Beetlejuice ⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Beetlejuice centres on Lydia Deetz, who is obsessed with death and the supernatural, which naturally comes in handy when she realises that her new home came with two friendly, recently deceased ghosts and one frantic, unseemly demon. After Adam and Barbara Maitland die and remain unsuccessful at scaring away the living from their old home, Beetlejuice finds himself in the middle of the spectacle with a plan that guarantees to fix everything"

Alex Timbers' direction was nice, and I really enjoyed it. A lot happens in Beetlejuice, but the production keeps everything moving while letting the comedy and bigger theatrical moments land. Connor Gallagher's choreography was lovely, playful, and fun. There is a real sense of joy to the movement, particularly during the larger numbers, and it fits the wonderfully disorderly world of Beetlejuice perfectly.

David Korins's set was good. I particularly liked the new addition of the front curtain raising on both sides for Delia and Charles' room, which gives that space a nice theatrical reveal. I also really liked the Sandworm around the parts of the theatre's architecture, a clever way to use the venue itself in the production. William Ivey Long's costumes were strong and continue to capture the strange, unusual world of Beetlejuice. The designs have plenty of personality, and the characters all feel visually distinct.

Kenneth Posner's lighting is largely untouched, but I liked the bulbs around the circles and the fun exit lighting. These smaller details add a lot to the visual world without requiring a complete reinvention of the lighting design. Peter Hylenski's sound was nice and clear, with everything feeling well balanced throughout the performance.

Peter Nigrini's projections were okay. Some projections during transitions didn't look their best and at times seemed a little basic and boring. Overall, though, they worked well enough and didn't take away from the production. The book by Scott Brown and Anthony King was one of the areas where I really enjoyed the West End production making the show its own. I liked the additions of West End-specific jokes and extra theatre references, which gave the London audience lovely moments which felt customised to where we were watching.

The music and lyrics by Eddie Perfect are largely unchanged; however, this production's changes to the opening number were well done and worked extremely well. The score remains one of the strongest parts of Beetlejuice, with its mixture of comedy, heart and wonderfully weird musical numbers.

Kieran Mellish's Beetlejuice in this performance was really enjoyable. I particularly liked that he kept the growl which this character is known for, and his comedic timing was superb. He fully understood Beetlejuice's ridiculousness while still giving the character plenty of charm.

Daisy Harrison as Lydia had lovely vocals and a wonderful characterisation. I really enjoyed her performance and how she brought Lydia's emotional journey to life while still portraying the strange, unusual qualities that make her such an enjoyable character.

Summer Strallen as Delia was wonderful. She brought a new depth and comedy to the role that I hadn't seen before, and I particularly enjoyed her take on this wonderfully eccentric character.

However, a few things kept this production from reaching the five stars I gave the Broadway version when I saw it previously. The curtain coming down between transitions really started to annoy me, particularly because some of the best transitions were the ones where we got to watch the cast move the scenery and transform the stage in front of us. The Maitlands' death using the electricity effect was okay, but I didn't find it quite as impactful as the falling-through-the-floor effect from the Broadway production. That moment had such a brilliant theatrical surprise, and I missed some of that impact here. And the toaster lift just gave a little more energy to the production and have us a genuinly shocking start to act 2. At times, some of the cast didn't quite gel, and a few relationships didn't feel as convincing as they could have. In a show where so much relies on the chemistry between these characters, that did make a difference.

Ultimately, I enjoyed Beetlejuice. It is funny, energetic, wonderfully weird and still has an incredibly entertaining score. But for me, it sometimes felt like a production brought to London with a few corners cut. It has some lovely new additions, but it felt like, "We need to get this to London, but let's do it as cheaply as possible."

Beetlejuice is currently playing at the Prince Edward Theatre. The running time is about 2 hours 40 minutes, including an interval, and the production is booking through 2 January 2027. Book tickets for Beetlejuice here: