Eddie Perfect is set to play the titular role in the stage musical of Beetlejuice when it makes its Australian premiere next year – playing exclusively in Melbourne.
Perfect earned a Tony nomination for the music and lyrics for Beetlejuice which he wrote, and is now set to star as the most mischievous corpse in the history of musicals.
The otherworldly comedy will begin performances on 7 May 2025 at the Regent Theatre.
Beetlejuice is an original musical based on Tim Burton’s cult 1988 film of the same name. It tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager who is obsessed with being dead. Lydia discovers her new house is haunted by a recently deceased couple – who were the previous owners of the home – as well as Beetlejuice, a degenerate demon.
Lydia decides to call on Beetlejuice to scare away her insufferable parents and Beetlejuice comes up with the perfect plan, which involves exorcism, an adorable girl scout who gets scared out of her wits and a whole (nether)world of pandemonium.
Perfect, who was a beloved stage star before shooting to acclaim in the hit series Offspring, said he was overjoyed to not only bring first Broadway smash-hit home, but to have the opportunity to play Beetlejuice himself and perform the songs he wrote for the show.
“I had the privilege of watching Alex Brightman create the role of Beetlejuice from the ground up. Alex wasn’t afraid of anything in rehearsal. I’m hoping to harness some of that fearlessness when I rehearse the role for myself,” Perfect said.
“Beetlejuice is a taboo-busting, shape-shifting, fourth-wall-smashing, free-lovin’ ball of neediness and I’m excited (and a healthy amount daunted) to play the role and represent the wonderful work of my collaborators – Scott Brown and Anthony King who wrote the hilarious book, and Alex Timbers our visionary director.
“And I’m especially thrilled to be able to bring the world of Beetlejuice back to Melbourne, to share this strange and unusual tale with my home town,” he said.
The otherworldly comedy will begin performances on 7 May 2025 at the Regent Theatre. Tickets will be available to the general public from 6 November with fans urged to sign up to the waitlist at beetlejuicethemusical.com.au to jump the line and get the best seats in the house during the presale from 31 October.
