Beetlejuice: The Musical has arrived at London’s West End, generating crowd noise so intense it draws comparisons to some of the biggest live events in recent memory.
The premiere at the Prince Edward Theatre prompted screaming after every song, regardless of quality, with audiences delivering what one reviewer described as a “carnal screech” throughout the evening.
The production follows a Broadway run and represents composer and lyricist Eddie Perfect’s adaptation of Tim Burton’s cult classic film about a teenage girl who connects with ghosts haunting her house.
Burton’s fanbase has demonstrated its loyalty repeatedly in recent years, most visibly at the Design Museum’s 2024 exhibition dedicated to the director, which featured original drawings and props.
That exhibition, titled The World of Tim Burton, became the highest-selling show in the museum’s 35-year history, shifting 32,000 advance tickets before the doors had even opened to the public.
The 2024 sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice further demonstrated the franchise’s commercial pull, grossing $452 million from International audiences against a comparable blockbuster average of between $250 and $300 million.
Against that backdrop of fervent fan loyalty, the question of whether the musical itself succeeds on artistic terms may be somewhat beside the point for its core audience.
The show runs at the vast 1,727-seat Prince Edward Theatre and carries obvious high production value, with a cast described as uniformly capable, including David Fynn in the title role.
Chasity Crisp’s Juno and Hannah Nordberg’s Lydia Deetz are singled out as standouts, bringing what the review describes as snarkier, meatier material to their respective roles on stage.
For non-devotees, however, the experience can feel strangely flat despite the spectacle, with the score offering no memorable hooks and comedy lines frequently failing to land, particularly those aimed at adult audiences.
That shortcoming undermines both the character of Beetlejuice and the production as a whole, leaving it feeling defanged despite the considerable technical resources on display throughout the evening.
The show runs for just under three hours and presents a relentless sequence of high-energy skits, a volume of material that ultimately dilutes the impact of any individual moment or scene.
The overall effect is visually overstimulating, and the production is unlikely to convert anyone not already won over by the original film’s eccentric story of warring ghostly and human factions.
Beetlejuice: The Musical plays at the Prince Edward Theatre until 17 April 2027, where it will no doubt continue to draw those ear-splitting screams from audiences who already know every word.