EDIT: Thank you so much to everyone who shared their stories about what Beetlejuice means to them. I don't think we every truly recognize the power art plays in people's personal lives and this comment section is a good reminder of that. The two recipients of the notebooks have been chosen, but don't let that stop you from sharing your stories. Check out the Beetlejuice RIP Online scrapbook! www.witwnow.com/deadshow
I’m an usher for the Marquis and I can personally vouch for how special this experience was. Trying to seat everybody was very overwhelming to say the least, but the entire show very much like a rock concert. The energy of that crowd was unbelievable the whole time and I did in fact weep several times. In the time I’ve been there I’ve grown very attached to this show like a lot of people and I too am going to miss this show very much.
@@chiaisannoying It started with a dance audition that was very comedy heavy then a vocal audition. Same as many shows but the creative team is very smart and kind and took great care in who they brought into the family. :)
@@BevirakuI kept saying from the first re-opening they should do a proshot because it will likely end up closed again. Glad it was not unexpected but I fully expected it (despite really liking the show). I just kept hoping they’d film it to preserve as it’s a really good musical. But after it suddenly closing for Music Man I had no faith in it staying open indefinitely.
Wish more musicals made pro shots, expcially those that might never be played again. It would also make more musicals available to more people that can’t go to broadway.
I love any show that proves the audience has any power. They came back because of audience demand and online love, not just audiences in NY but around the country and world. I hope they continue to expand and more people get to see it
my father passed away when i was 14, two years before beetlejuice opened. when i finally got to see the show live, i cried basically the entire time, that was my grief on display, and i’d never seen it so accurately portrayed before in a show. i’ve seen it three times now in total and wish i could’ve seen it a 4th, the show honestly changed my life and showed me that i can make a family with those around me, no matter how dysfunctional it may be🖤
All of the creativity in the fans just proves how easily this industry could expand in new directions with new artists if things were just more accessible! Young people don't dislike musicals, the genre isn't dying, it's being choked by billionaires like all the other art forms
That's my friend and I in the background right side at 15:57 ! I'm Beetlejuice and my friend is Lydia! The show means so much to us and it was such an incredible night and we'll both miss it so much!
I performed The Whole Being Dead Thing for one of my wrestling entrances and it was kind of the first real time my entrances came together where the whole crowd was into it, they understood my gimmick, and people were taking videos on their phones to share to their snapchat and stuff. Because of that Beetlejuice will always hold a special place in my heart, I was really sad to see it close because it feels like that performance is less current.
Aaaah, can't believe I got included in the video like this! Thank you so much for chatting with me, it feels very appropriate I got to meet you there, given it was your video that introduced me to the show 💜 I don't know if I have words for what the show means to me, it's a piece of levity in life when everything feels too much. It has re-inspired me creatively in so many ways and, funnily enough for a show about death, resurrected my passion for so much of life. I owe the show, everyone who worked on it, and you for your wonderful video, so much for where I'm at now.
Absolutely Sunny! How couldn’t I feature you! Hope you enjoyed the show and the rest of your NYC trip! If you’re ever up for hanging out with us on the Patreon, I’d love to have you!
Beetlejuice means so much to not only me but the whole theatre community. Not only is it a fantastic, entertaining show, but the message and themes also carry a lot of weight. The best part is that it got so many people into theatre through social media. This show expanded the Broadway community exponentially and is truly beautiful. Just hearing the audience's reactions even before they've seen the show is nothing short of awe-inspiring. This show will absolutely go down as a beloved classic, but what truly made this show was the love surrounding it, both from the audience and the cast. I will always cherish this musical and I can't wait to see how it evolves and continues to be loved by all.
I’m in the UK and am so sad that I never got to see this amazing show. I sincerely hope that a version is released for DVD or streaming (or even a pirate, which seems kind of appropriate for its punk tone!). Beetlejuice will be sorely missed.
Beetlejuice really reignited my love of musicals, when Spotify threw it at me I don't think they knew what a blessing it was to hear. I love every song on that cast album and I'm sad I never got to see it in person, but I'm hoping if their tour goes well they'll do a quick run in the UK or Europe. Thanks so much for sharing the final night with us!
I was supposed to see Beetlejuice at the winter garden exactly one week after it closed. Sadly I was never able to make it back for its re-opening post covid. I did see the tour and the new cast still does it justice. I'm still disappointed I never got to see Alex Brightman in the role.
Beetlejuice just clicked with me straight away in a way not barely any show does. I only saw it recently, me and my mum flew over to New York from England in December. She me if there were any shows I wanted to see, which did not take long to answer. About a year ago we lost my mums cousin, who we were quite close to. That was the first family death I had ever experienced and I took it hard. Beetlejuice helped me put a lot of things into perspective and deal with that loss in a way no other media had, and I’m incredibly grateful for the show and the community who helped me as well. Also Alex Brightman is just an absolute delight. If anyone is missing Alex’s performing I recommend the show Dead End: Paranormal Park, he voices a dog called pugsley and it’s wonderful.
I saw it the night before it closed. It was absolutely amazing. I can also say that it was just as packed the last night. Beetlejuice has been an insane part of my life. It was such a great experience and I’m so sad that it closed. Im so incredibly happy that so many people love this show. Cheers to everyone involved with this show.
Beetlejuice really helped me deal with the lingering grief of the loss of my grandmother. It was also the show that finally made me go to NYC, after being a life long theatre kid. Seeing the show over the summer was such an amazing experience. Easily one of the best I've ever had. I'm so sad that the Broadway production has closed but I'm glad they got a proper send off.
I'm not sure how I thought I was getting out of this without crying again but I was wrong because I'm sobbing lol. Tl;Dr Beetlejuice sat parallel with the biggest changes in my life and showed me a modern map of hope and unity. Beetlejuice started it's Broadway run just before I was set to go to school for an acting degree. When I saw trailers for it, I was surprised how much it appealed to me, since the character of Beetlejuice was my least favourite part of the film. When they released the official cast recording, I listened to it on loop and I wouldve used "Invisible" for my first vocal lesson had there been a clean audio version available at the time. I arrived at school as an international student and Beetlejuice reminded me that being a little offbeat didn't have to be a bad thing. I watched it's popularity grow and dreamt of seeing it live. Then the announcement of it's closing came out and the pandemic hit as my personal life took a turn for the worst. By the end of the year I'd learn I have a chronic illness and complications would leave me without feeling from my knees down after many surgeries. I got out of the hospital after nearly 3 months, clinging to Amy hope I could find. Beetlejuice became a true celebration of life while also being less of a reminder that my dreams of being an actor were likely dead. Slowly I regained feeling in my left leg. Not perfect, but I no longer needed a brace on that side. My parents started hoping and setting the goal of going to New York if I was healthy enough because, just like me, Beetlejuice had returned against all odds. I held that as a fantasy in my heart and followed as many of the cast's other projects that I could. Then the closing and tour announcement came out. I hadn't been fast enough at healing and I'd never see the og cast live. Like most people, I cried at the announcement but there was a satisfaction that they were going out on their own terms, not being shut down due to ticket sales or contract loopholes. They got a tour that will likely come up to me even though the cast will be different. Life goes on even if it isn't what you hoped for originally. For me, Beetlejuice is a story of hope, resilience, and passion. The singularly biggest changes of my life happened alongside this show. I will always regret not seeing it in person but always be grateful for the hope it's modelled for me
It’s so sad to see Beetlejuice go. It’s so amazing that one show brings so many people of all ages together. I remember seeing Beetlejuice back in September and it was such an amazing out of this world experience! The vibe of the room was incredibly upbeat and I had dressed up with a dozen of my friends. Listening to the Beetlejuice soundtrack still makes the worst days so much better.
I was there (re)opening and closing night, I don’t need the notebook, however this show was absolutely amazing. Even Alex was crying at the end. Beetlejuice is a perfect display of what a good broadway show is, the cast is nice, the staff are nice and clearly overworked, and the fans are fucking insane (affectionately.)
I didn't discover beetlejuice until its reopening in april and i have done theatre my whole life but i never thought it could be career but seeing all the behind the scenes of beetlejuice and seeing it in person really made me realize how much i love being apart of that stuff back stage and beetlejuice and the people in the cast made me realize i want to do theater as a career. RIP beetlejuice you will be missed.
Same I didn't discover beetlejuice the musical until I went to see it in December when I went to New York for my dad's business trip. i'm obsessed with it and hate to see it go :( I only knew one song from it: Say my name. But I didn't get to see the behind the scenes
This show was so special. I saw it for the first time back in august 2019 and immediately fell in love. My mom and I saw it on a whim and Alex came to stage door and we told him straight to his face we thought he was a genius. I’ll never forget seeing Presley Ryan in the role of Lydia, I didn’t realize JUST how special that was at the time! I got the privilege of seeing it again with my significant other when it returned which i never believed would get to happen and to sit next to him and see him be taken in by the cast and music I’d come to know and love was everything to me. I always believed in my heart it would come back (from the dead) and the fact that it did is such a beautiful, hilarious, perfect pun for Beetlejuice the musical. This show will live in my head rent free forever. 💚🖤
What does Beetlejuice mean to me? As you can see my profile picture is me as the Broadway version of beetlejuice. Not only do I love the movie but when the show first came out I instantly played it in the car. I practically know all the songs by heart. I’ve been doing theater almost my whole life, but the first time I went to Broadway and saw the outside of the Wintergarden and it was life changing seeing the life that can be created with environment and community and honestly helped me want to do even more theatre when I almost quit.
This show is so very important to me. I can’t describe how deeply this reinvented the possibilities of performance to me. This show just, so desperately, wants and needs to make people happy. To make them celebrate their lives and embrace what it means to choose life everyday. Making the invisible feel seen. Rest in peace to a show about death.
I don't think I could even describe in words what Beetlejuice means to me. A movie that means so much to me and my dad turned into a musical that somehow means even more. I feel so blessed to have seen it multiple times and ESPECIALLY to have been there for the closing. (Spy me in the white turtleneck, black tank, striped pants) ❤ Thank you for documenting a day that meant everything to so many of us.
TW: discussions of death, terminal illness, depression and other mental health based things-When I first listened to this show back in 2019, I was in a depressive funk after my grandma passed away and from the first time I heard the music, something just clicked. This show made me laugh when I thought I couldn’t anymore, it made me cry because I felt seen in a way I hadn’t felt before. In early 2020 my mom would be diagnosed with Cancer and with all the surgeries and chemotherapy, for a long time the Netherworld felt like my only home. The only place that felt safe and made me happy. It was through this time I began to take up digital art and start drawing fanart for the show before my mom would end up passing away from said cancer later that year. I felt completely invisible after that, I related hard to the character of Lydia and she became a huge comfort for me. So much of a comfort I would start cosplaying her in early 2022! Without Beetlejuice I wouldn’t have started digital art or cosplaying! I finally saw the show on April 8th 2022, and to this day that was one of the most magical nights of my life. Finally meeting people who cared about this show as much as I did and getting to celebrate this resurrection with them. I saw the show again with my dad later in the year, and we just sat there and laughed and laughed but I’ll never forget sitting through “Home” and crying with my father. Because in that moment we both felt seen, and we both felt solace for what felt like one of the first times since mom had passed… So what’s the point of saying all this? The reason I’m who I am today, the reason you all know who I am today, is because of this show and as much as I’m going to miss it, it’ll always be in my heart. But anyways I’ve a big fan of the channel since the Spider Man video! And it’s so cool to think that we were both at the show’s opening night too!
Thank you so much for being so vulnerable and sharing this story with us. The pain that you've turned into strength and resilience is so inspiring. I'd love to send you the notebook! Email me at waitinthewingsofficial@gmail.com and we can get that all set up.
I wasn’t able to see the last show because it was unfortunately on the same day as the start of my semester. But I cannot begin to describe just how much Beetlejuice means to me: I got into it only a few weeks before it closed, but I was immediately in love with everything about it. Seeing it was one of the most electric experiences of my life, from the music to the passion of the cast. I’ve now entered a musical phase because of it, and I will NEVER lose my love for this show. Thank you so much Beetlejuice ❤
This show has meant so much to me and I honestly have you to thank for that. I loved the movie as a kid and saw it in the theater more than any movie in my life. I think 5 times total. I also used to love the cartoon. Beetlejuice meant a lot to me as a child and actually had a major impact on who I am today and my ability to celebrate being strange and unusual. I had heard a bit about the musical and had seen some TikTok’s featuring songs but was a bit cynical about if I’d like it or if it would disappoint and dampen something that had had such an impact on me as a kid. Your video on Beetlejuice is what made me want to not only give it a chance, but see and hear more of it. I listened to the cast recording and it quickly became my most played album. It was basically on repeat as the background soundtrack as I made the jump to create a brick & mortar business this past year. I finally made plans to visit New York and see it this past November. When I booked the tickets several months prior I had no idea what would await me just a few weeks before seeing the show. . On October 30th my mother passed away. It was devastating and heart wrenching. She had been suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia for a few years prior, but her decline was unexpected and she passed very quickly. I won’t get into all of the details of how amazing of a woman she was. But it was her that would keep bringing me back to the theater to see Beetlejuice the movie over and over again. When we went to the Broadway show we were sat front row. That evening was honestly a beacon of light and night of true joy. Such a balm after so much of the grief of the past couple of years and the passing of my mother. It was truly an emotional rollercoaster of an evening for me in the best and most cathartic of ways. Even if I did breakdown crying during the performance of Home. It was a healing experience. Beetlejuice is indeed a show about death but also a celebration of life. This show has helped me to celebrate life, to grieve death, and smile and laugh with joy even during dark times I am so thankful for it. And for you. Because without you I don’t think I’d have had the relationship with this show that I do, and the blessings and memories that have come along with that. So thank you for that. It truly means more than I can express. And keep up the excellent work.
This show helped me so much during COVID. I learned of it after the broadway shut down and I poured into it and fell in love. I had planned a trip for Dec 2021 to NYC that got cancelled due to job changes but then the reopening news hit and I changed my plans to go for my birthday, 3 weeks after reopening night. I flew from Orlando to NYC on my birthday and spent the day in the city exploring and I stopped at the Marquis to get a physical ticket. I fell in love with the show all over again and ended up seeing it a 2nd night in a row because of Leslie being out. This show has become part of who I am and it led me to send in an audition for the tour (never heard anything but no one can say I didn't do it) and it led me to get my first of now 3 planned Beetlejuice tattoos as a Friday the 13th tat. I'm planning my next to be done before the tour gets here and in October I'm going to NYC again and I plan on getting the streets of NYC added to it, my planned Beetle logo placed where the Marquis is. This show has become part of who I am and I'm going to miss it. Dead Mom is always going to hurt more than ever but it'll be the wonderful hurt that reminds me of the great times
Honestly, Beetlejuice means an INFINITE amount to me. I live in Australia too (much like Sunny, who I actually got to buy merch for me) and having not been able to see the show was super hard. I’m collecting all the playbills from each month and BJ was part of the reason I wanted to get into Musical Theatre in the first place. I’m sad that the show has now closed, but can’t wait until rights get released so I can be reunited with my dearly departed once again!
That show is what made me find your channel. I've always liked musicals but it's only been like 3 years since I've really got into Broadway and channels like yours and Howard Ho have really helped me learn about Broadway. I really wish I could have seen it but it was never in the cards. Stay awesome.
Beetlejuice as an IP has been a favorite since childhood and something I was able to share with my stepdaughter - and it being on Broadway meant I got to take her to her first ever Broadway/big theater show for something she was genuinely excited for.
I actually did the exact same thing in October - I went from Sydney, AU to New York (over 24h thanks to a delayed second flight) because I couldn't fathom not seeing my favorite musical while it was on Broadway. I feel like Beetlejuice is a modern day Rocky Horror. It had humble beginnings, but it found a crowd of out-there people who could not only embrace it but embrace and be themselves for it, and in turn the show is what it is today thanks to that symbiotic relationship.
Hey im in the red suade suit at 2:28! I just wanted to say, you perfectly encapsulated what we all were feeling. Probably the best Broadway performance I have ever seen. The audience only made it so much better!
Beetlejuice was my first time back in a theatre since the pandemic. I knew I missed theater, but seeing this show filled a hole I didn't even know was there. This show is the perfect mix of comedy, spectacle, and heart. Seeing Beetlejuice was pure joy.
To me, Beetlejuice means friendship. I currently live abroad, and have been away from my best best best friend for the last three years. Prior to the height of COVID19 beginning, I flew with my friend to New York and we saw Beetlejuice live, after months of her wishing and wanting to see the show. That was our first international trip together, and the last trip either of us were able to take before COVID struck and Lockdowns began. When I think of Beetlejuice I think of her and the incredible adventure I was so fortunate to have with her, and everyday that I listen to the soundtrack I think of her. If I were lucky enough to be chosen, I wiuld gift her that closing night souvenir as a way of showing her that even miles apart I still think of her and miss her often.
To me, beetlejuice means my first Broadway show. I was so excited and laughed the whole time. My parents took me to nyc for my thirteen birthday and it was for a lack of words… amazing.
As the 'Older Beetlejuice Fan' in this video, I thank you for giving it such a great sendoff. Those of us in the center of the picture met that night and have forged a great Broadway friendship. While we enjoy every show, we realize there will never be another Beetlejuice. No other closing night (or opening) will ever match the energy in that theater.
I remember the first time I was introduced to Beetlejuice the Musical . It was when I watched the 2019 Tony awards. Truely in those few minutes, seeing Alex Brightman preforming with the ensemble was such an enamoring experience. At the time I had secretly dreamed of becoming a Broadway actor but was afraid that my ambition would be dismissed. After watching that performance, I became obsessed with the show. I learned all the songs and routinely sang the cast recording in my kitchen, that being the first time I started to sing in front of people. I begged my parents to buy tickets to see the show and eventually was able the opportunity to see the original cast. I remember so vividly after seeing it, I had just gotten home from the trip from New York and sat down in front of both of my parents. I then told them of my dream of being on Broadway and how I wanted others to feel as impacted by my acting as I was with the cast of Beetlejuice the musical. It was because of that show that I had the courage to tell my parents how intensely I wanted to become a actor. I am now a sophomore in high school and was just casted as the lead in my school's musical production. Thank you for that musical for everything. I will greatly miss it. (sorry that this is long)
I first looked down on the concept of making a musical out of Beetlejuice with derision. Then my wife watched a TikTok to Say My Name, and I looked up the song, fell in love with it and proceeded to become one of the top .05% of listeners for the album on Spotify in 2022. I got obsessed enough to fly all the way from Missouri to New York with basically no preparation in October. I watched the movie as a kid and now I love this version as much of not more.
Oh man, I'm glad you got to go to closing. Beetlejuice the musical to me has rekindled my love for the franchise. I saw the original film when I was way too young (5 or 6, right after it came out on VHS) but I loved the cartoon. This musical has been such a refreshing update and mix of those with such wonderful music. It's my new Hamilton, in that I will be listening to this album for a year straight.
I remember seeing Beetlejuice opening night on previews in DC. It was incredible...and I lowkey kind of teared up at the end of this video. This musical has done so much for the Broadway community and changed so many people's lives, it's hard to not have this show affect you even a little bit
I discovered Beetlejuice in January of 2020, not long after the 10 year anniversary of my mom passing when I was 18. I then lost my uncle's mother in February, my last grandfather in March, my last grandmother in April, a dog I'd had for 8 years in May, and then a bearded dragon in June. I experienced so much death in 2020 and the best way I found to cope was listening to this soundtrack and just laughing. I also identified with the Maitlands because my wife and I had been trying to have a baby for 3 years and we finally did, but we didn't know we were expecting until after all my loved ones passed. This show was an outlet of my emotion when I could just sing along and let it all out. Sorry for the book, but this show is special to me (and it's the reason I became a season ticket member and I'm seeing it in Cleveland on Saturday!)
Eddie, I am so sorry for all the loss you've experienced. It's so powerful how much the show's meant to you and the solace you've found in it. I'd love to send you one of the notebooks! My email is waitinthewingsofficial@gmail.com. Shoot me a message and I can get it sent your way. I hope you enjoyed seeing the show in person! Much Love, Brendon.
Beetlejuice was the last Broadway show I saw before the pandemic. I got to see it with most of the original cast, and I can say that it's maybe my favorite Broadway show I've ever seen. My parents had no expectations for it but by intermission they were blown away by it. My sister and I were both very excited to see it, in fact we saw it three years ago today. My favorite part about it, is the power that the internet has. We all loved a show so much that we brought it back to a different theater and had it perform for almost 9 months. There's just so much love for the show with fan art, covers, reviews, and so many videos just talking about it that it's just amazing to see how much love a show can have
Beetlejuice was truly an amazing show and I appreciate you documenting its final night. I saw the show in May of 2022 as a birthday gift from my girlfriend and I couldn't have asked for a better gift. Its my favorite show I've ever seen on Broadway and it will always hold a special place in my heart.
It’s thanks to your videos that I decided to see Beetlejuice and my family fell in love with the show. My husband met you in the merch line at closing night. This show will always hold a special place in my heart.
Beetlejuice was such a great part of my life. I met my wife in 2010 with one of our first dates being to Universal Studios where we saw Beetlejuices Graveyard revue. We got married in 2019, and planned our honeymoon around seeing Beetlejuice on broadway for our first anniversary on May 26th 2020. We never got to see that showing due to the Covid Shutdown and subsequent closing of Beetlejuice. We were ecstatic when it reopened and finally saw it on our 3rd anniversary, May 26th, 2022, and I'm happy to say it was my first Broadway Show, on Broadway. I'm hoping to catch it on tour as well with my wife in tow and sharing our love for the show with friends and family.
This video had me tearing up several times. One of my high school students introduced me to the soundtrack about a week before lockdown in March 2020, and I fell in love with it immediately. I'd grown up on the movie and the cartoon, and just from the soundtrack, I could tell it had the right spirit and energy to be part of that universe, and it's surpassed those as my favorite iteration of the story over the last nearly 3 years. I listened to the soundtrack repeatedly on Spotify (much to the consternation of my wife, who really liked it, but can't listen to the same thing on repeat for hours, let alone days on end). I tried translating the lyrics to "Dead Mom" into Latin - the language I teach - and it was more challenging than I'd anticipated (never did get it quite right). When we found out the show was reopening, I was over the moon excited for it. Getting kicked from the Winter Garden didn't seem fair to it at all, even if that's how the business works. My wife surprised me for my birthday in late 2021 with tickets to see it in April 2022, a week after opening night. I broke down crying and couldn't stop smiling. We had no hotel booked, no transportation figured out, but we were going to see the show on Good Friday (she had my school calendar up when she booked tickets to make sure we could swing it without needing leave). We ended up taking the train to NYC from northern VA, and staying in a hotel at the end of the block the Marquis was on, which was very convenient. The Marriott was a bit too pricey for us, so it was a good alternative. And getting to see it live.... The line into the show was amazing. The wall of art was amazing. Overwhelming in the best possible way. We had seats in the very last row, up top to the right, and we could see and hear everything so well. I was pulled into the show from the opening, and know I cried at least once, cheered and clapped and stood for ovations more times than I can remember, and when it was over, I begged to try and get tickets to the following night's performance. Alas, my wife said no, and I get why, because prices, but the experience was something that was so magical and touching for me that I was ready to whip out a credit card for another show. I bought a little merch - souvenir program and the juice box t-shirt, but mostly I was enjoying just being there, seeing everyone dressed up, cosplaying or wearing thematically appropriate clothing (I had on a gothy black dress, leggings and black sneakers myself), and joining the collective wave of love that existed for the show. In terms of personal experience with theatre, this is one of the three experiences that's moved me beyond my normal reactions and stuck with me long after we left the building. The first was seeing the Takarazuka Revue veterans perform Chicago at the Met in 2016, since I'm a longtime fan of the revue, and have a lot of their performances on DVD. Seeing actresses I've watched on DVD dozens of times in person was amazing enough, but the finale - a toned down version of the follies-esque finales the Revue does at the end of their shows in Japan - had me grinning, crying, and moved beyond anything. The people sitting next to us the first night said it looked like I was having a religious experience, and I'm pretty sure I was. The second was seeing Sailor Moon Live in DC just before the pandemic lockdown, in February 2020. I got to meet up with friends who were also fans of the Sailor Moon musicals, and meet one of the hosts of a podcast I listened to about Sailor Moon. Just like with Beetlejuice, so many people were in cosplay of some sort. And through the whole show, I was transfixed and pulled in, another experience close to what I'd had with the Takarazuka Chicago performance. And then during the finale, the cast performed THE song that had been a staple of the musicals from the first one in 1993 through 2006, when they went on a short hiatus, and hadn't been used in the musicals since they'd started up again in the 2010s. They played La Soldier, and my heart nearly stopped, and I cheered, cried, and sang along while standing, along with everyone else in the crowd who knew the original musicals. Overwhelming in the best way. Beetlejuice ranks third of my experiences, and is my only English-language musical in the top 3. I know there's a huge fandom for it, but I've tended to stay away from it as a whole, since I'm older. I'd gush with my students, once we were back in person. I'd cheer for them when they sang numbers during Karaoke Days in the anime club I sponsor. But I've noticed it's more of a younger person's fandom, for the most part. I'm in my 40s, and most fans seem to be teens through late 20s. I didn't want to get in their space. But at the Marquis that night, age was not a concern. We were all fans, and we all loved this adaptation of a quirky creepy movie from the 80s (that hasn't aged as well as we wish it had), and it held us all together in its grip and we didn't want it to let us go. While I'm sad it's closed on Broadway, that it's getting a national tour, and that the tour is coming through DC, makes me incredibly happy. I might get to see it again. It won't be the same, because nothing is the same twice (6 times seeing Phantom of the Opera on stage and it's a different experience every time), but it will be Beetlejuice, and as such, it will be amazing.
For my 40th birthday this past Oct, my friend and I planned a quick crazy trip to NYC. First time there for the both of us. Seeing a Broadway show has always been high on my bucket list and my friend gave me 5 choices of shows to see and I decided on Beetlejuice since we were going to be there around Halloween. Granted, I was completely unfamiliar with the musical up until that point. But that decision wound up being one of the greatest experiences I've ever had. The show was more than I could have asked for. I purchased the cast album which I still listen too constantly. I have fallen in love with this show. Knowing that I got to watch and experience this show right before it closed on Broadway is the highlight of my first trip to NYC. Who knows if I'll ever be back there, but this show will always now be extra special to me.
My kid is a huge Beetlejuice fan. In 2020, all of their friends made the trek to NYC to see the show. We had to wait until we had the money to do so. I had tickets for May 2020, and we all know what happened. They were devastated that the show was canceled. Then it was forced out of the Winter Garden, and this was another blow. They listened to the cast recording every day. As a mom, I felt heartbroken. Then, the announcement came in 2021 and our house erupted! I was not going to let this opportunity go by. I literary booked the tickets as I was going to a doctor's appointment inside a hospital. I got the tickets, and we listened to the cast recording every day home from school. We stayed and the Marquis and , they dressed as Beetlejuice and I as Delia. It was the best trip ever, and I had never seen my kid so happy. Beetlejuice brought us so much closer and I will never forget the awesome time we had.
I was not there but I can only IMAGINE the energy in the theater for beetlejuices re-opening and final closing. It makes me tear up because I can only imagine from what I’ve seen how overwhelmingly beautiful it was ❤
Beetlejuice has been one of my favorite musicals for years. I felt a connection to it when i was young, something intriguing and unusual to my young eyes. It was something i could connect with people on and it morphed me into a theater kid. This single musical was a domino for so much, i joined technical theater and made so many close friends i would have never met. I figured out what i actually wanted to do for a job, lighting design at a professional level. Finally, during October of 2022, me and a bunch of others went to NYC on a school trip to learn about real theater work. I saw Beetlejuice the musical in person, i saw this musical i cherished for years in person for the first time. And that's when it clicked, i was set to do this for life. The lighting had me amazed, the show captivated me, i got to see the story-line play out and it was beautiful. Afterwards we had a once in a lifetime talk back with the cast and crew, all hail andrew korber, and i learned that the actors are just so undeniably human and that the crew were just as nerdy and shy like us. It made me think my dream can come true because i saw how things would run at a Broadway level. That is something i will never forget. So thank you Beetlejuice (damn that was long sorry!!!)
Beetlejuice was the last show I got to see on my second trip to New York. It was the first time I had really left my home town since the start of the pandemic. It was maybe the most impactful broadway performance I have been lucky enough to experience. The energy in the room the friend I made that night. The chance to step out into a world that had been torn apart and I got to see real joy! I will never forget that moment. Finally getting to see it live.
Beetlejuice has been a part of my since I was 3 years old. It’s been my favorite movie ever since I could remember. The first time I saw Beetlejuice the musical was back in 2019 pre-Tony’s, this meant the world to me because I had been a purist of BJ for my entire life. I even went as far as to adapt my own BJ Musical ten years ago. The moment Alex Brightman started the show…I was moved. I felt safe and secure that we were in for a ride. What a ride that has been the last 4 years. Meeting Alex afterward I was in tears and he gave me a nice warm embrace and he truly understood that this meant the world to me and I care so deeply about the story of BJ, the message, and the point of living your life the best you can and making the best of what you’ve got because you may never seen it again…at least as a living my soul haha.
Last year my NYE resolution was to see more Broadway shows. I liked musicals in high school but as someone who was closeted for most of his life in Texas, I hid this passion and drifted away from it. Beetlejuice quickly became one of my partner and my favorite shows. The day we heard it would be closing at the Marquis, we bought our first tickets to the great white way. I saw 20 shows live this year spanning from national tours, regional theater, community theatre, west end and finally Broadway. At the beginning of the year, I never thought I’d take the trip to NYC. My first show on Broadway will always be Beetlejuice. Thank you for making me take that plunge. I’ll see you on the other side!
I flew from CA to NYC last summer with the sole purpose of seeing Beetlejuice with my husband. We saw a few broadway shows while there but Beetlejuice was the best by far! I listened to the soundtrack at home so much that my preteen daughter also fell in love with the show. We are so blessed to be living in a city where the Beetlejuice Tour will preform and my daughter is so excited to go. Im so glad i got to experience the broadway cast and i cant wait to see the tour!
Well… I didn’t expect to to cry at work this morning but thank you. I hope one day the tour comes to Canada and I can finally go and see this spectacular show.
This show has been an absolute light for me, and I am so upset that it has now closed. This show has made me feel every emotion, from laughter, to true happiness, to sadness and I really care for these characters. I have never cared for a show this much and I do hope the rights do eventually come out one day so I get the chance to perform this beautiful thing. This show means so much to me, and again I am so upset that it has now closed. Many people in the cast have been such an inspiration to me to be the best person I can be and really chase my dreams! This show has helped me overcome so many obstacles that the characters face, like how Lydia is always looking back in the past, and how Beetlejuice’s goal is to just be seen by people. I relate so much to the characters in the show and it has changed my life. It truly will be my favorite show forever!
Beetlejuice was my first ever Broadway show. I travelled from the UK and was only able to see one show. I chose Beetlejuice and do not regret it. It was one of the most magical experience and, as someone who is not great in crowds and the outside, I was welcomed by each staff member. It also connected more to my younger sister. We don't always see eye to eye but musical theatre was always a talking point. She got into Beetlejuice through Tiktok while I started following since it got first got into the Winter Garden. It was during Dead Mom she reached over and held my hand. Not sure if it was she saw I was tearing up but that moment. That moment now makes it tough to not cry even more. Thank you, thank you, thank you Beetlejuice.
Beetlejuice is the first and currently only musical ive seen on Broadway. I live in eastern europe and i got the incredible chance to go to new york in december of 2022, and i got to see Beetlejuice in the Marquis theater and it was just absolutely magical, indescribable, i have never experienced anything like it. God i really wish they could professionally record it so i could share the experience with my friends!! I loved the show and got a ton of merch too
I never got the chance to see this show. But watching your videos in it made me a fan of the show. Just from watching this video I got super emotional from hearing you and the fans of how much this show has changed your lives. Thank you for sharing this video.
I actually got my ticket for the closing night super spontaneously after I was at the evening show the day before and it was the best decision ever, it was a whole different experience and I’m so thankful that I got to be a part of that. I will cherish these memories forever. This show has changed my life so much, I mean, it introduced me to cosplay and cosplaying is now one of my biggest hobbies, and I met so many amazing people through cosplay, without Beetlejuice I don’t know if I even would’ve started cosplaying… Plus I finally met one of my online friends who I got to know because of Beetlejuice! Also I’m so excited to be included in this video, thank you so much for the interview! :) (Carina here)
Beetlejuice was/is such a wonderful way to process grief. I cried and smiled my way through the show. I am a weird goth kid who has lived my life as strange and unusual, struggling with depression. I love Lydia and Elizabeth's way of sounding so raw and real was so emotional for me. There's not a character in the show I hate. There's not a number in the show I hate. I love the lampooning/highlighting the pubescent experience of being afab in Creepy Old Guy. This show didn't have to go this hard. I didn't expect anything like this when they announced a Beetlejuice musical. And now I can't imagine my life without it. Slight trigger warning for suicidal ideation, but the fact that there's a lyric that reads "I may be suicidal, it's not as if I've lost my mind". That resonates deep into my psyche. I've had ideations and that lyric feels so validating to my feelings. And yeah, I've spent a good portion of my life feeling invisible. Whether in school as a kid with adhd that didn't have many friends, or a plus size cosplayer that often gets ignored in favor of the skinny ones. You just have to find your home in the people you hold closest. And I have. RIP Beetlejuice. I have a feeling I'll catch you somewhere on the tour, if only to hold onto the magic for a little bit longer.
I've been dealing with a lot of health issues for the past couple of years and seeing the show in June was the highlight of a trip I was at one point afraid I'd never be capable of making. I loved every second of it and feel so lucky that I got to be there.
Love this video! I was there Sunday night and I'm in your video like 4 or 5 times..thank you so much! Lisa was the older lady . We are part of a fb group that loves this show so much. Literally that group of us came together for the first time and we loved it!
I found Beetlejuice the Musical through Spotify and got hooked - soon I started following it on twitter, youtube, and discord. To me it was always hard to share this amazing piece of art in Peru, because the jokes don't quite land in our culture, so I relied on the internet to get fangirl and get hyped and met many wonderful people. When I learnt 2022 was its last year, I decided I needed to save up to fly to NY and see the show for myself. Exchange rates hit hard, but I got a loan to fly and see it this December, and I am so glad I did. I saw three other shows, but none came close to the amount of heart I felt behind this musical. I related so much with all of the characters, I broke down and cried my ass off when it ended. Seeing the people behind work to make such a beatiful thing happen has made me try to get my friends and family in on the music of the show, and try my best to translate the jokes or find a way to see the amount of heart it has. I thank Beetlejuice and everyone behind it for the experience, and I promise so share its legacy as much as I can.
What Beetlejuice has meant to me, is that it was my introduction to the theatre community. I’ve been a fan of Beetlejuice as a character for a while, but not really theatre. I knew about Beetlejuice before it opened and was very excited about it. The reason I started looking into it in the first place was I did have a bit of a crush on Sophia Anne Caruso. Nonetheless…That was the first time I ever was really excited by a musical. I was never a theatre kid- sure I did a couple children’s plays in elementary school but I wasn’t super into big scale Broadway theatre. Beetlejuice changed that. I had conversations with wonderful people about their experience with the play, talked to people who went and saw it, watched videos about it, made some friends with other fans, and slowly started to understand the theatre community. Right before the pandemic, I was working backstage with some theatre students and mentioned Beetlejuice. This girl lit right up and we had a nice conversation about it. I knew I wanted to see the show. Then the pandemic happened and Beetlejuice closed. I was really sad about it, I felt like the one piece of theatre I loved was gone. Somehow content was still being made and the community was still active. Finally it was announced that Beetlejuice would return. It was great. It’s new life was even better than the one one and I was so excited to see it back on stage. Finally the time came for it to close. And I never got to experience it. As sad as it was……one thing reminded me that I still lived the experience. Elizabeth Teeter. Specifically her Instagram and tiktok posts. Her passion and excitement for the musical and love for the fans surpassed the Marquis theatre. Watching Elizabeth and Alex Brightman wear opposite outfits on Halloween, Do silly backstage videos, watching Kerry Butler try flavoured lipglosses, watching Elizabeth and Alex’s bows, and finally watching Elizabeth tearing up as she explains how much the musical meant to her (and yes I started tearing up too)- that all made me realize that experience Broadway is not just about being in a massive theatre watching a pricey and elaborate show but sharing a love of live storytelling and theatre with thousands of others. Thank you Beetlejuice for being my gateway drug to theatre……enjoy your tour. One final thing…..I may not be a theatre kid, but I am a musician. Kris Kukul and Eddie Perfect totally inspired me. Seeing the tight knit pit band for Beetlejuice has made me want to pursue music for theatre and someday audition to play in a Broadway pit band. The Beetlejuice tour band seems to be having a lot of fun, and seem to be a wonderful group of people. Thanks again, Beetlejuice. I hope go see you soon! 🪲💚
God Beetlejucie is such a show that has inspired me. I am a 14 year old kid who goes to an art school, I focus on set design/ production design, and Beetlejuice shows such amazing design work and lovely lighting and it has inspired me to design and build new things. This shows has touched the heart of so many theater kids and more to come. Just everything about it is amazing. its hard to describe how I feel about it, I'm still so sad it closed and that it was going to get a pro shot but never got filmed. But yeah thanks so much @Wait in the Wings for sharing brodway content to all of us.
This may be a bit long but I just wanted to share my Beetlejuice experience. I graduated with a BFA in theatre performance in April 2022 and for my college graduation gift from my parents, I got sent to NYC by myself to see Beetlejuice. I took a 14 hour train ride from the middle of nowhere to see this show. After a day in the city on the day of the show, I lined up early to be the first in the theatre. When the doors opened and I found my seat, I got to talking to the two parties of people to my left and right. To my left was a mom and her 13-14 year old daughter who flew from the west coast to see the show. This was their first time seeing a Broadway show and we got to talking about how theatre is made. To my right were two men who had never seen a theatre production in their life. No Broadway, no community theatre, nothing. They had some time to kill and decided to fill it by seeing this show. The show was phenomenal. Alex was out with COVID so I got to see Will Blum perform which was a treat. Dead Mom made me weep and though I had watched the slime tutorials at least 20 times before the trip, everything felt as if I was watching it for the first time. By the end of the first act, those two parties had their lives changed. The girl and her mom were beaming and already talking about what show they wanted to see the next few days next while the two men were raving about how they had missed out on what theatre had to offer all this time, then began asking me for recommendations. I think that alone encompasses what this show means to me. For a lot of people, it was a gateway drug to an art form that a lot of people discredit.
I went to see Beetlejuice about a week or so ago. I initially became interested in it andter watching your video and listening to the sound track. After I heard it was back I immediately convinced my mom to get us tickets to see it. I was able to get tickets for about last week. It was AMAZING! It’s really great that you were able to see it closing night!
Beetlejuice is the first Broadway show I ever saw. I’ve been obsessed with musical theater since I was little (26 years total). I’ve never been able to afford going to New York City. My glimpses of Broadway came twice a year; the Tony Awards and the Macy’s parade. In 2022 I finally saved up enough money to get to New York. The one and only show I saw was Beetlejuice the first week it came back. That show marks my dream coming true, finally. I’m sad that the show is closed and sad that I don’t know when I’ll ever get back to New York but hopefully that dream can rise again just like the keeps doing.
As someone who has done school theater and community theater the audiance reacation changes the show. The audiance can give the actors so much energy or take it away. It's amazing what a good audiance can do.
I'm also from Australia and I literally had a dream last night that went to the show. Unfortunately I never actually got to go due to covid and other things, but I was crying in the dream that I was ACTUALLY at the show and then I was crying when I woke up because I wasn't at the show and had a realisation that I never will. :( that little notebook or even a playbill would literally mean the world to me. This musical meant so much to me and I cannot put into words how much I am going to miss it. I truly wish I could go back in time to book a ticket to NYC and go see it.
The beauty of theater is, that every day there is a new performance of a musical or a play an that performance is always unique and will be gone forever except for the minds of the people who witnessed it. That makes that performance that you saw unique just like your life is unique. No need for feeling sad that it's over but celebrate that is was there, gave joy, made you feel and had a shared experience; just like life itself.
One of my core memories was hearing that thundercrash while I was sitting in the Marquis for my 15th birthday. I was so lucky to see a show that means so much to me and I remember crying while The Whole Being Dead Thing was performed. Alex Brightman my heart
Okay, I’m not gonna lie when the musical first came out I was not a huge fan of it. I was very anti reboots, anti turning a thing into another thing and just was kinda dumb and mean about it overall. Despite the fact that the Beetlejuice movie is one of my favorite films of all time. It’s actually how me and my partners met and fell in love with each other. Then 2021 happened. The world was opening back up from covid, I was starting to feel like a person again, and my dad made more frequent visits in & out of the hospital. It was hard. Like I knew he was sick but I didn’t know HOW sick he was. Until September. He went into the hospital and never came out. To help battle the depression and worry that he wasn’t gonna make it I played several playlists on UA-cam that had some of my favorite musical songs in it and one day I played a random playlist and Dead Mom was on it. That was the start. Cause soon my curiosity got the better of me and before I knew it I was watching the entire show on UA-cam through animatics and a few random clips from the actual show. And to top it all off Monster High, my favorite doll line of all time, released a collector two pack of Beetlejuice and Lydia. And then the doctors told me and my sister that my dad was gonna pull through and he was gonna be okay. And then December 1st came, and my dad was gone. Had it not been for my Monster High Beetlejuice dolls and me scream singing Dead Mom, Home, The Whole Being Dead Thing, etc; until I was hoarse or tired from exhaustion I don’t think I would’ve gotten through the first couple of months or even the first year without my dad. And I have Beetlejuice to thank for that. It’s a show that helps with grief in the most outrageous but human way. My only regret is that I didn’t get the chance to see it live so I could have the chance to ask the cast to sign my Beetlejuice dolls box. Now whether or not this moves you; I just wanted to share my story. This musical is a wonder and a gift and whether I get to see some high school show of it or 10 years in the future we get a special one night only Broadway show as an anniversary celebration idk. But I got to listen to it, learn the words, be apart of the fandom, and got to grieve and that means the world to me. 🖤💚🤍💜🖤
I just saw a traveling version of this show in San Francisco and I was completely blown away by it!!! It was poignant, irreverent and self-aware in a way I haven't seen before. Plus what a brilliant way to talk how we deal with grief and death, especially the death of a parent when you're younger (my dad died when I was 18 months and it's one of the things that keeps my therapist gainfully employed!). It's a fun and engaging show that is going to live on past its closing on Broadway!!
I cried so much during this video, Brendan. I also tried to get to see the last performance from Melbourne, Australia, but i sadly couldn't get tickets in time. Beetlejuice got me through so many hard times over the past few years. Way too many 1- 3 month long hospital admissions with my chronic illness trying to end me, filled with tears of frustration and pain and anger at the physical situation I was in; when my Mum passed away suddenly during the toughest lockdown laws in the world at the time and not being able to apologise for our stupid argument the week earlier as well as the other usual life dramas where everything just felt like it was too much, if whack my noise cancelling headphones on and I'd be instantly taken into a brighter, far happier and vivid place than I was currently in. I'd belt out the lyrics as I sung along in my car, or while washing dishes or as I cried in the shower or wrapped up in my duvet or in my hospital bed when all I wanted was to feel my Mum's arms around me. Beetlejuice (and musical theatre, in general) was one of the only things that could put a smile back on my face when things became overwhelmingly "too much". Listening to cast recordings and watching clips of the show made me let go of the breath I didn't realise I'd been holding on to. Thank you, Brendan and the WITW team for bringing us so many extra special moments that we wouldn't have otherwise seen. I'm so sad I'll never get to see the show in person on Broadway, but I hope to one day meet Alex Brightman, Leslie Kritzer and Kerry Butler and give them all a big hug (consentually, of course!) And thank them for unknowingly getting me, and countless others, through so many hard times.
It breaks my heart that this show is closing (again) but I’m so glad that it got to come back, even if it ran for just under a year. I consider myself so lucky that I got to see it twice in one week shortly before its closing and I’m so so so happy that the show now gets a third life with its national tour 💚💚💚
I found Beetlejuice in the middle of the pandemic when I was mentally and emotionally in a bad place. My chronic anxiety was at its worst at and my depression was quickly getting the better of me. I truly felt invisible in my struggles. My grandfather suddenly passed away in 2019 and I’d been struggling to cope with his passing. I felt like I couldn’t even express my grief for fear of further upsetting my grandmother. I sat in invisible sadness and grief, tip-toeing around the subject of death and the mention of my grandfather for a year. I felt invisible. Then one day, “Dead Mom” popped up as recommended songs for my musical playlist and I was mind blown . I fell in love with Beetlejuice overnight. I saw myself in Lydia. I became comfortable accepting death as a part of life. I felt the desire to live and enjoy the life I had ahead of me. This wonderfully strange and unusual musical made me happy for the first time in what felt like forever. I will forever be grateful to its creators, performers, and fandom for helping me through one of the toughest periods of my life. 🖤💚💜🖤💚💜🖤💚💜🖤
Beetlejuice is the reason I got into acting. It's literally changed my life. I never got to see it in person, which makes me sad- But I'm happy the show exists. And now it can finally rest in peace.
Because of YOUR channel and your videos about this musical, I was so excited to see it! And then so sad when the pandemic killed it. And then so excited when it came back! And now so sad that it's gone again....AND the biggest reason why I bought a ticket to go see it when it COMES TO MY TOWN touring this year! I love listening to everyone's stories about why it changed their lives and how much it means to them and to you. Thank you for the gift of * gestures broadly * AAAAALLLLL of this. What a ride.
I actually live in NYC and with all the horrible movie turned musicals we have in the city, I used to joke about going to see Beetlejuice when it was still at the Winter Garden, expecting it to be just like all the rest of the failed shows as I knew nothing about it. One day I heard 'The Whole "Being Dead" Thing' as a recommendation on Spotify and knew I had to get tickets to see it... but missed the chance. As soon as I saw the ads around the subway advertising its return, I knew I couldn't miss it again and managed to snag some tickets back in October and was floored. The energy, the music, the sets, the cast. Everything was amazing and it instantly became one of my favorite musicals. I thankfully got it see it on closing day, but was at the matinee show. It was such an amazing show with Andrew Kober doing his final performance for Beetlejuice, since Alex was still recovering and was only doing the final show that day. While it was sad knowing the show was ending, everyone was just enjoying the moment. Cheering for the cast, singing along, it was just a great experience all around. They weren't giving out any of those journals though, so looks like that was only for the final show.
I got to see the show's opening night performance for the national tour in Paducah, KY. We had no idea it was opening night, we were just psyched that we were finally getting to see the show live, and it was amazing.
In a nutshell, I've been dealing with severe depression and anxiety for the past three years, and being a member of a small but mighty and wonderful group has changed my life for the better. I can't possible express what Beetlejuice has done for me in a single paragraph. When I first started listening to the show's soundtrack, I assumed it would be simply another musical that I enjoyed and would soon forget about. However, as my enthusiasm for the show increased, I began to feel like I belonged to something larger, and I did. I've met at least 20 new people, and in 2019, I wouldn't have believed it if I had told myself that a song could accomplish all of this for me.Seeing the show end truly breaks my heart, but I can't wait to see what the incredible cast does next and will continue to cheer them on.That is what Beetlejuice has done for me.
i had never seen or even so much as listened to the album before i managed to get tickets to the closing day matinee. i thought it'd be the same experience as any other show i got to see during my trip to nyc, but i was definitely wrong. the energy in that theater was insane, from the cast to the crew to the audience, who were all hardcore fans excited to see me experience the show for the first time. that performance brought out what theater is at its roots: sharing the arts with others. to me, beetlejuice is about uniting people in their grief, their love and passion, and everything in between. it created a sense of community i had never expected by uniting people of so many different backgrounds, and it will surely live long beyond its run on broadway and its tour by having touched so many hearts. i'm incredibly glad i got to be a part of that and will definitely be seeing the show during its tour.
I was very lucky to have been there! I've seen it so many times before, but this was the very best performance ever. The energy from the house was incredibly high. Will surely miss this show and all involved. 🖤💚🖤💚
I saw it on tour in Detroit and I laughed and cried, I was so excited. It was such an amazing moment. I got so many compliments on my beetlejuice overalls and I saw so many others in amazing outfits. It was magical.
This musical is friendship to me. It was the one Broadway show my friends from high school all agreed to see when we all got jobs and were able to get tickets and all loved it. It was the show that I saw with my online friends when they came to New York. Most importantly, seeing this show was the one thing that my brother-in-law and I had in common and laid a foundation for me becoming friends with him when he first started dating my sister whom I am very overprotective of. Yes, it is an amazing show, but it is so much more to me
Beetlejuice was my very first and last Broadway show that I've seen, and it means so much to me that I can't even put it into words. Those two hours in that theatre were the best two hours of my life
Earlier this year in i think February, I was looking for bootlegs of musicals and I came across one from 2019 of Beetlejuice. I had only ever heard the famous tiktok sounds, but I decided to give it a go. As soon as I watched that bootleg, it absolutely consumed my life. I literally couldn't sleep because the songs were just rumination through my head. I was only 14, and now I'm 15, but I can say with certainty that I had never loved something like I loved that show. I love music (I play trombone) and it has always been a huge part of my life, but seeing ever just a illegally taken recording of this show just made me fall in love with musical theatre and broadway so much I watched every clip I could find, and literally stalked elizabeths Instagram page through April as she reopened the show. It suddenly hit me that since I live in Australia and was only 14, I would probably never get to see the show on broadway, which made me a lot more upset than it should have-instead I just lived vicariously through Instagram retweets of people who lived in new york seeing it. Fast forward to July and I find out that we're going overseas to watch my sister play soccer in the under 20s world cup (in costa rica) and that we're going to the UsA for a few days first. I didn't really want to go because I very much hate missing school (and band) but I didn't really have a choice. I begged and begged my parents to let us go to new york, solely for the purpose of seeing this show. Since that the only way they could actually get me to happily come along, the said yes. I have to say here that i am realising how absolutely blessed i am to get this kind of opportunity at all- the gratitude i feel for my parents is immeasurable. I knew the show wasn't the kind that would be on broadway for years and years, so part of me knew that this would be my only chance of ever seeing it on broadway so i was absolutely ecstatic. Unfortunately, we weren't sure if we were actually going to go at all, because we had to wait to see if my sister actually got into the team. Up to two weeks before leaving, i still didn't know whether i would be going. The fates were on my side, because we ended up on the plane. From August 6-10 we were in new york. I saw thee show with my sister and mum on the 7th. Those three in new york were hands down the best days of my life. Seeing the show live was literally life changing, and i can say with confidence that i don't think I'll ever experience something like that again. Fast forward to now i;m back in sydney where i live, i still follow kerry and Elizabeth and i still stalk the show (and now the national tour) incessantly. Hearing that it was closing genuinely upset me-it was a huge part of my still very short life, and now it was in one sense, finished. Thi show made me fall back in love with music, and is now the reason i dream of playing in an orchestra in a broadway show or professional musical. I know I'm young, but that doesn't change what I've felt for this show. So, that it what it means to me :). I have eternal thanks for every single person who has worked on the show, especially eddie perfect who is actually from Australia and Elizabeth who is such a huge role model for a young girl like me. Anyway, that's the end. I hope anyone who got to this point has the best day ever. I did not proof read this and i do not plan to since its so ridiculously long so i probably makes no sense, but thats ok.
BEETLEJUICE was the gateway musical for me. I fell out of love with theatre in middle school and never thought I’d ever pick it back up but this show reignited my passion for creating art on stage and now I’m a technical theatre major in college. I have this show to thank for it.
Beetlejuice doesn't mean what it means to most people for me, because I've never seen it, or really had any hope of seeing it but it still holds a place in my heart. I'm a competitive dancer and last year my musical theatre dance was to a medley of Beetlejuice songs, I listened to the cast recording obsessively on spotify and really relate to feeling invisible. Ironically, the place I felt most invisible was my dance studio where I spent hours learning this dance. When it came time for auditions I auditioned for Lydia, this was the first time I'd ever auditioned for anything more than ensemble in the 10 years I'd been doing musical theatre dances. I didn't get it and really that's alright because this was also the year competions really went back to normal, I got to be on a stage in front of people for the first time in two years and it made me remember why I love dance so much. So thank you Beetlejuice, for inspiring me and helping me remember why I'm so passionate about dance, I might never get to see it on broadway but I know it was just as wonderful as everyone says.
I’m so glad I got to see this show before it closed last month. Honestly it was one of the most fun Broadway experiences that I’ve ever had and that’s why Beetlejuice is great, it’s fun! I mean we could talk technical merits of the show, like book, music, etc, but the reason why I think the show works is that it still captures the essential story of the movie but still is very much it’s own thing. It’s not a “remake” but a reimagining and sure while everything doesn’t work 100%, it’s definitely one of the better adaptations I’ve seen. This show will never truly die but will haunt theaters and eventually high schools for years to come.
I got the chance to watch Beetlejuice on Broadway in Jan 2020. It was one of the last weeks with Sophia Anne Caruso as Lydia. And, while that's big, it was also the last musical I saw before the global pandemic. It will hold a special place in my heart because it's an experience that cannot be reproduced. After the past few years, time seems to melt together - but I will always remember Beetlejuice: The Musical as one of my last pre-pandemic memories.
EDIT: Thank you so much to everyone who shared their stories about what Beetlejuice means to them. I don't think we every truly recognize the power art plays in people's personal lives and this comment section is a good reminder of that. The two recipients of the notebooks have been chosen, but don't let that stop you from sharing your stories.
Check out the Beetlejuice RIP Online scrapbook! www.witwnow.com/deadshow
I’m an usher for the Marquis and I can personally vouch for how special this experience was. Trying to seat everybody was very overwhelming to say the least, but the entire show very much like a rock concert. The energy of that crowd was unbelievable the whole time and I did in fact weep several times. In the time I’ve been there I’ve grown very attached to this show like a lot of people and I too am going to miss this show very much.
I saw you leaving the theater!! “Don’t worry guys I’m NOT Beetlejuice” LOL
I’m an ensemble member of Beetlejuice and a fan of your channel thank you for coming to support us and thank you for your content! ♥️♥️🙏🏽
Woah that’s so cool! If I may ask, what has the audition process been like for you?
Thank you for helping create a kick ass show! :D
@@chiaisannoying It started with a dance audition that was very comedy heavy then a vocal audition. Same as many shows but the creative team is very smart and kind and took great care in who they brought into the family. :)
@@maxxFree2xpress that’s so cool! Thank you for sharing ^^
It was such an honor to be at re-opening night as well as closing night. RIP, Beetlejuice. See you in the netherworld 💚
U went to both 🌙nights?!?! Lucky 😜
@TheRealSullyG, I love your videos! Make otomatone covers of some of the Beetlejuice songs!
Sadly i cant make it to New York but i was able to see it on tour and it was amazing
@@christopherthedisneydude6621Still waiting on this, Sully
I'm really glad that they got a proper closing this time... AND A TOUR!!!!
But we still haven’t gotten our pro shot 😭
@@Beviraku One day, one day...
@@BevirakuI kept saying from the first re-opening they should do a proshot because it will likely end up closed again. Glad it was not unexpected but I fully expected it (despite really liking the show). I just kept hoping they’d film it to preserve as it’s a really good musical. But after it suddenly closing for Music Man I had no faith in it staying open indefinitely.
Wish more musicals made pro shots, expcially those that might never be played again. It would also make more musicals available to more people that can’t go to broadway.
I love any show that proves the audience has any power. They came back because of audience demand and online love, not just audiences in NY but around the country and world. I hope they continue to expand and more people get to see it
my father passed away when i was 14, two years before beetlejuice opened. when i finally got to see the show live, i cried basically the entire time, that was my grief on display, and i’d never seen it so accurately portrayed before in a show. i’ve seen it three times now in total and wish i could’ve seen it a 4th, the show honestly changed my life and showed me that i can make a family with those around me, no matter how dysfunctional it may be🖤
All of the creativity in the fans just proves how easily this industry could expand in new directions with new artists if things were just more accessible! Young people don't dislike musicals, the genre isn't dying, it's being choked by billionaires like all the other art forms
That's my friend and I in the background right side at 15:57 ! I'm Beetlejuice and my friend is Lydia! The show means so much to us and it was such an incredible night and we'll both miss it so much!
I performed The Whole Being Dead Thing for one of my wrestling entrances and it was kind of the first real time my entrances came together where the whole crowd was into it, they understood my gimmick, and people were taking videos on their phones to share to their snapchat and stuff. Because of that Beetlejuice will always hold a special place in my heart, I was really sad to see it close because it feels like that performance is less current.
Aaaah, can't believe I got included in the video like this! Thank you so much for chatting with me, it feels very appropriate I got to meet you there, given it was your video that introduced me to the show 💜
I don't know if I have words for what the show means to me, it's a piece of levity in life when everything feels too much. It has re-inspired me creatively in so many ways and, funnily enough for a show about death, resurrected my passion for so much of life. I owe the show, everyone who worked on it, and you for your wonderful video, so much for where I'm at now.
Absolutely Sunny! How couldn’t I feature you! Hope you enjoyed the show and the rest of your NYC trip! If you’re ever up for hanging out with us on the Patreon, I’d love to have you!
Beetlejuice means so much to not only me but the whole theatre community. Not only is it a fantastic, entertaining show, but the message and themes also carry a lot of weight. The best part is that it got so many people into theatre through social media. This show expanded the Broadway community exponentially and is truly beautiful. Just hearing the audience's reactions even before they've seen the show is nothing short of awe-inspiring. This show will absolutely go down as a beloved classic, but what truly made this show was the love surrounding it, both from the audience and the cast. I will always cherish this musical and I can't wait to see how it evolves and continues to be loved by all.
I’m in the UK and am so sad that I never got to see this amazing show. I sincerely hope that a version is released for DVD or streaming (or even a pirate, which seems kind of appropriate for its punk tone!). Beetlejuice will be sorely missed.
I found one its by this person called "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ha you thought"
Beetlejuice really reignited my love of musicals, when Spotify threw it at me I don't think they knew what a blessing it was to hear. I love every song on that cast album and I'm sad I never got to see it in person, but I'm hoping if their tour goes well they'll do a quick run in the UK or Europe. Thanks so much for sharing the final night with us!
I was supposed to see Beetlejuice at the winter garden exactly one week after it closed. Sadly I was never able to make it back for its re-opening post covid. I did see the tour and the new cast still does it justice. I'm still disappointed I never got to see Alex Brightman in the role.
Beetlejuice just clicked with me straight away in a way not barely any show does. I only saw it recently, me and my mum flew over to New York from England in December. She me if there were any shows I wanted to see, which did not take long to answer. About a year ago we lost my mums cousin, who we were quite close to. That was the first family death I had ever experienced and I took it hard. Beetlejuice helped me put a lot of things into perspective and deal with that loss in a way no other media had, and I’m incredibly grateful for the show and the community who helped me as well. Also Alex Brightman is just an absolute delight. If anyone is missing Alex’s performing I recommend the show Dead End: Paranormal Park, he voices a dog called pugsley and it’s wonderful.
I saw it the night before it closed. It was absolutely amazing. I can also say that it was just as packed the last night. Beetlejuice has been an insane part of my life. It was such a great experience and I’m so sad that it closed. Im so incredibly happy that so many people love this show. Cheers to everyone involved with this show.
Beetlejuice really helped me deal with the lingering grief of the loss of my grandmother. It was also the show that finally made me go to NYC, after being a life long theatre kid. Seeing the show over the summer was such an amazing experience. Easily one of the best I've ever had. I'm so sad that the Broadway production has closed but I'm glad they got a proper send off.
I'm not sure how I thought I was getting out of this without crying again but I was wrong because I'm sobbing lol.
Tl;Dr Beetlejuice sat parallel with the biggest changes in my life and showed me a modern map of hope and unity.
Beetlejuice started it's Broadway run just before I was set to go to school for an acting degree. When I saw trailers for it, I was surprised how much it appealed to me, since the character of Beetlejuice was my least favourite part of the film. When they released the official cast recording, I listened to it on loop and I wouldve used "Invisible" for my first vocal lesson had there been a clean audio version available at the time.
I arrived at school as an international student and Beetlejuice reminded me that being a little offbeat didn't have to be a bad thing. I watched it's popularity grow and dreamt of seeing it live.
Then the announcement of it's closing came out and the pandemic hit as my personal life took a turn for the worst. By the end of the year I'd learn I have a chronic illness and complications would leave me without feeling from my knees down after many surgeries. I got out of the hospital after nearly 3 months, clinging to Amy hope I could find. Beetlejuice became a true celebration of life while also being less of a reminder that my dreams of being an actor were likely dead.
Slowly I regained feeling in my left leg. Not perfect, but I no longer needed a brace on that side. My parents started hoping and setting the goal of going to New York if I was healthy enough because, just like me, Beetlejuice had returned against all odds. I held that as a fantasy in my heart and followed as many of the cast's other projects that I could.
Then the closing and tour announcement came out. I hadn't been fast enough at healing and I'd never see the og cast live. Like most people, I cried at the announcement but there was a satisfaction that they were going out on their own terms, not being shut down due to ticket sales or contract loopholes. They got a tour that will likely come up to me even though the cast will be different. Life goes on even if it isn't what you hoped for originally.
For me, Beetlejuice is a story of hope, resilience, and passion. The singularly biggest changes of my life happened alongside this show. I will always regret not seeing it in person but always be grateful for the hope it's modelled for me
It’s so sad to see Beetlejuice go. It’s so amazing that one show brings so many people of all ages together.
I remember seeing Beetlejuice back in September and it was such an amazing out of this world experience! The vibe of the room was incredibly upbeat and I had dressed up with a dozen of my friends. Listening to the Beetlejuice soundtrack still makes the worst days so much better.
I was there (re)opening and closing night, I don’t need the notebook, however this show was absolutely amazing. Even Alex was crying at the end. Beetlejuice is a perfect display of what a good broadway show is, the cast is nice, the staff are nice and clearly overworked, and the fans are fucking insane (affectionately.)
I didn't discover beetlejuice until its reopening in april and i have done theatre my whole life but i never thought it could be career but seeing all the behind the scenes of beetlejuice and seeing it in person really made me realize how much i love being apart of that stuff back stage and beetlejuice and the people in the cast made me realize i want to do theater as a career. RIP beetlejuice you will be missed.
Same I didn't discover beetlejuice the musical until I went to see it in December when I went to New York for my dad's business trip. i'm obsessed with it and hate to see it go :( I only knew one song from it: Say my name. But I didn't get to see the behind the scenes
This show was so special. I saw it for the first time back in august 2019 and immediately fell in love. My mom and I saw it on a whim and Alex came to stage door and we told him straight to his face we thought he was a genius. I’ll never forget seeing Presley Ryan in the role of Lydia, I didn’t realize JUST how special that was at the time! I got the privilege of seeing it again with my significant other when it returned which i never believed would get to happen and to sit next to him and see him be taken in by the cast and music I’d come to know and love was everything to me. I always believed in my heart it would come back (from the dead) and the fact that it did is such a beautiful, hilarious, perfect pun for Beetlejuice the musical. This show will live in my head rent free forever. 💚🖤
Can't wait to see Beetlejuice in San Diego this August! I'm so excited about it even more now.
What does Beetlejuice mean to me?
As you can see my profile picture is me as the Broadway version of beetlejuice. Not only do I love the movie but when the show first came out I instantly played it in the car. I practically know all the songs by heart. I’ve been doing theater almost my whole life, but the first time I went to Broadway and saw the outside of the Wintergarden and it was life changing seeing the life that can be created with environment and community and honestly helped me want to do even more theatre when I almost quit.
This show is so very important to me. I can’t describe how deeply this reinvented the possibilities of performance to me. This show just, so desperately, wants and needs to make people happy. To make them celebrate their lives and embrace what it means to choose life everyday. Making the invisible feel seen. Rest in peace to a show about death.
I don't think I could even describe in words what Beetlejuice means to me. A movie that means so much to me and my dad turned into a musical that somehow means even more. I feel so blessed to have seen it multiple times and ESPECIALLY to have been there for the closing. (Spy me in the white turtleneck, black tank, striped pants) ❤ Thank you for documenting a day that meant everything to so many of us.
TW: discussions of death, terminal illness, depression and other mental health based things-When I first listened to this show back in 2019, I was in a depressive funk after my grandma passed away and from the first time I heard the music, something just clicked. This show made me laugh when I thought I couldn’t anymore, it made me cry because I felt seen in a way I hadn’t felt before. In early 2020 my mom would be diagnosed with Cancer and with all the surgeries and chemotherapy, for a long time the Netherworld felt like my only home. The only place that felt safe and made me happy. It was through this time I began to take up digital art and start drawing fanart for the show before my mom would end up passing away from said cancer later that year. I felt completely invisible after that, I related hard to the character of Lydia and she became a huge comfort for me. So much of a comfort I would start cosplaying her in early 2022! Without Beetlejuice I wouldn’t have started digital art or cosplaying!
I finally saw the show on April 8th 2022, and to this day that was one of the most magical nights of my life. Finally meeting people who cared about this show as much as I did and getting to celebrate this resurrection with them. I saw the show again with my dad later in the year, and we just sat there and laughed and laughed but I’ll never forget sitting through “Home” and crying with my father. Because in that moment we both felt seen, and we both felt solace for what felt like one of the first times since mom had passed…
So what’s the point of saying all this? The reason I’m who I am today, the reason you all know who I am today, is because of this show and as much as I’m going to miss it, it’ll always be in my heart.
But anyways I’ve a big fan of the channel since the Spider Man video! And it’s so cool to think that we were both at the show’s opening night too!
Thank you so much for being so vulnerable and sharing this story with us. The pain that you've turned into strength and resilience is so inspiring. I'd love to send you the notebook! Email me at waitinthewingsofficial@gmail.com and we can get that all set up.
I wasn’t able to see the last show because it was unfortunately on the same day as the start of my semester. But I cannot begin to describe just how much Beetlejuice means to me: I got into it only a few weeks before it closed, but I was immediately in love with everything about it. Seeing it was one of the most electric experiences of my life, from the music to the passion of the cast. I’ve now entered a musical phase because of it, and I will NEVER lose my love for this show. Thank you so much Beetlejuice ❤
This show has meant so much to me and I honestly have you to thank for that.
I loved the movie as a kid and saw it in the theater more than any movie in my life. I think 5 times total. I also used to love the cartoon.
Beetlejuice meant a lot to me as a child and actually had a major impact on who I am today and my ability to celebrate being strange and unusual.
I had heard a bit about the musical and had seen some TikTok’s featuring songs but was a bit cynical about if I’d like it or if it would disappoint and dampen something that had had such an impact on me as a kid.
Your video on Beetlejuice is what made me want to not only give it a chance, but see and hear more of it. I listened to the cast recording and it quickly became my most played album. It was basically on repeat as the background soundtrack as I made the jump to create a brick & mortar business this past year.
I finally made plans to visit New York and see it this past November. When I booked the tickets several months prior I had no idea what would await me just a few weeks before seeing the show. .
On October 30th my mother passed away. It was devastating and heart wrenching. She had been suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia for a few years prior, but her decline was unexpected and she passed very quickly.
I won’t get into all of the details of how amazing of a woman she was. But it was her that would keep bringing me back to the theater to see Beetlejuice the movie over and over again.
When we went to the Broadway show we were sat front row. That evening was honestly a beacon of light and night of true joy. Such a balm after so much of the grief of the past couple of years and the passing of my mother. It was truly an emotional rollercoaster of an evening for me in the best and most cathartic of ways. Even if I did breakdown crying during the performance of Home. It was a healing experience. Beetlejuice is indeed a show about death but also a celebration of life.
This show has helped me to celebrate life, to grieve death, and smile and laugh with joy even during dark times
I am so thankful for it. And for you. Because without you I don’t think I’d have had the relationship with this show that I do, and the blessings and memories that have come along with that.
So thank you for that.
It truly means more than I can express.
And keep up the excellent work.
This show helped me so much during COVID. I learned of it after the broadway shut down and I poured into it and fell in love. I had planned a trip for Dec 2021 to NYC that got cancelled due to job changes but then the reopening news hit and I changed my plans to go for my birthday, 3 weeks after reopening night. I flew from Orlando to NYC on my birthday and spent the day in the city exploring and I stopped at the Marquis to get a physical ticket. I fell in love with the show all over again and ended up seeing it a 2nd night in a row because of Leslie being out. This show has become part of who I am and it led me to send in an audition for the tour (never heard anything but no one can say I didn't do it) and it led me to get my first of now 3 planned Beetlejuice tattoos as a Friday the 13th tat. I'm planning my next to be done before the tour gets here and in October I'm going to NYC again and I plan on getting the streets of NYC added to it, my planned Beetle logo placed where the Marquis is. This show has become part of who I am and I'm going to miss it. Dead Mom is always going to hurt more than ever but it'll be the wonderful hurt that reminds me of the great times
Honestly, Beetlejuice means an INFINITE amount to me. I live in Australia too (much like Sunny, who I actually got to buy merch for me) and having not been able to see the show was super hard. I’m collecting all the playbills from each month and BJ was part of the reason I wanted to get into Musical Theatre in the first place. I’m sad that the show has now closed, but can’t wait until rights get released so I can be reunited with my dearly departed once again!
That show is what made me find your channel. I've always liked musicals but it's only been like 3 years since I've really got into Broadway and channels like yours and Howard Ho have really helped me learn about Broadway. I really wish I could have seen it but it was never in the cards. Stay awesome.
Beetlejuice as an IP has been a favorite since childhood and something I was able to share with my stepdaughter - and it being on Broadway meant I got to take her to her first ever Broadway/big theater show for something she was genuinely excited for.
I actually did the exact same thing in October - I went from Sydney, AU to New York (over 24h thanks to a delayed second flight) because I couldn't fathom not seeing my favorite musical while it was on Broadway.
I feel like Beetlejuice is a modern day Rocky Horror. It had humble beginnings, but it found a crowd of out-there people who could not only embrace it but embrace and be themselves for it, and in turn the show is what it is today thanks to that symbiotic relationship.
Hey im in the red suade suit at 2:28! I just wanted to say, you perfectly encapsulated what we all were feeling. Probably the best Broadway performance I have ever seen. The audience only made it so much better!
Beetlejuice was my first time back in a theatre since the pandemic. I knew I missed theater, but seeing this show filled a hole I didn't even know was there. This show is the perfect mix of comedy, spectacle, and heart. Seeing Beetlejuice was pure joy.
To me, Beetlejuice means friendship. I currently live abroad, and have been away from my best best best friend for the last three years. Prior to the height of COVID19 beginning, I flew with my friend to New York and we saw Beetlejuice live, after months of her wishing and wanting to see the show. That was our first international trip together, and the last trip either of us were able to take before COVID struck and Lockdowns began. When I think of Beetlejuice I think of her and the incredible adventure I was so fortunate to have with her, and everyday that I listen to the soundtrack I think of her. If I were lucky enough to be chosen, I wiuld gift her that closing night souvenir as a way of showing her that even miles apart I still think of her and miss her often.
To me, beetlejuice means my first Broadway show. I was so excited and laughed the whole time. My parents took me to nyc for my thirteen birthday and it was for a lack of words… amazing.
As the 'Older Beetlejuice Fan' in this video, I thank you for giving it such a great sendoff. Those of us in the center of the picture met that night and have forged a great Broadway friendship. While we enjoy every show, we realize there will never be another Beetlejuice. No other closing night (or opening) will ever match the energy in that theater.
I remember the first time I was introduced to Beetlejuice the Musical . It was when I watched the 2019 Tony awards. Truely in those few minutes, seeing Alex Brightman preforming with the ensemble was such an enamoring experience. At the time I had secretly dreamed of becoming a Broadway actor but was afraid that my ambition would be dismissed. After watching that performance, I became obsessed with the show. I learned all the songs and routinely sang the cast recording in my kitchen, that being the first time I started to sing in front of people. I begged my parents to buy tickets to see the show and eventually was able the opportunity to see the original cast. I remember so vividly after seeing it, I had just gotten home from the trip from New York and sat down in front of both of my parents. I then told them of my dream of being on Broadway and how I wanted others to feel as impacted by my acting as I was with the cast of Beetlejuice the musical. It was because of that show that I had the courage to tell my parents how intensely I wanted to become a actor. I am now a sophomore in high school and was just casted as the lead in my school's musical production. Thank you for that musical for everything. I will greatly miss it. (sorry that this is long)
I first looked down on the concept of making a musical out of Beetlejuice with derision.
Then my wife watched a TikTok to Say My Name, and I looked up the song, fell in love with it and proceeded to become one of the top .05% of listeners for the album on Spotify in 2022.
I got obsessed enough to fly all the way from Missouri to New York with basically no preparation in October. I watched the movie as a kid and now I love this version as much of not more.
Oh man, I'm glad you got to go to closing.
Beetlejuice the musical to me has rekindled my love for the franchise. I saw the original film when I was way too young (5 or 6, right after it came out on VHS) but I loved the cartoon. This musical has been such a refreshing update and mix of those with such wonderful music. It's my new Hamilton, in that I will be listening to this album for a year straight.
I remember seeing Beetlejuice opening night on previews in DC. It was incredible...and I lowkey kind of teared up at the end of this video. This musical has done so much for the Broadway community and changed so many people's lives, it's hard to not have this show affect you even a little bit
I discovered Beetlejuice in January of 2020, not long after the 10 year anniversary of my mom passing when I was 18. I then lost my uncle's mother in February, my last grandfather in March, my last grandmother in April, a dog I'd had for 8 years in May, and then a bearded dragon in June. I experienced so much death in 2020 and the best way I found to cope was listening to this soundtrack and just laughing. I also identified with the Maitlands because my wife and I had been trying to have a baby for 3 years and we finally did, but we didn't know we were expecting until after all my loved ones passed. This show was an outlet of my emotion when I could just sing along and let it all out. Sorry for the book, but this show is special to me (and it's the reason I became a season ticket member and I'm seeing it in Cleveland on Saturday!)
Eddie, I am so sorry for all the loss you've experienced. It's so powerful how much the show's meant to you and the solace you've found in it. I'd love to send you one of the notebooks! My email is waitinthewingsofficial@gmail.com. Shoot me a message and I can get it sent your way. I hope you enjoyed seeing the show in person!
Much Love, Brendon.
Beetlejuice was the last Broadway show I saw before the pandemic. I got to see it with most of the original cast, and I can say that it's maybe my favorite Broadway show I've ever seen. My parents had no expectations for it but by intermission they were blown away by it. My sister and I were both very excited to see it, in fact we saw it three years ago today. My favorite part about it, is the power that the internet has. We all loved a show so much that we brought it back to a different theater and had it perform for almost 9 months. There's just so much love for the show with fan art, covers, reviews, and so many videos just talking about it that it's just amazing to see how much love a show can have
Beetlejuice was truly an amazing show and I appreciate you documenting its final night. I saw the show in May of 2022 as a birthday gift from my girlfriend and I couldn't have asked for a better gift. Its my favorite show I've ever seen on Broadway and it will always hold a special place in my heart.
It’s thanks to your videos that I decided to see Beetlejuice and my family fell in love with the show. My husband met you in the merch line at closing night. This show will always hold a special place in my heart.
Beetlejuice was such a great part of my life. I met my wife in 2010 with one of our first dates being to Universal Studios where we saw Beetlejuices Graveyard revue. We got married in 2019, and planned our honeymoon around seeing Beetlejuice on broadway for our first anniversary on May 26th 2020. We never got to see that showing due to the Covid Shutdown and subsequent closing of Beetlejuice. We were ecstatic when it reopened and finally saw it on our 3rd anniversary, May 26th, 2022, and I'm happy to say it was my first Broadway Show, on Broadway. I'm hoping to catch it on tour as well with my wife in tow and sharing our love for the show with friends and family.
This video had me tearing up several times. One of my high school students introduced me to the soundtrack about a week before lockdown in March 2020, and I fell in love with it immediately. I'd grown up on the movie and the cartoon, and just from the soundtrack, I could tell it had the right spirit and energy to be part of that universe, and it's surpassed those as my favorite iteration of the story over the last nearly 3 years. I listened to the soundtrack repeatedly on Spotify (much to the consternation of my wife, who really liked it, but can't listen to the same thing on repeat for hours, let alone days on end). I tried translating the lyrics to "Dead Mom" into Latin - the language I teach - and it was more challenging than I'd anticipated (never did get it quite right). When we found out the show was reopening, I was over the moon excited for it. Getting kicked from the Winter Garden didn't seem fair to it at all, even if that's how the business works.
My wife surprised me for my birthday in late 2021 with tickets to see it in April 2022, a week after opening night. I broke down crying and couldn't stop smiling. We had no hotel booked, no transportation figured out, but we were going to see the show on Good Friday (she had my school calendar up when she booked tickets to make sure we could swing it without needing leave). We ended up taking the train to NYC from northern VA, and staying in a hotel at the end of the block the Marquis was on, which was very convenient. The Marriott was a bit too pricey for us, so it was a good alternative. And getting to see it live....
The line into the show was amazing. The wall of art was amazing. Overwhelming in the best possible way. We had seats in the very last row, up top to the right, and we could see and hear everything so well. I was pulled into the show from the opening, and know I cried at least once, cheered and clapped and stood for ovations more times than I can remember, and when it was over, I begged to try and get tickets to the following night's performance. Alas, my wife said no, and I get why, because prices, but the experience was something that was so magical and touching for me that I was ready to whip out a credit card for another show. I bought a little merch - souvenir program and the juice box t-shirt, but mostly I was enjoying just being there, seeing everyone dressed up, cosplaying or wearing thematically appropriate clothing (I had on a gothy black dress, leggings and black sneakers myself), and joining the collective wave of love that existed for the show.
In terms of personal experience with theatre, this is one of the three experiences that's moved me beyond my normal reactions and stuck with me long after we left the building. The first was seeing the Takarazuka Revue veterans perform Chicago at the Met in 2016, since I'm a longtime fan of the revue, and have a lot of their performances on DVD. Seeing actresses I've watched on DVD dozens of times in person was amazing enough, but the finale - a toned down version of the follies-esque finales the Revue does at the end of their shows in Japan - had me grinning, crying, and moved beyond anything. The people sitting next to us the first night said it looked like I was having a religious experience, and I'm pretty sure I was. The second was seeing Sailor Moon Live in DC just before the pandemic lockdown, in February 2020. I got to meet up with friends who were also fans of the Sailor Moon musicals, and meet one of the hosts of a podcast I listened to about Sailor Moon. Just like with Beetlejuice, so many people were in cosplay of some sort. And through the whole show, I was transfixed and pulled in, another experience close to what I'd had with the Takarazuka Chicago performance. And then during the finale, the cast performed THE song that had been a staple of the musicals from the first one in 1993 through 2006, when they went on a short hiatus, and hadn't been used in the musicals since they'd started up again in the 2010s. They played La Soldier, and my heart nearly stopped, and I cheered, cried, and sang along while standing, along with everyone else in the crowd who knew the original musicals. Overwhelming in the best way.
Beetlejuice ranks third of my experiences, and is my only English-language musical in the top 3. I know there's a huge fandom for it, but I've tended to stay away from it as a whole, since I'm older. I'd gush with my students, once we were back in person. I'd cheer for them when they sang numbers during Karaoke Days in the anime club I sponsor. But I've noticed it's more of a younger person's fandom, for the most part. I'm in my 40s, and most fans seem to be teens through late 20s. I didn't want to get in their space. But at the Marquis that night, age was not a concern. We were all fans, and we all loved this adaptation of a quirky creepy movie from the 80s (that hasn't aged as well as we wish it had), and it held us all together in its grip and we didn't want it to let us go.
While I'm sad it's closed on Broadway, that it's getting a national tour, and that the tour is coming through DC, makes me incredibly happy. I might get to see it again. It won't be the same, because nothing is the same twice (6 times seeing Phantom of the Opera on stage and it's a different experience every time), but it will be Beetlejuice, and as such, it will be amazing.
For my 40th birthday this past Oct, my friend and I planned a quick crazy trip to NYC. First time there for the both of us. Seeing a Broadway show has always been high on my bucket list and my friend gave me 5 choices of shows to see and I decided on Beetlejuice since we were going to be there around Halloween. Granted, I was completely unfamiliar with the musical up until that point. But that decision wound up being one of the greatest experiences I've ever had. The show was more than I could have asked for. I purchased the cast album which I still listen too constantly. I have fallen in love with this show. Knowing that I got to watch and experience this show right before it closed on Broadway is the highlight of my first trip to NYC. Who knows if I'll ever be back there, but this show will always now be extra special to me.
My kid is a huge Beetlejuice fan. In 2020, all of their friends made the trek to NYC to see the show. We had to wait until we had the money to do so. I had tickets for May 2020, and we all know what happened. They were devastated that the show was canceled. Then it was forced out of the Winter Garden, and this was another blow. They listened to the cast recording every day. As a mom, I felt heartbroken. Then, the announcement came in 2021 and our house erupted! I was not going to let this opportunity go by. I literary booked the tickets as I was going to a doctor's appointment inside a hospital. I got the tickets, and we listened to the cast recording every day home from school. We stayed and the Marquis and , they dressed as Beetlejuice and I as Delia. It was the best trip ever, and I had never seen my kid so happy. Beetlejuice brought us so much closer and I will never forget the awesome time we had.
I was not there but I can only IMAGINE the energy in the theater for beetlejuices re-opening and final closing. It makes me tear up because I can only imagine from what I’ve seen how overwhelmingly beautiful it was ❤
Beetlejuice has been one of my favorite musicals for years. I felt a connection to it when i was young, something intriguing and unusual to my young eyes. It was something i could connect with people on and it morphed me into a theater kid. This single musical was a domino for so much, i joined technical theater and made so many close friends i would have never met. I figured out what i actually wanted to do for a job, lighting design at a professional level. Finally, during October of 2022, me and a bunch of others went to NYC on a school trip to learn about real theater work. I saw Beetlejuice the musical in person, i saw this musical i cherished for years in person for the first time. And that's when it clicked, i was set to do this for life. The lighting had me amazed, the show captivated me, i got to see the story-line play out and it was beautiful. Afterwards we had a once in a lifetime talk back with the cast and crew, all hail andrew korber, and i learned that the actors are just so undeniably human and that the crew were just as nerdy and shy like us. It made me think my dream can come true because i saw how things would run at a Broadway level. That is something i will never forget. So thank you Beetlejuice (damn that was long sorry!!!)
Beetlejuice was the last show I got to see on my second trip to New York. It was the first time I had really left my home town since the start of the pandemic. It was maybe the most impactful broadway performance I have been lucky enough to experience. The energy in the room the friend I made that night. The chance to step out into a world that had been torn apart and I got to see real joy! I will never forget that moment. Finally getting to see it live.
Beetlejuice has been a part of my since I was 3 years old. It’s been my favorite movie ever since I could remember. The first time I saw Beetlejuice the musical was back in 2019 pre-Tony’s, this meant the world to me because I had been a purist of BJ for my entire life. I even went as far as to adapt my own BJ Musical ten years ago. The moment Alex Brightman started the show…I was moved. I felt safe and secure that we were in for a ride. What a ride that has been the last 4 years. Meeting Alex afterward I was in tears and he gave me a nice warm embrace and he truly understood that this meant the world to me and I care so deeply about the story of BJ, the message, and the point of living your life the best you can and making the best of what you’ve got because you may never seen it again…at least as a living my soul haha.
Last year my NYE resolution was to see more Broadway shows. I liked musicals in high school but as someone who was closeted for most of his life in Texas, I hid this passion and drifted away from it. Beetlejuice quickly became one of my partner and my favorite shows. The day we heard it would be closing at the Marquis, we bought our first tickets to the great white way. I saw 20 shows live this year spanning from national tours, regional theater, community theatre, west end and finally Broadway. At the beginning of the year, I never thought I’d take the trip to NYC. My first show on Broadway will always be Beetlejuice. Thank you for making me take that plunge. I’ll see you on the other side!
I flew from CA to NYC last summer with the sole purpose of seeing Beetlejuice with my husband. We saw a few broadway shows while there but Beetlejuice was the best by far! I listened to the soundtrack at home so much that my preteen daughter also fell in love with the show. We are so blessed to be living in a city where the Beetlejuice Tour will preform and my daughter is so excited to go. Im so glad i got to experience the broadway cast and i cant wait to see the tour!
Well… I didn’t expect to to cry at work this morning but thank you.
I hope one day the tour comes to Canada and I can finally go and see this spectacular show.
This show has been an absolute light for me, and I am so upset that it has now closed. This show has made me feel every emotion, from laughter, to true happiness, to sadness and I really care for these characters. I have never cared for a show this much and I do hope the rights do eventually come out one day so I get the chance to perform this beautiful thing. This show means so much to me, and again I am so upset that it has now closed. Many people in the cast have been such an inspiration to me to be the best person I can be and really chase my dreams! This show has helped me overcome so many obstacles that the characters face, like how Lydia is always looking back in the past, and how Beetlejuice’s goal is to just be seen by people. I relate so much to the characters in the show and it has changed my life. It truly will be my favorite show forever!
Beetlejuice was my first ever Broadway show.
I travelled from the UK and was only able to see one show. I chose Beetlejuice and do not regret it. It was one of the most magical experience and, as someone who is not great in crowds and the outside, I was welcomed by each staff member.
It also connected more to my younger sister. We don't always see eye to eye but musical theatre was always a talking point. She got into Beetlejuice through Tiktok while I started following since it got first got into the Winter Garden. It was during Dead Mom she reached over and held my hand. Not sure if it was she saw I was tearing up but that moment. That moment now makes it tough to not cry even more.
Thank you, thank you, thank you Beetlejuice.
Beetlejuice is the first and currently only musical ive seen on Broadway. I live in eastern europe and i got the incredible chance to go to new york in december of 2022, and i got to see Beetlejuice in the Marquis theater and it was just absolutely magical, indescribable, i have never experienced anything like it. God i really wish they could professionally record it so i could share the experience with my friends!! I loved the show and got a ton of merch too
I never got the chance to see this show. But watching your videos in it made me a fan of the show. Just from watching this video I got super emotional from hearing you and the fans of how much this show has changed your lives. Thank you for sharing this video.
I actually got my ticket for the closing night super spontaneously after I was at the evening show the day before and it was the best decision ever, it was a whole different experience and I’m so thankful that I got to be a part of that. I will cherish these memories forever. This show has changed my life so much, I mean, it introduced me to cosplay and cosplaying is now one of my biggest hobbies, and I met so many amazing people through cosplay, without Beetlejuice I don’t know if I even would’ve started cosplaying… Plus I finally met one of my online friends who I got to know because of Beetlejuice! Also I’m so excited to be included in this video, thank you so much for the interview! :) (Carina here)
Beetlejuice was/is such a wonderful way to process grief. I cried and smiled my way through the show. I am a weird goth kid who has lived my life as strange and unusual, struggling with depression. I love Lydia and Elizabeth's way of sounding so raw and real was so emotional for me. There's not a character in the show I hate. There's not a number in the show I hate. I love the lampooning/highlighting the pubescent experience of being afab in Creepy Old Guy. This show didn't have to go this hard. I didn't expect anything like this when they announced a Beetlejuice musical. And now I can't imagine my life without it. Slight trigger warning for suicidal ideation, but the fact that there's a lyric that reads "I may be suicidal, it's not as if I've lost my mind". That resonates deep into my psyche. I've had ideations and that lyric feels so validating to my feelings. And yeah, I've spent a good portion of my life feeling invisible. Whether in school as a kid with adhd that didn't have many friends, or a plus size cosplayer that often gets ignored in favor of the skinny ones. You just have to find your home in the people you hold closest. And I have. RIP Beetlejuice. I have a feeling I'll catch you somewhere on the tour, if only to hold onto the magic for a little bit longer.
I've been dealing with a lot of health issues for the past couple of years and seeing the show in June was the highlight of a trip I was at one point afraid I'd never be capable of making. I loved every second of it and feel so lucky that I got to be there.
Love this video! I was there Sunday night and I'm in your video like 4 or 5 times..thank you so much! Lisa was the older lady . We are part of a fb group that loves this show so much. Literally that group of us came together for the first time and we loved it!
I found Beetlejuice the Musical through Spotify and got hooked - soon I started following it on twitter, youtube, and discord. To me it was always hard to share this amazing piece of art in Peru, because the jokes don't quite land in our culture, so I relied on the internet to get fangirl and get hyped and met many wonderful people.
When I learnt 2022 was its last year, I decided I needed to save up to fly to NY and see the show for myself. Exchange rates hit hard, but I got a loan to fly and see it this December, and I am so glad I did. I saw three other shows, but none came close to the amount of heart I felt behind this musical. I related so much with all of the characters, I broke down and cried my ass off when it ended.
Seeing the people behind work to make such a beatiful thing happen has made me try to get my friends and family in on the music of the show, and try my best to translate the jokes or find a way to see the amount of heart it has. I thank Beetlejuice and everyone behind it for the experience, and I promise so share its legacy as much as I can.
What Beetlejuice has meant to me, is that it was my introduction to the theatre community. I’ve been a fan of Beetlejuice as a character for a while, but not really theatre. I knew about Beetlejuice before it opened and was very excited about it. The reason I started looking into it in the first place was I did have a bit of a crush on Sophia Anne Caruso. Nonetheless…That was the first time I ever was really excited by a musical. I was never a theatre kid- sure I did a couple children’s plays in elementary school but I wasn’t super into big scale Broadway theatre. Beetlejuice changed that. I had conversations with wonderful people about their experience with the play, talked to people who went and saw it, watched videos about it, made some friends with other fans, and slowly started to understand the theatre community. Right before the pandemic, I was working backstage with some theatre students and mentioned Beetlejuice. This girl lit right up and we had a nice conversation about it. I knew I wanted to see the show. Then the pandemic happened and Beetlejuice closed. I was really sad about it, I felt like the one piece of theatre I loved was gone. Somehow content was still being made and the community was still active. Finally it was announced that Beetlejuice would return. It was great. It’s new life was even better than the one one and I was so excited to see it back on stage. Finally the time came for it to close. And I never got to experience it. As sad as it was……one thing reminded me that I still lived the experience. Elizabeth Teeter. Specifically her Instagram and tiktok posts. Her passion and excitement for the musical and love for the fans surpassed the Marquis theatre. Watching Elizabeth and Alex Brightman wear opposite outfits on Halloween, Do silly backstage videos, watching Kerry Butler try flavoured lipglosses, watching Elizabeth and Alex’s bows, and finally watching Elizabeth tearing up as she explains how much the musical meant to her (and yes I started tearing up too)- that all made me realize that experience Broadway is not just about being in a massive theatre watching a pricey and elaborate show but sharing a love of live storytelling and theatre with thousands of others. Thank you Beetlejuice for being my gateway drug to theatre……enjoy your tour.
One final thing…..I may not be a theatre kid, but I am a musician. Kris Kukul and Eddie Perfect totally inspired me. Seeing the tight knit pit band for Beetlejuice has made me want to pursue music for theatre and someday audition to play in a Broadway pit band. The Beetlejuice tour band seems to be having a lot of fun, and seem to be a wonderful group of people.
Thanks again, Beetlejuice. I hope go see you soon! 🪲💚
God Beetlejucie is such a show that has inspired me. I am a 14 year old kid who goes to an art school, I focus on set design/ production design, and Beetlejuice shows such amazing design work and lovely lighting and it has inspired me to design and build new things. This shows has touched the heart of so many theater kids and more to come. Just everything about it is amazing. its hard to describe how I feel about it, I'm still so sad it closed and that it was going to get a pro shot but never got filmed. But yeah thanks so much @Wait in the Wings for sharing brodway content to all of us.
My wife and I saw it seven times, including closing. One of the most fun shows I’ve seen on stage in a long time. Excellent video!
This may be a bit long but I just wanted to share my Beetlejuice experience.
I graduated with a BFA in theatre performance in April 2022 and for my college graduation gift from my parents, I got sent to NYC by myself to see Beetlejuice. I took a 14 hour train ride from the middle of nowhere to see this show.
After a day in the city on the day of the show, I lined up early to be the first in the theatre. When the doors opened and I found my seat, I got to talking to the two parties of people to my left and right. To my left was a mom and her 13-14 year old daughter who flew from the west coast to see the show. This was their first time seeing a Broadway show and we got to talking about how theatre is made. To my right were two men who had never seen a theatre production in their life. No Broadway, no community theatre, nothing. They had some time to kill and decided to fill it by seeing this show.
The show was phenomenal. Alex was out with COVID so I got to see Will Blum perform which was a treat. Dead Mom made me weep and though I had watched the slime tutorials at least 20 times before the trip, everything felt as if I was watching it for the first time.
By the end of the first act, those two parties had their lives changed. The girl and her mom were beaming and already talking about what show they wanted to see the next few days next while the two men were raving about how they had missed out on what theatre had to offer all this time, then began asking me for recommendations. I think that alone encompasses what this show means to me. For a lot of people, it was a gateway drug to an art form that a lot of people discredit.
I went to see Beetlejuice about a week or so ago. I initially became interested in it andter watching your video and listening to the sound track. After I heard it was back I immediately convinced my mom to get us tickets to see it. I was able to get tickets for about last week. It was AMAZING! It’s really great that you were able to see it closing night!
Beetlejuice is the first Broadway show I ever saw. I’ve been obsessed with musical theater since I was little (26 years total). I’ve never been able to afford going to New York City. My glimpses of Broadway came twice a year; the Tony Awards and the Macy’s parade. In 2022 I finally saved up enough money to get to New York. The one and only show I saw was Beetlejuice the first week it came back. That show marks my dream coming true, finally. I’m sad that the show is closed and sad that I don’t know when I’ll ever get back to New York but hopefully that dream can rise again just like the keeps doing.
As someone who has done school theater and community theater the audiance reacation changes the show. The audiance can give the actors so much energy or take it away. It's amazing what a good audiance can do.
I'm also from Australia and I literally had a dream last night that went to the show. Unfortunately I never actually got to go due to covid and other things, but I was crying in the dream that I was ACTUALLY at the show and then I was crying when I woke up because I wasn't at the show and had a realisation that I never will.
:( that little notebook or even a playbill would literally mean the world to me.
This musical meant so much to me and I cannot put into words how much I am going to miss it. I truly wish I could go back in time to book a ticket to NYC and go see it.
The beauty of theater is, that every day there is a new performance of a musical or a play an that performance is always unique and will be gone forever except for the minds of the people who witnessed it. That makes that performance that you saw unique just like your life is unique. No need for feeling sad that it's over but celebrate that is was there, gave joy, made you feel and had a shared experience; just like life itself.
One of my core memories was hearing that thundercrash while I was sitting in the Marquis for my 15th birthday. I was so lucky to see a show that means so much to me and I remember crying while The Whole Being Dead Thing was performed. Alex Brightman my heart
Okay, I’m not gonna lie when the musical first came out I was not a huge fan of it. I was very anti reboots, anti turning a thing into another thing and just was kinda dumb and mean about it overall. Despite the fact that the Beetlejuice movie is one of my favorite films of all time. It’s actually how me and my partners met and fell in love with each other.
Then 2021 happened.
The world was opening back up from covid, I was starting to feel like a person again, and my dad made more frequent visits in & out of the hospital.
It was hard. Like I knew he was sick but I didn’t know HOW sick he was. Until September.
He went into the hospital and never came out. To help battle the depression and worry that he wasn’t gonna make it I played several playlists on UA-cam that had some of my favorite musical songs in it and one day I played a random playlist and Dead Mom was on it.
That was the start. Cause soon my curiosity got the better of me and before I knew it I was watching the entire show on UA-cam through animatics and a few random clips from the actual show. And to top it all off Monster High, my favorite doll line of all time, released a collector two pack of Beetlejuice and Lydia.
And then the doctors told me and my sister that my dad was gonna pull through and he was gonna be okay.
And then December 1st came, and my dad was gone.
Had it not been for my Monster High Beetlejuice dolls and me scream singing Dead Mom, Home, The Whole Being Dead Thing, etc; until I was hoarse or tired from exhaustion I don’t think I would’ve gotten through the first couple of months or even the first year without my dad. And I have Beetlejuice to thank for that.
It’s a show that helps with grief in the most outrageous but human way. My only regret is that I didn’t get the chance to see it live so I could have the chance to ask the cast to sign my Beetlejuice dolls box.
Now whether or not this moves you; I just wanted to share my story. This musical is a wonder and a gift and whether I get to see some high school show of it or 10 years in the future we get a special one night only Broadway show as an anniversary celebration idk. But I got to listen to it, learn the words, be apart of the fandom, and got to grieve and that means the world to me. 🖤💚🤍💜🖤
I just saw a traveling version of this show in San Francisco and I was completely blown away by it!!! It was poignant, irreverent and self-aware in a way I haven't seen before. Plus what a brilliant way to talk how we deal with grief and death, especially the death of a parent when you're younger (my dad died when I was 18 months and it's one of the things that keeps my therapist gainfully employed!). It's a fun and engaging show that is going to live on past its closing on Broadway!!
I cried so much during this video, Brendan. I also tried to get to see the last performance from Melbourne, Australia, but i sadly couldn't get tickets in time. Beetlejuice got me through so many hard times over the past few years. Way too many 1- 3 month long hospital admissions with my chronic illness trying to end me, filled with tears of frustration and pain and anger at the physical situation I was in; when my Mum passed away suddenly during the toughest lockdown laws in the world at the time and not being able to apologise for our stupid argument the week earlier as well as the other usual life dramas where everything just felt like it was too much, if whack my noise cancelling headphones on and I'd be instantly taken into a brighter, far happier and vivid place than I was currently in. I'd belt out the lyrics as I sung along in my car, or while washing dishes or as I cried in the shower or wrapped up in my duvet or in my hospital bed when all I wanted was to feel my Mum's arms around me.
Beetlejuice (and musical theatre, in general) was one of the only things that could put a smile back on my face when things became overwhelmingly "too much". Listening to cast recordings and watching clips of the show made me let go of the breath I didn't realise I'd been holding on to.
Thank you, Brendan and the WITW team for bringing us so many extra special moments that we wouldn't have otherwise seen.
I'm so sad I'll never get to see the show in person on Broadway, but I hope to one day meet Alex Brightman, Leslie Kritzer and Kerry Butler and give them all a big hug (consentually, of course!) And thank them for unknowingly getting me, and countless others, through so many hard times.
It breaks my heart that this show is closing (again) but I’m so glad that it got to come back, even if it ran for just under a year. I consider myself so lucky that I got to see it twice in one week shortly before its closing and I’m so so so happy that the show now gets a third life with its national tour 💚💚💚
I found Beetlejuice in the middle of the pandemic when I was mentally and emotionally in a bad place. My chronic anxiety was at its worst at and my depression was quickly getting the better of me. I truly felt invisible in my struggles.
My grandfather suddenly passed away in 2019 and I’d been struggling to cope with his passing. I felt like I couldn’t even express my grief for fear of further upsetting my grandmother. I sat in invisible sadness and grief, tip-toeing around the subject of death and the mention of my grandfather for a year. I felt invisible.
Then one day, “Dead Mom” popped up as recommended songs for my musical playlist and I was mind blown . I fell in love with Beetlejuice overnight. I saw myself in Lydia. I became comfortable accepting death as a part of life. I felt the desire to live and enjoy the life I had ahead of me. This wonderfully strange and unusual musical made me happy for the first time in what felt like forever. I will forever be grateful to its creators, performers, and fandom for helping me through one of the toughest periods of my life.
🖤💚💜🖤💚💜🖤💚💜🖤
Beetlejuice is the reason I got into acting. It's literally changed my life. I never got to see it in person, which makes me sad- But I'm happy the show exists. And now it can finally rest in peace.
Because of YOUR channel and your videos about this musical, I was so excited to see it! And then so sad when the pandemic killed it. And then so excited when it came back! And now so sad that it's gone again....AND the biggest reason why I bought a ticket to go see it when it COMES TO MY TOWN touring this year! I love listening to everyone's stories about why it changed their lives and how much it means to them and to you. Thank you for the gift of * gestures broadly * AAAAALLLLL of this. What a ride.
I actually live in NYC and with all the horrible movie turned musicals we have in the city, I used to joke about going to see Beetlejuice when it was still at the Winter Garden, expecting it to be just like all the rest of the failed shows as I knew nothing about it. One day I heard 'The Whole "Being Dead" Thing' as a recommendation on Spotify and knew I had to get tickets to see it... but missed the chance. As soon as I saw the ads around the subway advertising its return, I knew I couldn't miss it again and managed to snag some tickets back in October and was floored. The energy, the music, the sets, the cast. Everything was amazing and it instantly became one of my favorite musicals. I thankfully got it see it on closing day, but was at the matinee show. It was such an amazing show with Andrew Kober doing his final performance for Beetlejuice, since Alex was still recovering and was only doing the final show that day. While it was sad knowing the show was ending, everyone was just enjoying the moment. Cheering for the cast, singing along, it was just a great experience all around. They weren't giving out any of those journals though, so looks like that was only for the final show.
I’m glad Alex Brightman was able to do the closing night!
I got to see the show's opening night performance for the national tour in Paducah, KY. We had no idea it was opening night, we were just psyched that we were finally getting to see the show live, and it was amazing.
In a nutshell, I've been dealing with severe depression and anxiety for the past three years, and being a member of a small but mighty and wonderful group has changed my life for the better. I can't possible express what Beetlejuice has done for me in a single paragraph. When I first started listening to the show's soundtrack, I assumed it would be simply another musical that I enjoyed and would soon forget about. However, as my enthusiasm for the show increased, I began to feel like I belonged to something larger, and I did. I've met at least 20 new people, and in 2019, I wouldn't have believed it if I had told myself that a song could accomplish all of this for me.Seeing the show end truly breaks my heart, but I can't wait to see what the incredible cast does next and will continue to cheer them on.That is what Beetlejuice has done for me.
i had never seen or even so much as listened to the album before i managed to get tickets to the closing day matinee. i thought it'd be the same experience as any other show i got to see during my trip to nyc, but i was definitely wrong. the energy in that theater was insane, from the cast to the crew to the audience, who were all hardcore fans excited to see me experience the show for the first time. that performance brought out what theater is at its roots: sharing the arts with others.
to me, beetlejuice is about uniting people in their grief, their love and passion, and everything in between. it created a sense of community i had never expected by uniting people of so many different backgrounds, and it will surely live long beyond its run on broadway and its tour by having touched so many hearts. i'm incredibly glad i got to be a part of that and will definitely be seeing the show during its tour.
I was very lucky to have been there! I've seen it so many times before, but this was the very best performance ever. The energy from the house was incredibly high. Will surely miss this show and all involved. 🖤💚🖤💚
I saw it on tour in Detroit and I laughed and cried, I was so excited. It was such an amazing moment. I got so many compliments on my beetlejuice overalls and I saw so many others in amazing outfits. It was magical.
This musical is friendship to me. It was the one Broadway show my friends from high school all agreed to see when we all got jobs and were able to get tickets and all loved it. It was the show that I saw with my online friends when they came to New York. Most importantly, seeing this show was the one thing that my brother-in-law and I had in common and laid a foundation for me becoming friends with him when he first started dating my sister whom I am very overprotective of. Yes, it is an amazing show, but it is so much more to me
Beetlejuice was my very first and last Broadway show that I've seen, and it means so much to me that I can't even put it into words. Those two hours in that theatre were the best two hours of my life
Earlier this year in i think February, I was looking for bootlegs of musicals and I came across one from 2019 of Beetlejuice. I had only ever heard the famous tiktok sounds, but I decided to give it a go. As soon as I watched that bootleg, it absolutely consumed my life. I literally couldn't sleep because the songs were just rumination through my head. I was only 14, and now I'm 15, but I can say with certainty that I had never loved something like I loved that show. I love music (I play trombone) and it has always been a huge part of my life, but seeing ever just a illegally taken recording of this show just made me fall in love with musical theatre and broadway so much I watched every clip I could find, and literally stalked elizabeths Instagram page through April as she reopened the show. It suddenly hit me that since I live in Australia and was only 14, I would probably never get to see the show on broadway, which made me a lot more upset than it should have-instead I just lived vicariously through Instagram retweets of people who lived in new york seeing it. Fast forward to July and I find out that we're going overseas to watch my sister play soccer in the under 20s world cup (in costa rica) and that we're going to the UsA for a few days first. I didn't really want to go because I very much hate missing school (and band) but I didn't really have a choice. I begged and begged my parents to let us go to new york, solely for the purpose of seeing this show. Since that the only way they could actually get me to happily come along, the said yes. I have to say here that i am realising how absolutely blessed i am to get this kind of opportunity at all- the gratitude i feel for my parents is immeasurable. I knew the show wasn't the kind that would be on broadway for years and years, so part of me knew that this would be my only chance of ever seeing it on broadway so i was absolutely ecstatic. Unfortunately, we weren't sure if we were actually going to go at all, because we had to wait to see if my sister actually got into the team. Up to two weeks before leaving, i still didn't know whether i would be going. The fates were on my side, because we ended up on the plane. From August 6-10 we were in new york. I saw thee show with my sister and mum on the 7th. Those three in new york were hands down the best days of my life. Seeing the show live was literally life changing, and i can say with confidence that i don't think I'll ever experience something like that again. Fast forward to now i;m back in sydney where i live, i still follow kerry and Elizabeth and i still stalk the show (and now the national tour) incessantly. Hearing that it was closing genuinely upset me-it was a huge part of my still very short life, and now it was in one sense, finished. Thi show made me fall back in love with music, and is now the reason i dream of playing in an orchestra in a broadway show or professional musical. I know I'm young, but that doesn't change what I've felt for this show. So, that it what it means to me :). I have eternal thanks for every single person who has worked on the show, especially eddie perfect who is actually from Australia and Elizabeth who is such a huge role model for a young girl like me. Anyway, that's the end. I hope anyone who got to this point has the best day ever. I did not proof read this and i do not plan to since its so ridiculously long so i probably makes no sense, but thats ok.
BEETLEJUICE was the gateway musical for me. I fell out of love with theatre in middle school and never thought I’d ever pick it back up but this show reignited my passion for creating art on stage and now I’m a technical theatre major in college. I have this show to thank for it.
Beetlejuice doesn't mean what it means to most people for me, because I've never seen it, or really had any hope of seeing it but it still holds a place in my heart. I'm a competitive dancer and last year my musical theatre dance was to a medley of Beetlejuice songs, I listened to the cast recording obsessively on spotify and really relate to feeling invisible. Ironically, the place I felt most invisible was my dance studio where I spent hours learning this dance. When it came time for auditions I auditioned for Lydia, this was the first time I'd ever auditioned for anything more than ensemble in the 10 years I'd been doing musical theatre dances. I didn't get it and really that's alright because this was also the year competions really went back to normal, I got to be on a stage in front of people for the first time in two years and it made me remember why I love dance so much. So thank you Beetlejuice, for inspiring me and helping me remember why I'm so passionate about dance, I might never get to see it on broadway but I know it was just as wonderful as everyone says.
I’m so glad I got to see this show before it closed last month. Honestly it was one of the most fun Broadway experiences that I’ve ever had and that’s why Beetlejuice is great, it’s fun! I mean we could talk technical merits of the show, like book, music, etc, but the reason why I think the show works is that it still captures the essential story of the movie but still is very much it’s own thing. It’s not a “remake” but a reimagining and sure while everything doesn’t work 100%, it’s definitely one of the better adaptations I’ve seen. This show will never truly die but will haunt theaters and eventually high schools for years to come.
I got the chance to watch Beetlejuice on Broadway in Jan 2020. It was one of the last weeks with Sophia Anne Caruso as Lydia. And, while that's big, it was also the last musical I saw before the global pandemic. It will hold a special place in my heart because it's an experience that cannot be reproduced. After the past few years, time seems to melt together - but I will always remember Beetlejuice: The Musical as one of my last pre-pandemic memories.
I drove from Chicago to NYC to see the show last month.
I wish it could have gone on longer --- I shall definitely catch it on tour.