Eddie is Perfect as ghost with the most in Beetlejuice

Perth Now

15-05-2025

Say it three times, Eddie Perfect's Beetlejuice the Musical is onstage Down Under.
Having penned the music and lyrics for the hit Broadway show, Perfect also plays the ghost with the most, Beetlejuice himself, in the Australian production opening at Melbourne's Regent Theatre on Saturday.
Based on Tim Burton's 1988 cult classic, it tells the story of teenager Lydia Deetz, who is obsessed with death and finds herself living in a haunted house inhabited by a demon with green hair and a stripy suit.
A musical version of Beetlejuice seems, ahem, perfect for the Melbourne-born writer, composer and performer who made his name with edgy satirical theatre.
"This is a show about finding the most distressing taboos, which is death, dying and grief, and just sticking a greasy finger right on the raw nerve and poking it," he said.
This makes for dark and at times confronting comedy according to Perfect, but it's a chance to laugh at the things we are most afraid of, and if sold-out previews are any indication, Australian audiences have very much got the joke.
The show opened on Broadway in 2019, where it had a shaky start - Perfect feared it might have to close within a fortnight - but there may have been supernatural forces at work.
"It was like an ember sitting in a forest for a really long time until it really caught on. So I was just like, how do we make it to next week?" he recalled.
"It took us a while to find our audience, and when we did, it just exploded, it was crazy."
Beetlejuice was nominated for eight Tony awards during its four-year run, including for Best Original Score. The musical has since been translated for productions worldwide, with a Polish version the latest in the works.
The Australian production stars Karis Oka as Lydia Deetz, Elise McCann as Barbara, Rob Johnson as Adam, Erin Clare as Delia and Tom Wren as Charles.
And Perfect as Beetlejuice - a role he would never have dreamed of playing himself, if the production team hadn't invited him to.
The show's writers are adding new jokes even as opening night approaches, and previews have been a chance to figure out how audiences in his hometown react to the material - gags that killed on Broadway might leave his local audience cold, he said.
"We're still learning how they respond and it's pretty wild, there are moments in the show where you've just got to wait for them to finish laughing, which is a real joy."
"I'll be at this stage for a really long time just learning how to do the show better every time we do it. When all of the elements come together, it's so satisfying."
The Australian production is being staged in Melbourne, backed in part with major events funding from the Victorian government.