried to make the story itselfas theatrical and emotional aspossible. But, visually, we’vetried to run toward Burton.”We’re both fans of Tim Burton,”set designer David Korinssays of the visionarywhose goth-comic range has extendedfrom “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” and thefirst two “Batman” movies to “EdwardScissorhands” and the movie “SweeneyTodd.” “We wanted right away to say,‘We get it, we know it, we love it, too’— but also to make our own take on it.”Timbers has been chewing for eightyears on the challenge of making amusical of “Beetlejuice,” which starredMichael Keaton as a mischievous spooktrying to help a recently deceased smalltowncouple (Alec Baldwin and GeenaDavis) scare away gauche new tenantsfrom New York (Catherine O’Hara andJeffrey Jones, with a dewy Winona Ryderas a teen so gloomy she can see theghosts). The musical is finally onstageat the National Theatre, in previews andwith its official opening Nov. 4. Broadwayperformances are scheduled to beginin the spring at the Winter Garden.It’s a lavish proposition, reportedly a$21 million musical and a technologicalproduct that Timbers and Korins, explainingon the stage and then talkingin a lobby upstairs about the project, saycould not have been made five or 10 yearsago. The bar is always rising for spectacleon Broadway, most recently with themagic of “Harry Potter and the CursedChild” (still running) and the elaboratecartoon vision of the underwater kids’adventure “SpongeBob SquarePants”(closed in September). The ingredients“Beetlejuice” uses to whip up its eye candyinclude projections, puppets, illusionsand special effects.Yet, Timbers and Korins say, the showwill cling to the “do-it-yourself ” aestheticof Burton’s movie, which featuredstop-motion effects that, along with itsdeadpan wit, made the picture such acharmer. Their new technology mainlyinvolves projections and lighting effects,not the physical structure, and not eventhe magic.“A lot of it is illusions you would haveseen in the vaudeville days — very simple,practical effects,” Timbers says of theshow. “Jankiness” is the slangy, grungyword he uses to evoke the lowdown vibe.There are three versions of the set’shaunted-house centerpiece — the simpleoriginal, the tasteless version overdecoratedby the second couple and, ultimately,the version controlled by the demonicBeetlejuice. Yet the house is not somethingthat flies onstage from multiple directionsand assembles and reassemblesbefore your eyes. Instead, it’s a singlestructure (redone three times) that rollsdownstage on a wagon. “It’s kind of oldschoolin that way,” Timbers says.“Very old-school,” echoes Korins,whose Broadway credits include the RevolutionaryWar-era “Hamilton” and thehigh-tech social-media-themed “DearEvan Hansen.”The house is also a canvas that Korinsloads with tributes — “Easter eggs”paying homage not just to “Beetlejuice,”but to Burton’s body of work. He pointsto several elements of the house as possessedby Beetlejuice: The wallpaper, forinstance, is black and flaking, dipped insealants to give it a tar-like texture. Ablack chandelier has a vague batlike shape— an appropriate nod to the directorof two “Batman” movies, but derivedfrom a small carousel in the “Beetlejuice”film that briefly spins on the head of thegauche couple’s designer friend, Otho.Korins says he also picked up the shapesfrom the bow tie of Jack Skellington, theskeletal character from the 1992 animatedfilm “The Nightmare Before Christmas,”which Burton wrote and producedThe giant sandworm lurking in thenetherworld around the house is embeddedin the set’s walls — not the only timeit’s seen in the show. “It’s a constant threatand pushing through the wall, breakingthrough,” Korins says. “It’s essentially likea boa constrictor. Beetlejuice has takencontrol of the house. He’s thinking aboutsqueezing the life out of it.”He points to a smaller detail, a lightingsconce that’s a menacing open jaw. “It’smodeled after the sandworm’s mouth,with little teeth,” Korins says.Burton’s animated style is reflected inhand-drawn charcoal lines around theceiling’s molding and in the white fabricof a couch that contains a hidden trampoline.(Korins won’t say why.) Thereare some direct appropriations, such asthe monstrous, nine-tendrilled sculpturefashioned by Delia, the artsy half ofthe New York couple. “When this thingcomes on stage, it actually gets entranceapplause,” Korins says, the morning afterthe show’s third public performance.Timbers gets philosophical as he talksabout how rare it is for comedies to getwhat he calls “a ‘world creation’ treatment,”while noting that the show isnot the kind of “immersive” experiencethat wraps itself around audiences. Korinssays the do-it-yourself approach“holds true with the gags we pull off,and with the tricks. Everything is sortof hand-done.”“I know it seems like a lot of spectacle,”Timbers says. “But there’s the versionwe’ve chosen not to do, which is threetimes as big.’’by Nelson PressleyTheater criticCAESAR 07/2020
29Kerry Butlerin the countryversion ofthe Maitlandhome, withits flowerywallpaper.Things getsleekerwhen theDeetz familymoves in.It allreaches itsclimax whenBeetlejuicehaunts thehouse.Photos: Krista Schlueter
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