Broadway’s Beetlejuice Closes Today, Filming Rumors Confirmed by Producer

Everyone's favorite "demon from hell" is taking the show on the road in a national tour that launched this past December at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre and will tour 26 cities around the country.

Earlier this week Beetlejuice producers confirmed the long-time rumor that the musical was about to be filmed for release - but unfortunately, plans did not materialize in time.

Here's what we now know about the future of the live capture of Beetlejuice:

Originally playing to sold-out, standing-room-only audiences at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre, Beetlejuice was forced to shutter on March 12, 2020 along with the rest of Broadway.

In a recent interview for the Hollywood Reporter, producer Mark Kaufman revealed that the team was gearing up to film the show just a couple of weeks before being forced to close.

When asked about those plans, Kaufman said that the mixed reception to some of the live Broadway captures during the pandemic made producers rethink the strategy of filming the show for release "at this time".

As reception to most live captures during the shutdown was overwhelmingly positive (Hamilton and Come From Away are easy examples), we think Kaufman is referring to the Netflix release of Broadway's Diana, a musical that was mocked online after the live capture managed to anger fans of the royal family worldwide.

While the quality of the capture was top-notch, the musical's campiness did not transfer well on film when captured in an empty theater with no audience reaction. The show eventually opened on Broadway, only to close a month later due to low attendance.

"During the pandemic, a lot of these video captures came out, some successful, some not as successful. I think it’s a very expensive venture, and I think at this moment in time, it wasn’t the right idea for us to focus on it", said Kaufman.

Eventually, the overwhelming demand for the musical during the shutdown led producers to resurrect the show for its second Broadway bow. With the show now going on an extensive tour, it still is possible Beetlejuice will be filmed down the road, as capturing a show on tour is considerably cheaper than filming it live on Broadway.

With producers already toying with the idea of a live capture and securing a platform that would finance part of the expanse, we believe this could still be a possibility. Kaufman did not reject the idea that the show might be filmed in the future.

When Beetlejuice makes its final Broadway bow today, it will have played 27 previews at the Winter Garden Theatre and 366 regular performances, and 313 regular performances during its return engagement at Broadways' Marquis Theater, for a total of 679 Broadway performances.

Before the theatrical shutdown, you had plans to do a film capture of the musical. Did anything come of that? We had planned to do it in April [2020]. And a lot of things happened. During the pandemic, a lot of these video captures came out, some successful, some not as successful. I think it’s a very expensive venture, and I think at this moment in time, it wasn’t the right idea for us to focus on it.

The musical stars two-time Tony Award nominee Alex Brightman, Elizabeth Teeter, Tony Award nominee Kerry Butler, David Josefsberg, Obie Award Winner Adam Dannheisser, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Michelle Aravena, Kelvin Moon Loh, Zonya Love, Danny Rutigliano, and Dana Steingold.

It's showtime, folks! The ghost-with-the-most has been haunting Broadway since 2019, in this edgy and irreverent musical comedy based on Tim Burton's dearly beloved film. BEETLEJUICE tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager whose life changes when she meets a recently deceased couple and Beetlejuice, a demon with a thing for stripes.

When Lydia calls on Beetlejuice to scare away anyone with a pulse, this double-crossing specter unleashes a (Nether)world of pandemonium, and the biggest sandworm Broadway has ever seen. Everyone's favorite demon from hell is taking the show on the road with the BEETLEJUICE National 26-city Tour, which launched December 6, 2022, at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre.