LYDIA TO THE FORE
Center stage in B’way ‘Beetlejuice’
It’s showtime — and goth, are we pleased.
“Beetlejuice” may be the name on the marquee outside the Winter Garden Theatre — but it might as well be “Lydia.”
The goth girl brought to life by Winona Ryder in the 1988 movie is now the central character in the Broadway musical version of the fantasy-comedy opening Thursday.
And even while dressed in black and obsessed with death, powerhouse Sophia Anne Caruso, just 17, manages to light up the stage as Lydia. When she’s not bantering with Beetlejuice — a poltergeist played by Alex Brightman — Caruso belts out songs like “Dead Mom” that explain why her character’s so sullen in a way that the film never did.
“It focuses more on Lydia’s plot and her journey,” Caruso tells the Daily News of the musical. “She’s such a fan favorite in the movie and I always wondered, ‘Why was she sad?’ And you don’t really learn that in the movie. This version focuses on her story of why she is the way she is, why she’s sad and how she’s grieving.”
The production starts out somewhat like the film — with married couple Adam and Barbara Maitland dying and then stuck as ghosts in their suburban home. Lydia moves into the home with her dad, Charles, and Delia, Lydia’s “life coach” and her father’s secret girlfriend. Lydia is still deeply grieving the death of her mother.
“I think it’s really important that we’re sharing the authentic way that a teenager feels when they’re grieving,” Caruso says.
Caruso launched her professional career at age 9 after landing the role of Helen Keller in “The Miracle Worker,” directed by Patty Duke. Among a number of other credits, she also appeared in 2013s “The Sound of Music Live!” as Brigitta von Trapp.
“Beetlejuice” has all the markings of a big flashy musical, too. Like the film starring Michael Keaton in the title role, there are overthe-top costumes and sets, creepy undead creatures, furniture with teeth and a giant sandworm puppet. And of course, Beetlejuice wants Lydia to say his name three times to summon him back into the real world.
In one scene, Beetlejuice, with his demon skills, sends the Maitlands through the floor of their former living room. Between that and other physically demanding scenes, Kerry Butler, who plays Barbara Maitland in the show, broke down onstage for the first time ever during rehearsals.
“I was really stressed out the first week of performing the show, I needed a lot of massages because I would just be so scared,” Butler, 47, tells The News.
The show had to be toned down a bit for Broadway from its original raunchy run in Washington, D.C.
“I let my kids see it in D.C. and my daughter was like, ‘They said the F-word a ot!’ ” Bensonhurst, rooklyn-born Butler aid. “That was one of the irst things she said to me. Now, it’s still raunchy, it asn’t lost that edginess. ut now parents will take heir kids and the kids will think they’re getting way with something nd the parents will be ike, ‘OK, it’s not that bad.’ t really walks the line erfectly now.” Caruso is also happy that the New York version of “Beetlejuice” is designed for a somewhat younger audience than the D.C. one. “We’ve edited it so that you don’t lose any of the supercrass sick humor,” she says. “But it is edited to make it more appropriate crass humor for 2019, for one, and for youth. And I think that it’s really important that young people see our show because it is about a young person grieving. And that’s something that isn’t ever talked about with kids, so I think it’s actually really cool.”