SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 9, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Halloween is coming early to the Eccles Theater this week as “Beetlejuice” rolls into town.
Based on Tim Burton’s film, a cult classic that was released in 1988, the musical tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager whose whole life changes when she meets a recently deceased couple and a demon with a thing for stripes, who can be summoned by saying his name three times.
The show, which is recommended for audiences ages 10 and up, opened earlier in the week with shows Friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are available here.
The piece, with music and lyrics by Eddie Perfect and a book by Scott Brown and Anthony King, opened on Broadway in April 2019 and closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It then reopened at a different theater in New York in April 2022 before closing in January 2023. The U.S. national tour of the production began in December 2022.
We spoke to Jackera Davis, who plays Girl Scout and is the understudy for Lydia. The Girl Scout, who is named Skye, opens Act Two with a song of the same name, describing to the audience how she has arrhythmia. “Only takes one shock and I could be dead from the fear,” she sings. She rings the doorbell of the Deetzes’ house and is greeted by Lydia, who invites her inside. However, Beetlejuice appears and frightens her into leaving.
Davis told Gephardt Daily about her path to becoming a professional performer.
“I always liked performing and thought I would do it in some way, or some fashion; I started out in church choir, and they had plays and stuff that I would participate in,” she said. “And then from there once I got into middle school and high school, they would have plays and stuff. I would audition for them. So in sixth grade I did a play, my very first play. And I did my very first musical actually as a freshman in high school and my parents didn’t really know that I could sing the way that I do, I guess. And even to audition I remember forging my Mom’s signature. From then on, I was sort of like, I’m super passionate about this, and I want to learn more about this and I just really dedicated all my time to getting better at it.”
Davis was cast in “Beetlejuice” not long after she graduated from Sam Houston State University in Texas with a BFA in musical theater, and this is her first national tour. She explained how she came to be cast in the show.
“I got an agent through this sort of intensive I went to, like a showcase for different agencies, and I ended up meeting with my agent and I signed with them,” Davis said. “Your agent basically just sends you out for auditions. So I got this one. And at first I sent in a self-tape and they wanted to see me again and I wasn’t able to fly out from Houston, Texas, I was unable to fly out that time and then they wanted to see me for a third time. And they flew me out and I sent in all the material, and then like a couple of weeks later I found out that I got the job.”
She added: “I joined at the beginning of the tour, we all started in New York. We rehearsed for about a month in New York in October, then we went to Paducah, Kentucky, which is a very random place, and then we teched there, then we opened in San Francisco.”
Davis said she’s enjoying touring with such a big production.
“It’s so much fun. Our cast and crew are just such kind people, everyone is so nice and welcoming and warm, and we’re just like a big family here, so it’s super duper fun, really fun” she said.
Davis said she tries to go out and explore the towns and cities the show visits; the tour has taken the company to around 20 states so far.
“I looked up the trails and state parks here [in Utah] that I’m going to try and hit up before the week is over, so we’re definitely able to adventure a little bit,” she said. “Which is really, really cool; probably one of the best perks of the job is just getting to explore.”
She added: “I love being super active, I love going on walks and exploring the cities, normally I try to find a super cute coffee shop to go to, like local mom and pop coffee shops. I’ll try and take fitness classes, like pilates, to keep myself active. I just bought a puzzle last night, like a 1,000 piece puzzle. I’m always looking for something to keep my mind active while we’re doing a show.”
Davis said fans of “Beetlejuice” often dress up and will attend more than once. “Our fans are so dedicated, they’ll come up to the stage door and one time we had a full Miss Argentina, blue from head to toe, I don’t know how they did it. People wear Beetlejuice suits, of all ages too, there’ll be 5 year olds at the stage door, in the Beetlejuice suit, it’s the cutest thing in the world. It’s so incredible. I’ve seen like exact replicas of my costume on stage as the Girl Scout every night.”
She said the show is suitable for families. “We have all ages coming, I definitely feel like it is a family show, I mean obviously there are some jokes in there that are a little more catered to the adults but I feel like most of the time it just goes over the children’s heads, I feel like it’s super entertaining for all age ranges.”
Davis also said that because she’s understudying Lydia, it keeps the show feeling new to her. “It keeps the show super fresh just being able to pop into a huge role like that,” she said.
She added that there are a few bucket list items she wants to achieve in the future. “I’d love to be on Broadway, I haven’t done that quite yet,” she said. “I’d love to do TV and film, I’m super interested in that as well. So there are definitely some things that are like on my radar that I’m super interested in doing and hoping to do in the future.”
More information and tickets to “Beetlejuice” are available here.
