So that’s an upbeat ending to a mixed season overall. And the production’s entire run in Orlando is sold out. Phillips Center on opening night (and there was a similar line on an upper level). “Beetlejuice” clearly has a fan base: The queue for souvenir purchases stretched down the long lobby of the Dr. Is “Beetlejuice” theater for the ages? No, but it is a spirited night of entertainment. The second act is creakier than the first, but the big dance numbers do their job and keep the energy high. Phillips Center)Īnd understudy Lexie Dorsett Sharp displays excellent comic timing as a goofy life coach who gets tangled up with the ghosts. Isabella Esler stars as young Lydia, grieving her mother, in “Beetlejuice.” (Courtesy Matthew Murphy via Dr. It’s gorgeously lit, by Kenneth Posner, on an inventively askew set, by David Korins, with pitch-perfect costumes, by William Ivey Long. There’s a pleasing sly meta factor in that Beetlejuice himself talks to the audience and knows it’s all a show. (An enjoyable subplot finds a young couple learning how to live their best lives - after they’ve died.) But it’s truly just a smidge of that nothing can get in the way of the double entendres in this story of a girl who’s lost her mom and, like the titular ghost, feels invisible. There’s even a soupcon of depth, if you think about how people cope with grief and loss and loneliness. “Beetlejuice” is loud and crass and weird - and a heck of a lot of fun. With no preconceived notions, I was pleasantly surprised. So, having missed the musical’s Broadway runs around the COVID-19 shutdown, I didn’t know what to expect from the stage musical. It helped that I had never seen the hit 1988 comedy film (we can discuss that oversight in my cultural education later). Phillips Center for the Performing Arts with an open mind. And, God knows, Orlando audiences were already burned in this season’s touring Broadway series by a dismal version of “Pretty Woman.”īut I decided to attend “Beetlejuice” at the Dr. Order a copy online from Dare’s Etsy page and you’ll find the care taking over the wrapping, down to the choice of tape matches that applied to the book.There’s an automatic snobbishness among theater purists about a musical adapted from a movie. Don’t let that put you off as the two volumes we have are refreshing, funny adventure and supply the positive message that you should be who you are. Sadly, it’s not be completed as Dare has moved on to other projects. The way In High Spirits ends indicates that Dare planned more Penny Blackfeather, and there is more as In Deep Waters began serialisation on the bespoke Penny Blackfeather site. Some of the story elements really need more space, although the giant parrot certainly gets it. This allows for a greater story density over 120 pages, but restricts the visual impact. While Dare is a good artist, and provides some great portraits separating the chapters, there’s a restriction imposed by sticking largely to four tiers of panels per page. The way Dare keeps on top of everything over two manic middle chapters is masterful, and at the same time she supplies some surprising insights into people we didn’t think had it in them. It provides not so much a Regencypunk adventure, but a Restoration farce. While some of the better intentioned cast remain at cross purposes, there’s no doubting which of them are truly malign as Francesca Dare gradually gathers more and more of them in the same location. In High Spirits accelerates Penny’s learning curve amid a grand adventure during which we learn a lot more about her supporting cast. As seen in her first outing, Penny is accompanied by the ghost of her pirate grandfather, she’s discovered that our world is not all there is, and part of that process involved rescuing a still un-named young gentleman with magical abilities and his ever-present parrot. As Penny Blackfeather, though, in a mystical world she has an outlet for her adventurous desires. Bored with her regency-era life when opportunities for women to shine were few, Penelope Blake stands apart from her family, being her own woman unconcerned about marriage to chinless wonders presented to her.
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