Review: BEETLEJUICE at Prince Edward Theatre

Stuart King 29 May, 2026, 02:06

Tomb it may concern: it would be a grave mistake to miss seeing BEETLEJUICE: THE MUSICAL. It's dead good. Snuff said!

Retaining all the best bits from Tim Burton's 1988, irreverent, cult classic movie, the show written by Scott Brown and Anthony King opened at the Prince Edward this week and incorporates an array of theatrical additions including fun and zesty music and lyrics by Aussie singer-songwriter (or should that be, de-composer?) Eddie Perfect. The end result, is something between an absolute blast and a non-stop, total riot.

David Fynn as Beetlejuice and Hannah Nordberg as Lydia Deetz with Company © Johan Persson

Consigned to the nightmarishly bureaucratic netherworld (the attic of their former home) following an electrical wiring accident, newly-dead recently-weds Adam and Barbara Maitland (David Hunter and Chelsea Halfpenny) are horrified to discern the presence of new occupiers at their beloved house. To add insult to head injury, the chief interloper Charles Deetz (Alasdair Harvey) is an unscrupulous estate agent (is there any other kind?) who after the death of his wife has moved to the country with his goth daughter Lydia (Hannah Nordberg) and 'life coach'Delia (Aimie Atkinson) where he plans to turn the dilapidated property into the show home for a new gated community.

With limited options, Adam and Barbara are forced to take drastic action and summon the after-life's leading bio-exorcist Beetlejuice (David Fynn) to Deetz-terminate their problematic infestation, but when they prove too nice and bottle-it, it is Lydia who ultimately says his name three times, to invoke BEETLEJUICE's demonic presence. Thereafter the creative team go wild, throwing everything at the production numbers whilst leaving enough space for the cast to develop personalities we can warm to.

Directed by Alex Timbers on a set designed by David Korins with the seemingly death-defying William Ivey Long delivering the costumes (for his 75th production!) the overall technical elements of the show prove exceedingly tight. Tightly scripted, tightly choreographed, tightly delivered and for all that, with its great tunes it manages to feel fresh and crisply improvised, thanks to the writing team's comedy and music credentials. I'm reliably informed that the show's running time barely fluctuates by a matter of seconds every performance, which is a neat trick with the sheer volume of seemingly impromptu gags. Among the scripted comedic ad-libs are a whole host of snappily humorous nods and digs at other musicals, most notably Wicked and Paddington — but there are many more — and all are brilliantly landed with tongues firmly embedded in cheeks. There is great work from the sound, projection, special effects and magic tricks and illusions teams, which ensure the visual gags keep coming.

If there was a musical which literally has lined itself up to step into Paddington's shoes and win best musical at next year's Oliviers, it is BEETLEJUICE. In the title role, a huge amount of credit must go to David Fynn, whose capacity to imbue superhuman (and supernatural) energy and comic timing, is a delight to behold.

BEETLEJUICE has a running time of 2 hours 30 mins (including interval) and is scheduled to continue at the Prince Edward Theatre in Soho until April 2027. Don't miss it — you're a long time dead!

Beetlejuice Tickets