‘Beetlejuice Jr.’ brings Broadway’s strange and unusual world to Milford

Second Street Players puts young local performers at center stage in the Broadway hit, offering Milford families some spooky fun just in time for Halloween

MILFORD, Del. — Beetlejuice is coming to Milford — and this time, the “ghost with the most” is bringing a cast of young local performers with him.

Second Street Players will present “Beetlejuice Jr.” for two weekends, Oct. 9-18, at the Riverfront Theater in downtown Milford.

Directed by Alan Lane and Rachel Loper, the production combines one of Broadway’s most recognizable recent musicals with Second Street Players’ community-theater tradition and a large cast of young performers.

And the timing may be just about perfect.

Opening three weeks before Halloween, “Beetlejuice Jr.” offers families a seasonal night out that mixes ghosts, outrageous comedy, music and some surprisingly serious themes about grief, family and belonging.

From cult movie to Broadway phenomenon

The story began with Tim Burton’s 1988 movie “Beetlejuice,” starring Michael Keaton as the mischievous title character alongside Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis and Winona Ryder.

Three decades later, the strange and macabre comedy was transformed into a stage musical with music and lyrics by Eddie Perfect and a book by Scott Brown and Anthony King.

The Broadway production opened in 2019 and received eight Tony Award nominations, including best musical, best book and best original score.

But the show developed another distinction that helps explain why it is a particularly good fit for Second Street Players: Young audiences embraced it.

Music Theatre International, which licenses “Beetlejuice Jr.,” says the Broadway production developed a particularly enthusiastic following among young theater fans attracted to its irreverent humor as well as the emotional honesty underneath the supernatural mayhem.

The junior edition condenses the Broadway musical into a roughly 60-minute, one-act production specifically adapted for young performers. It carries a PG rating.

There’s a real story underneath the ghosts

For all of its ghoulish fun, “Beetlejuice Jr.” is also the story of a teenager trying to find her way after losing her mother.

Lydia Deetz moves with her father into a new home, only to discover that it is occupied by the ghosts of recently deceased couple Adam and Barbara Maitland.

Then there is Beetlejuice.

Lydia turns to the unpredictable demon to help frighten away the living, but Beetlejuice has plans of his own. What follows is a fast-moving mix of supernatural chaos, comedy and music.

Underneath it all, however, Lydia is struggling with grief and her relationship with her father. That gives the show an emotional center that distinguishes it from a simple Halloween comedy.

The musical also includes songs familiar to fans of the Broadway production, including “The Whole ‘Being Dead’ Thing,” “Dead Mom,” “Say My Name,” “Home” and “Jump in the Line.”

Milford’s young actors take over the Netherworld

For Milford audiences, however, the Broadway pedigree may be less important than who is on the Riverfront Theater stage.

The production showcases young performers from the community, giving them an opportunity to tackle a contemporary Broadway musical that requires acting, singing, dancing, comedy and plenty of theatrical energy.

Jackson Corbett takes on the title role of Beetlejuice, with Ella Soni playing Lydia Deetz.

Storm Cole appears as Lydia’s father, Charles Deetz, while Sage Abrams and McKenna Purcell play the recently deceased Adam and Barbara Maitland. Liv Anne plays Delia Schlimmer and Miss Argentina.

For families connected to the performers, schools and community, that makes the production something different from simply seeing a touring Broadway show.

The people on stage are their neighbors, classmates, friends and family members.

A Halloween-season night in downtown Milford

The production also gives families another reason to spend an evening in downtown Milford.

Second Street Players has been a longtime part of the city’s cultural life, producing community theater from its Riverfront Theater at 2 S. Walnut St.

“Beetlejuice Jr.” provides an especially accessible introduction for younger audiences who may never have attended a community theater production.

They may already know Beetlejuice from the original movie, its 2024 sequel or the Broadway musical. Once inside the theater, however, they will see those characters recreated by young performers from their own community.

And while ghosts, the Netherworld and Beetlejuice’s trademark black-and-white stripes make it an obvious October choice, the production doesn’t require audiences to be horror fans.

This is spooky comedy rather than a haunted-house scare.

For Second Street Players, that combination of a nationally recognizable title, a young local cast and Halloween-season timing could make “Beetlejuice Jr.” one of Milford’s more unusual family outings this fall.

As Beetlejuice himself might put it: It’s showtime.

TO GO

What: Second Street Players presents “Beetlejuice Jr.”

When: 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 9-10 and Oct. 16-17; 2 p.m. Sundays, Oct. 11 and Oct. 18

Where: Second Street Players Riverfront Theater, 2 S. Walnut St., Milford

Directors: Alan Lane and Rachel Loper

About: A 60-minute, PG-rated Broadway Junior adaptation featuring a large cast of young performers and based on the Broadway musical inspired by Tim Burton’s 1988 film.

Tickets: Reserved seating is available through Second Street Players.

More information: Second Street Players

Tickets: Second Street Players ticket portal