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[0:02] Tori Bullard: You're listening to Stage Door Podcast, the podcast celebrating theatre and creativity from on stage mishaps to career defining moments.

[0:12] Eliza Gunther: Hosted by Thespians, myself, Tori, and co-host Eliza.

[0:15] Tori Bullard: Fortnightly, we will bring you industry professional guests, deep dives and more.

[0:22] Tori Bullard: Hello everyone, and welcome back to Stage Door Podcast for another one of our patented deep dives, for which we find ourselves joined by our on call theatre dork, Gareth Isaac.

[0:33] Gareth Isaac: Hello, he's back.

[0:35] Tori Bullard: He is back.

[0:36] Eliza Gunther: We also made the absolutely disgusting decision, due to everyone's schedules, to record this at 7am on a Monday on a public holiday.

[0:47] Tori Bullard: I've got three brain cells and they're spinning like bay blades.

[0:50] Eliza Gunther: Let's go.

[0:51] Tori Bullard: Yeah, so let's get started, friends.

[0:54] Tori Bullard: We are thrilled to be diving into another amazing musical as voted by our audience.

[1:00] Tori Bullard: And this time it is the cult classic, TikTok famous Back from the Dead hit Beetlejuice.

[1:07] Tori Bullard: Adapted from the 1988 Tim Burton film of the same name, Beetlejuice began as an off-Broadway tryout in Washington, DC in 2018, before making its way to the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway in 2019.

[1:21] Tori Bullard: While initially not dazzling the Broadway crowd, a combination of clever viral marketing on TikTok and a stellar Tony Awards performance featuring new lyrics, the show gained an incredibly vocal and adoring fan base.

[1:35] Tori Bullard: The show brought together an incredible team of Broadway stars like Alex Brightman, Sophia Ancaruso, Rob McClure, and Leslie Kritzer, while also bringing a powerhouse creative team in the forms of Scott Brown and Anthony King on Book Duty, and Australia's own Eddie Perfect on music and lyrics.

[1:54] Tori Bullard: The show managed to be nominated for an impressive eight Tony Awards in 2019, but didn't manage to take any out.

[2:01] Tori Bullard: Beetlejuice the Musical is probably most famous or infamous for its early closure and subsequent resurrection.

[2:08] Tori Bullard: In 2020, on March 11th, due to the Broadway COVID shutdown, Beetlejuice closed its doors for the last time, and due to an opt-out clause with the producers, it was revealed the show was set to close on June 6th.

[2:20] Tori Bullard: This was in spite of the show at the time setting theatre box office records.

[2:20] Tori Bullard: The Winter Garden Theatre was slated to instead house the revival of The Music Man, starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster.

[2:31] Tori Bullard: However, through clever production choices and an outpouring of fan love, in 2022, Beetlejuice rose once again and is now haunting the Marquis Theatre with a US national tour set to begin in September.

[2:44] Eliza Gunther: That is Beetlejuice, my friends.

[2:46] Tori Bullard: Yeah, thank you.

[2:46] Eliza Gunther: We can all go home now.

[2:47] Tori Bullard: Um, thank you so much for voting.

[2:49] Tori Bullard: Um until next time, stay happy, healthy and safe.

[2:52] Eliza Gunther: Um crazy.

[2:56] Tori Bullard: I actually literally last night watched, oh, what was it on?

[3:01] Tori Bullard: It must have been on TikTok because I am, um, hi, um, my name is Tori.

[3:06] Tori Bullard: I'm a TikTok addict.

[3:08] Tori Bullard: Um thank you for having me.

[3:10] Tori Bullard: Last night.

[3:11] Tori Bullard: First step is admitting it.

[3:13] Tori Bullard: Um I saw, um, a video, um, from the workshop.

[3:18] Tori Bullard: Uh like the first, well, maybe not the first, but a workshop with Sophia Ancaruso and Alex Brightman.

[3:24] Tori Bullard: And um, I can't think what this, I think it's called Say My Name is the same thing.

[3:29] Eliza Gunther: It is, yeah.

[3:29] Tori Bullard: I know, I know the one you're talking about.

[3:31] Tori Bullard: Yes, um, about the different lyrics, and some of them I was like, oh.

[3:37] Gareth Isaac: Yeah, well, that's the thing with Eddie Perfect's writing.

[3:40] Gareth Isaac: Like if you've heard any of his stuff before, like his work with Shane Warren the musical, I can't remember if he was writing on that or not, but some of the lyric choices are inspired, I think.

[3:50] Gareth Isaac: Um it can be quite crass because he comes from that generation of Australian comedians like your tripods, your Will Andersons who would just throw shit at a wall and see what sticks.

[4:00] Tori Bullard: That's why I was so excited to hear that he was doing this, following in the great trail blazed by our Lord and Saviour Tim Minchin for Aussies taking the Great White Way by storm.

[4:11] Eliza Gunther: Oh, a hundred percent.

[4:12] Eliza Gunther: Yeah, and the alternate lyrics to Say My Name are catchy as heck.

[4:16] Eliza Gunther: Like I love them.

[4:18] Eliza Gunther: But also, like, maybe not.

[4:21] Gareth Isaac: Yeah, um, look, I think there's definitely um a time and a place, um, for those kind of lyrics.

[4:28] Gareth Isaac: I don't think Beetlejuice, well, it's hard.

[4:32] Gareth Isaac: If it was like an off-Broadway show, I think it would have done better with that.

[4:39] Gareth Isaac: Um, but considering that it was in fact not, and it was obviously straight to, well, not straight to Broadway, they were obviously trial runs.

[4:49] Gareth Isaac: Um yeah, it just, it didn't work.

[4:53] Tori Bullard: And I guess maybe that's why, um, because obviously in something that I'm gonna bring up now because this is the train that I've gone on.

[5:01] Eliza Gunther: Oh, we're diving straight in.

[5:03] Tori Bullard: Um so obviously it did not sell well to begin with, um, and was resurrected by the love of the people of TikTok.

[5:11] Tori Bullard: Um I think it did, it took a while, I because I think obviously Broadway, very different to Australia.

[5:20] Tori Bullard: Um, you know, in America, you kind of, if you're into theatre and like you're a theatre person like us, maybe not some of the higher class people, but like theatre people like us, we'll just go and see anything, really, especially new work.

[5:34] Tori Bullard: Um, I feel like with the Marquis Theatre, which they're not at.

[5:39] Eliza Gunther: Never mind, I take that back.

[5:40] Tori Bullard: Where were they?

[5:41] Eliza Gunther: They were at the Winter Garden.

[5:43] Tori Bullard: They're at the Winter Garden, yes, which is one of those ones, it's one of the theatres on Broadway that has like the really big marquee out the front.

[5:51] Tori Bullard: It's right next to Stardust Um Diner, which is the singing diner, if you don't know it.

[5:56] Tori Bullard: Um, so I feel like it would get a lot of the kind of more um mainstream uh viewership versus the theatre and/or pop culture viewership.

[6:09] Gareth Isaac: Um I know a lot of cosplayers in America love this show.

[6:14] Gareth Isaac: Like absolutely adore it.

[6:17] Gareth Isaac: Um I think the market is a bit different for this show than maybe what they anticipated, and it took a little bit of time, more than they really had, to find that viewership, which is why TikTok kind of resurrected it, because obviously they had that clause, so they had to close the show, they didn't really have a choice.

[6:35] Tori Bullard: I completely agree, Tor.

[6:37] Gareth Isaac: Like, I think they might have underestimated just who the original source material was for.

[6:44] Gareth Isaac: Because like who created the movie? Tim bloody Burton, who of course brings with him this cadre of weirdos and outcasts and outside the social norm folk who love his work.

[6:59] Gareth Isaac: Trying to then market that to a larger scale audience, I think might have been an overshot.

[7:05] Gareth Isaac: Because, like, yes, the original movie is good, but it is good because of that Burton aspect.

[7:11] Gareth Isaac: It is not good on its own.

[7:12] Gareth Isaac: If it weren't Tim Burton at the helm, if you've got someone like David Lynch, who's famous for his weird stuff, or God forbid, a Spielberg or Zemeckis, the movie would not have hit as hard.

[7:23] Eliza Gunther: Exactly.

[7:30] Gareth Isaac: So I mean it's like, it's like when you compare like the Heathers movie to the Heathers musical.

[7:34] Eliza Gunther: Exactly.

[7:35] Eliza Gunther: It doesn't hit.

[7:37] Eliza Gunther: I feel like every deep dive we do comes back to comparing Heathers, but it's that same era.

[7:44] Tori Bullard: Yeah.

[7:44] Eliza Gunther: But ultimately, yes, you were completely right.

[7:47] Eliza Gunther: It's overshot, I think, in a smaller space like the Marquis, where it can actually generate fan love, so people actually have to go out of their way to see it rather than this big space like the Winter Garden, which you're right, is a very centralized theatre.

[8:02] Gareth Isaac: I walked past it multiple times in New York but never actually went in because I was poor.

[8:06] Eliza Gunther: Um yeah, it's one of the ones that has, you know, um, I think the first time I went, it was Mamma Mia, and it had the big spangly sign.

[8:14] Eliza Gunther: It's like you drive past it, you walk past it, you know exactly where it is because it has this.

[8:20] Gareth Isaac: Everyone has marquees.

[8:21] Gareth Isaac: I think it's one of the more um egregious marquees in New York because it is, you know, it's a marquee.

[8:30] Gareth Isaac: It's big, it's bright, it's colourful, it's to draw your attention and get you in.

[8:33] Eliza Gunther: Um now it's covered in stuff for The Music Man.

[8:36] Gareth Isaac: Yes.

[8:38] Gareth Isaac: I'm just gonna sidebar.

[8:40] Eliza Gunther: We didn't need The Music Man again.

[8:42] Gareth Isaac: We didn't, we don't think we really did.

[8:44] Eliza Gunther: No.

[8:47] Eliza Gunther: The world has moved past.

[8:45] Gareth Isaac: I'd rather Beetlejuice.

[8:47] Gareth Isaac: The world has moved past that era.

[8:48] Eliza Gunther: Can we not?

[8:49] Eliza Gunther: I prefer probably anything else.

[8:52] Gareth Isaac: Unless, like as I always say, unless they did something different with it.

[8:55] Gareth Isaac: Unless they made some form of, no, but it's just, it just is as it is.

[8:59] Eliza Gunther: Um anyway, that that's the sidebar done.

[9:02] Gareth Isaac: Thank you.

[9:02] Gareth Isaac: Farewell, Sutton Foster.

[9:03] Gareth Isaac: Farewell, Master Jackman.

[9:05] Gareth Isaac: Um, I think it was really good because when, you know, Beetlejuice did get the opportunity to reopen, which nobody I think really saw.

[9:12] Gareth Isaac: I think people wanted it, but when they were like, we're sorry, we're done, there's like nothing we can do, and then obviously COVID, um, I think it was very much like, oh, it's dead.

[9:23] Eliza Gunther: So when it reopened, oh my god, it's been like selling out constantly the amount of people going.

[9:31] Gareth Isaac: I know, excuse me, the amount of people I follow on TikTok that fly to New York specifically to see it, which like, you know, uh, people do fly to New York just to see shows, but I mean people that are not necessarily, you know, theatre people, I say in air quotes.

[9:47] Eliza Gunther: Yeah, that's the thing about this show.

[9:48] Eliza Gunther: I think when I watched it, okay.

[9:50] Eliza Gunther: So when I listened to the soundtrack, I wasn't completely blown away, but I really enjoyed it.

[9:57] Eliza Gunther: But then when I watched it, that was a completely different experience.

[10:01] Eliza Gunther: I think when I watched it, I thought this is brilliant, and I'm surprised it closed.

[10:09] Eliza Gunther: But maybe that's also because so many changes have happened over a period to make it a better show.

[10:16] Gareth Isaac: As like, well, as I was saying, um, they, uh, the ticket sales, they kind of had like, I don't know 100% how this works, what I can only assume, they had a cutoff date of when they kind of had to be um making the money back, um, rather than being at a loss, which they were for their opening period.

[10:35] Gareth Isaac: They were at a loss, they weren't selling well.

[10:38] Gareth Isaac: Um, so they had a cutoff date for the Winter Garden to then say, alright guys, as of then this date, we'll be closing.

[10:38] Eliza Gunther: Um unfortunately, after the cutoff date for them to do well, is when they actually started to do really well when they started to get a bit of a cult following.

[10:54] Tori Bullard: It's kind of, it is honestly a bit of a Heathers in that there isn't, there's quite an intense cult following for it, and look, it did bring the show back from the dead.

[11:02] Eliza Gunther: Um, but moving over into the music side of things a little bit, um, and obviously, is there any show better to be brought back from the dead than Beetlejuice?

[11:10] Gareth Isaac: I was just gonna say that.

[11:11] Gareth Isaac: Everyone has said it.

[11:13] Gareth Isaac: Oh, it's a show about an undead guy and it's come back from the dead.

[11:18] Eliza Gunther: Yes, thank you.

[11:18] Eliza Gunther: You're so original.

[11:22] Gareth Isaac: Um but the music, I will say, so the music, I don't think it's necessarily anything revolutionary, similar to Heathers, similar to, no, I won't compare it to that.

[11:35] Gareth Isaac: But you know, it's a bop.

[11:36] Gareth Isaac: It's, you, the songs get stuck in your head.

[11:39] Gareth Isaac: Like it is a collection of serial bops created by a man whose entire career has been about creating serial bops.

[11:49] Gareth Isaac: Like I remember him on Offspring, that Channel 10 series.

[11:54] Gareth Isaac: He was constantly on there singing and playing piano, and that's how a lot of people were introduced to him as an actor.

[12:00] Gareth Isaac: Meanwhile, the rest of us knew him from his work with Tripod.

[12:03] Gareth Isaac: I'll say this for the music, it's catchy, you're right.

[12:06] Gareth Isaac: It's the lyrics that I have an issue with.

[12:09] Gareth Isaac: Really?

[12:10] Gareth Isaac: Like you guys, you guys have heard some of my original stuff.

[12:13] Gareth Isaac: I am a sucker for a half rhyme.

[12:15] Gareth Isaac: I will like really enjoy like sliding something in that doesn't quite work, but will be okay in passing.

[12:22] Gareth Isaac: That's all the music in this show is.

[12:25] Gareth Isaac: Like, if you listen back and look over the lyrics, like I've done for a certain game, we're doing later, wink wink.

[12:31] Gareth Isaac: Um every rhyme is a half-rhyme.

[12:35] Gareth Isaac: And it just feels like we could have tried a little harder to find sounds that work.

[12:42] Eliza Gunther: Does that make sense?

[12:44] Gareth Isaac: It does make sense.

[12:45] Eliza Gunther: And once you notice, once you notice it, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

[12:49] Gareth Isaac: Yeah, I to be honest, I really didn't notice that, but also I've not listened, like I've only listened to the soundtrack once and watched it once.

[12:58] Eliza Gunther: So it's not like a show that I know through and through and I know every lyric.

[13:03] Eliza Gunther: So it's interesting from like a music perspective to really analyze does this work or does it not?

[13:11] Eliza Gunther: But from an entertainment aspect, maybe the fact that it is so dazzling on stage and there is so much going on, you just don't notice it as much.

[13:21] Gareth Isaac: I completely agree.

[13:22] Gareth Isaac: And this could just be me being the over-analytical dork that I am.

[13:27] Gareth Isaac: I'm happy to freely admit that.

[13:29] Eliza Gunther: Aren't we all though?

[13:31] Gareth Isaac: That's maybe uh partially to do with maybe why it didn't do as well as originally anticipated, because it isn't, you know, it is a bop. Um, it's fun to listen to. Um but it's not anything revolutionary. It's relatively um I wouldn't say basic, because it's not basic, you know. Any any person that writes a show, y already you're doing amazing the fact that you're doing it. That's maybe why it has it has created a different following than I anticipated, because it is fun. I will say, when watching when watching it in the way that we watch things when we live in Australia and cannot see shows on Broadway. Because there is literally no other option. So things like Dead Mom, I was like, oh, love it.

Love the way it sounds. Wish I could sing like that. Um, and I don't mean this in a rude way, I promise, this is just a uh a comment, I guess maybe on Sophia Ancarous' vocal tone. That when watching what we watched, that sounded painful. That did not sound comfortable. I think that legitimately is just her voice, possibly, and obviously I couldn't tell you because I don't know her personally.

[14:46] Eliza Gunther: Yeah, bring up a good point, and uh resident voice nerd over here, I'll speak out and say she's doing everything healthily. Like it sounds gritty and awful and painful, but physically, like I think the fact she's then able to do the rest of the show the way she does is a sign that it's working for her. It's just a sound. Also, she's 17 in this show. How fucking dare she? It's insane. I I think she's brilliant, personally. I think her singing, I think it's really smart in a way, and maybe that's just her natural singing voice, but casting her is great because Winona Ryder is a really like when you look at the movie and what that was, she is really weird and a little offbeat and different, and her her voice is so unique that I feel like it pairs really well with that kind of that characterization of Lydia.

Because it's not, you know, it's not let's be perfect polish Broadway, like using that specific thing. Let's use some rock, let's use some music theatre, let's combine those two like vocal techniques together and create this character, which I think is really, really smart.

[16:01] Gareth Isaac: Yeah, I I would say that was probably um part of the reason that she was casting the role. It's a very unique voice, I believe that is just her voice. That's how she sings normally. Wow. It's I guess it's exact same with Alex Brightman. I think people were really concerned when they first heard it, um, him doing the voice of Beetlejuice, thinking that it was damaging his voice, but there's a whole video, I feel like maybe it's Broadway.com, something like that, did a interview with him about how he does that and does it safely.

[16:31] Eliza Gunther: Yes, it's a little trick called ventricular fold phonation. So you've all heard heard about false vocal folds. They're basically just a cover over the top of your vocal folds that'll stop dust and stuff getting in. Certain singers and certain practitioners can actually engage them when singing at full voice. Brightman is one of those people. There is footage going around of him being scoped, which is a camera going up his nose and down his throat, and then doing it. It's incredible to watch.

[17:04] Gareth Isaac: Yeah, and it's completely painless. A lot of singers do this for a living. Like Jimmy Barnes famously sings entirely through his false folds.

[17:13] Eliza Gunther: And here is me thinking that's just unhealthy singing.

[17:16] Gareth Isaac: No, it's it's it's a skill and a talent. And I wish I could do it. Yeah, I think that was why they had to not they had to, it's a choice if they want to or not. Um, but I think that's one of the main reasons that pushed them to, you know, talk about it um and make these kind of videos because I think people were concerned that that was doing damage. Um I'd be very interested to hear.

[17:38] Eliza Gunther: Let me let me look up her name. While you're looking that up to further that comment on vocal damage uh conversations, uh, I think it was important to have that conversation because Alex Brightman had suffered a vocal injury during a Broadway show prior to this on School of Rock. He was quote, I did a lot of research into this following my master's vocal injury on Broadway is so common and so stigmatized and so underinsured. Breitman was one day doing, I believe, stick it to the man. He felt a pop, and then suddenly his upper register was gone.

[18:17] Gareth Isaac: Oh my god.

[18:18] Eliza Gunther: So he was then off for ages and ages, and there was not a lot of support. There was not a lot of talk about it, because like this is the equivalent of pulling a hamstring for an athlete. But for us, it is viewed as almost career-ending. Because we think of all these people who have like completely lost their voice due to either poor technique or just a random roll of a dice. Can I bring up Dame Julie Andrews as an example?

[18:46] Gareth Isaac: Yes.

[18:47] Eliza Gunther: Yeah. So we worry, and it's nice that a conversation was then had about it. Thank you. I'll step down from my soapbox now. Um there's somebody else, and I've I'm not gonna be able to remember her name now. She's a super popular vocal coach, Natalie Natalie Weiss.

[19:03] Gareth Isaac: Natalie Vice.

[19:04] Eliza Gunther: Vice or Weiss? I pronounce it Vice, but who knows? Um, she's had similar conversations online um because when she was doing emoji land, and it took her months. It took her, it took her months to recover fully from it, and she was talking about it because she was like, People don't talk about these things enough. But what I was going to say before, I would be really interested to see or hear Elizabeth Teter's voice, who is the woman who has taken over the role of Lydia in Beetlejuice with its return. Um I think it's actually it's really nice listening to this show, and so often I find that with musicals, you get either, you know, for example, you're auditioning with pop rock, or you're auditioning with contemporary theatre or classic music theatre.

Um whereas I feel like for this, it would have had to have been a mix because you've got characters like Lydia and Beetlejuice, but then you have the other characters who I feel like, um I've just forgotten her name in it. I was literally just looking at it. Um Delia. Um Leslie Critzer, who kind of has a little bit of a mix of both, and then others who are much more, you know, traditional Broadway sound. So it's actually whilst it can probably can be a little bit jarring for some people. I've really enjoyed it that it's not, you know, a completely pop rock show, but it's also not a completely contemporary show either, or really classic show. It it has a really nice mix of different sounds.

[20:41] Gareth Isaac: I think that really comes into the clever writing of the show and and how like it's deliberately that sung that way, or it's deliberately changed that way. I mean, Beetlejuice in like one song will go from rock to kind of gospel to you know, he goes through all of these different vocal techniques, but it's really smart because it's funny and it catches the audience off guard and it makes them laugh. And I think the comedy in this show is really what makes it quite brilliant. One of my favourite characters is Delilah.

[21:12] Eliza Gunther: Am I saying that right?

[21:13] Gareth Isaac: You mean Delia?

[21:14] Eliza Gunther: Delia. Sorry, not Delilah. Delia. Because I think her her comedic timing was just brilliant. And the writing is just, it just lends itself to so much play, which I love to see on stage.

[21:28] Tori Bullard: I completely agree. I'm doing a rapid fire through my own notes here. There's certain things that just jumped out at me. I'm just gonna give you some of them. Brightman is giving serious, horny Robin Williams vibes in this show. God, this show is camp. I hated Mean Girls Camp, but it works so well with this setting. Uh Yes, I'm very good at sex was the perfect line delivery. Like the entire show. Here's my thing. I love comedy, love a laugh. This whole show is very naked gun, flying high sort of humour. I love it. But I started to see towards act two the burnout because the show is all these gags. So the laughs had diminishing returns, for me at least. I was like, okay, I'm expecting the show to be funny now. Like, cool. I know the jokes are always gonna be there. So I'm just gonna sit here and exist in this uh funny haha space that we've created.

[22:25] Gareth Isaac: I think that that's maybe the difference between this and Mean Girls is um Mean Girls definitely it makes fun of itself and it it's in on the joke if that makes sense. But Beetlejuice really is pointing is like chatting shit about itself. Um, you know, it very blatantly is, you know, it's one of the very first lines. It is the first line, Alex Brightman says, um, is um valid already already. Yeah. And such a strong departure from the original source material. Oh, I loved that. Thought it was hilarious. They're making fun of themselves is at a real uh much higher intensity than something like Mean Girls, so that it is funnier for longer, and it's funny because you can laugh at the fact that they're making fun of themselves and you feel comfortable doing it, whereas with something like Mean Girls, you're kind of like, oh, you're you're making you're making I don't know, I don't know if I should be laughing at this. The the whole cast is seriously weird. But everyone's funny, not just Beetlejuice, which I really like. It's actually multiple and they're all hilarious and brilliant.

[23:39] Tori Bullard: Alright, ladies, we've been very serious with this debate. I guess about aspects of the show. How about we lighten things up with a little game?

[23:51] Gareth Isaac: Oh god, it's so early, Rebecca. I'm gonna pre- prefix this as I really do not know the words to this. I was gonna preface this with it is 8 40 in the morning and I have let Tori and Liza know ahead of time that I've created a lyric challenge. I have, however, made it very simple for all of us. Because I don't know about y'all. I've been busy. My brain is smooth, it has no wrinkles whatsoever. Gareth is currently like killing the game in Mary Poppins and has been. I'm trying my best. Let's not go too far. I show up, I fall over, that's my bit in the show. Um so I have I mentioned the rhyming of the lyrics earlier today. So I'm going to make this very simple for you. It's just gonna be the final rhyme of a lyric. I'll read out some lyrics, y'all throw the rhyme at me.

[24:44] Eliza Gunther: Okay. Alright, let us start with Eliza. I know. This is a lyric from Dead Mom.

[24:52] Gareth Isaac: Okay, okay. I had to do the accent. Um Daddy's in denial. Daddy doesn't want to feel. He wants me to smile and clap like a performing seal!

[25:04] Eliza Gunther: Ding ding ring a ding ding. See the light in your face just like I knew this!

[25:11] Gareth Isaac: She was so happy. It's my favorite line in the whole show. It's probably the only one I know. It comes out of left field and hits so hard. I don't know why. It's weird. Like so is the rest of the show.

[25:25] Tori Bullard: Alright, Tori. This is from the invisible reprise. You're invisible when you're me. There's no one to see my truth. If they could look up and see. There's somebody on the roof.

[25:42] Gareth Isaac: There it is. And I was like, the reprise? And then I was like, as soon as you just started saying it, I was like, oh my god, when he's sitting up on Yeah, okay. Yeah, there we go. Like it I told you I was making it simple for all of us. I love this.

[25:56] Eliza Gunther: Alright, Eliza. This is from Say My Name. Being young and female doesn't mean that I'm an easy mark. I've been swimming with piranhas. I don't need um.

[26:13] Gareth Isaac: Um sharks.

[26:19] Eliza Gunther: Oh! I literally do not even know what it sounds like.

[26:25] Gareth Isaac: That's close. I think Tori's gonna have to jump in with the steel.

[26:28] Tori Bullard: I don't need a shark.

[26:30] Gareth Isaac: That is it. Oh, someone's really close. See, I don't know who to give that to. Tori had it spot on, but Liza, you were so close.

[26:39] Eliza Gunther: I was close.

[26:39] Gareth Isaac: I think just give it to Eliza.

[26:41] Tori Bullard: Oh, alright.

[26:42] Gareth Isaac: One pity point going to Eliza. You were close. I appreciate it.

[26:47] Tori Bullard: Alright, so we're at two to one.

[26:48] Gareth Isaac: We're at two to one.

[26:49] Tori Bullard: Uh, Tori, this is from Barbara 2.0.

[26:53] Gareth Isaac: Unfinished projects, meaningless objects, plans I abandoned or quit. It's the stuff of our lives, and oh no.

[27:03] Tori Bullard: Oh I think Tori.

[27:04] Gareth Isaac: As soon as you said Barbara 2.0, I went, This is the song I skip.

[27:12] Eliza Gunther: Um it's all shit.

[27:15] Gareth Isaac: Yeah, that's it! All of it's shit.

[27:17] Tori Bullard: All of it's shit.

[27:18] Gareth Isaac: All of it's shit.

[27:19] Tori Bullard: I knew it was something like that, but I didn't know what.

[27:24] Gareth Isaac: I got there in the end.

[27:26] Eliza Gunther: You did, you did. That's great. Nicely done.

[27:28] Tori Bullard: Alright, so we're tied once more. This brings us to a famous tiebreaker. Y'all know the rules. Say your name to buzz in.

[27:33] Gareth Isaac: Funnily enough, that's how the show works as well.

[27:38] Tori Bullard: Um this is a single word from the song Girl Scout.

[27:43] Gareth Isaac: It is a back and forth between.

[27:46] Eliza Gunther: Can I just confirm we have to wait until you get to the end of the lyric before we close in? Is that correct?

[27:57] Tori Bullard: Alright, so Girl Scout.

[27:59] Gareth Isaac: Why don't you come inside?

[28:00] Eliza Gunther: Well, we're really not supposed to.

[28:02] Gareth Isaac: Why?

[28:03] Tori Bullard: Tori.

[28:05] Gareth Isaac: Yep.

[28:05] Tori Bullard: Tedaphiles.

[28:09] Gareth Isaac: And that's what I'm saying. But you're so nice, and you're not mean, and no one gets molested by Garthy Teen.

[28:17] Eliza Gunther: It's like one of my favourite songs from the show, because it's that show uh that song that you get in every show that opens act two, and for every show it's a little bit different.

[28:27] Gareth Isaac: But sometimes it has absolutely nothing to do. Like you're like, absolutely.

[28:33] Eliza Gunther: It only happens because the scene happens in the film and it serves no purpose.

[28:37] Gareth Isaac: But they're some of the best songs. Like in I feel like people are gonna not like me for this.

[28:42] Eliza Gunther: I don't know. In SpongeBob, what I saw it was the final show that I saw on Broadway last time I was there. My favourite song from the entire show was the song that opened Act 2, and it was um the you know, the are you ready, kids?

[28:56] Gareth Isaac: Pirate who does all the sound effects.

[28:58] Eliza Gunther: Patchy the pirate, thank you. Sorry.

[29:00] Gareth Isaac: Um, but it's all the pirates, and it's a song about being pirates.

[29:03] Eliza Gunther: Nothing to do with the rest of the show, but it was my favourite song of the whole show. It just hits different.

[29:09] Gareth Isaac: Thank you for playing my game, friends, and thank you for letting me get one of you to say the word pedophile on national podcast radio.

[29:17] Eliza Gunther: At least it wasn't me.

[29:20] Gareth Isaac: Oh, you fell into my trap.

[29:22] Tori Bullard: I'm glad to not win that one.

[29:25] Gareth Isaac: I I'm leaning heavily into the idea that this is a Burton movie, so obviously they were leaning into that for the musical, but the set design and costume design on this is so good.

[29:37] Eliza Gunther: Like I love each and every costume in this show. Lydia's delightful safety pin necklace around her dress, uh, Beetlejuice's exposed brain during Say My Name, and the set of the Netherworld makes me so happy.

[29:54] Gareth Isaac: Slanted staging and a Scooby Doo chase sequence happening all the way through it.

[29:59] Eliza Gunther: Oh my god, I was in heaven.

[30:02] Gareth Isaac: What I love is that I feel like there's one of two ways that shows like this can always go. They can either go really elaborate, which you know it is quite elaborate.

[30:11] Eliza Gunther: The nether world, however, super simple. I love it because that they're trying to, I feel like not give a perceived idea of what the afterlife would look like.

[30:20] Gareth Isaac: It's just like kind of almost pretty much a blank space.

[30:23] Eliza Gunther: Um but I feel like shows either go crazy elaborate or they just literally copy what the movie does.

[30:30] Gareth Isaac: And this has a nice, you know, there are facets of the movie, but there are, you know, it makes itself its own as well at the same time and separates itself a little bit with all of like these really beautiful details, and it's just really fun.

[30:45] Eliza Gunther: I feel like it gets all the characters right, but it heightens them so much more.

[30:49] Gareth Isaac: A hundred percent.

[30:51] Eliza Gunther: I mean, personally, with the Scooby-Doo chase, just going back to this nether world for a half second.

[30:57] Gareth Isaac: I was so expecting someone to then start walking down. Like I was expecting it to do that spiral thing where the people walk, so like they're on cables and they're like and they go on the different sides of it.

[31:10] Eliza Gunther: Slightly disappointed that didn't happen.

[31:12] Gareth Isaac: But you know, Beetlejuice produces, you could make that happen.

[31:17] Eliza Gunther: Speaking as a sh speaking from someone as a show who's actually doing that at the moment, it takes so long to hook someone up to a harness.

[31:25] Gareth Isaac: Don't do it.

[31:26] Eliza Gunther: Does it really?

[31:27] Gareth Isaac: Yes.

[31:28] Eliza Gunther: Like I love your I love your little uh naivete energy for how efficient a harness can be.

[31:36] Gareth Isaac: It's beautiful, but it's just not happening.

[31:38] Eliza Gunther: I'm sorry to crush your dreams.

[31:40] Gareth Isaac: You have crushed them.

[31:41] Eliza Gunther: And it's gotta take time as well because obviously it needs to be safe.

[31:45] Gareth Isaac: Um but I also I really love the doubling of Delia and Miss Argentina because they kind of feel mildly like very different characters, but also a little bit the same.

[31:57] Eliza Gunther: It feels like this um um I found my crisp I found my frequencies crystals speak to me.

[32:04] Gareth Isaac: What are they saying?

[32:05] Eliza Gunther: Buy more crystals.

[32:06] Gareth Isaac: Um they they feel like they have a similar energy.

[32:09] Eliza Gunther: And also I loved watching um there's heaps of videos online that um Leslie Christa did of her doing that quick change because she's got like maybe a song, maybe two songs to completely become a different character.

[32:22] Gareth Isaac: Body paint and everything.

[32:24] Eliza Gunther: Obviously, she has a suit for like the neck down, um, but still everything else.

[32:29] Gareth Isaac: Um Yeah, it's it's incredible to watch, and if anything, a testament to her.

[32:34] Eliza Gunther: I love so much um oh the song.

[32:40] Gareth Isaac: Do you hear that sound?

[32:42] Eliza Gunther: Yes.

[32:42] Gareth Isaac: Is it the one that she sings?

[32:44] Eliza Gunther: Yes. Beautiful sound.

[32:46] Gareth Isaac: Um amazing.

[32:48] Eliza Gunther: I love it.

[32:48] Gareth Isaac: Yeah, the act the act two opener.

[32:50] Eliza Gunther: Yes.

[32:51] Gareth Isaac: I love yes, it is, thank you.

[32:53] Eliza Gunther: All of the different beetle juices in that, all of the fun little costumes, all of like the nods to the film that you wouldn't be able to do with just necessarily one person.

[33:04] Gareth Isaac: I also love at the end of Act 1, the how the house changes changes, changes from um the house, you know, the model home that they've built, this very abstract home.

[33:18] Eliza Gunther: Um, and you see like the wallpaper change as soon as um Beetlejuice's name has been said three times.

[33:24] Gareth Isaac: Spoilers.

[33:25] Eliza Gunther: It's just everything is done really nice and really seamlessly without like you know the whole quickly get this set up stage and get this one on stage is excellent.

[33:35] Gareth Isaac: I think as well they really incorporated all of the uh iconic moments of the movie and and things that you remember, like the guy with the really tiny head that's shrunk, or you know, um Miss Argentina, all of those characters were able to be put in quite seamlessly, and it it looked the same, and that was the that's the crazy bit.

[33:58] Eliza Gunther: Like it looks like the movie, like the incredible um costume set prop design of just all of those combined is quite a master to see on stage, and something we don't really get in many other shows.

[34:14] Gareth Isaac: So yeah, I was quite impressed by how they adapted it from the film to the musical.

[34:20] Eliza Gunther: Hmm.

[34:21] Gareth Isaac: I'm I'm happy to say that I adore the way this show looks, and the fact it has drawn so much from that Burton-esque aesthetic is a testament to the designers and everyone involved in the production of this show.

[34:35] Tori Bullard: But I would like to go out on a limb here and just out myself.

[34:39] Gareth Isaac: I hate Tim Burton's movies.

[34:41] Tori Bullard: I hate them so much.

[34:43] Gareth Isaac: I love the way they look I love the way they look.

[34:43] Tori Bullard: I love the way that people act in them, but I hate his work so goddamn much that it gives me an ulcer.

[34:53] Eliza Gunther: Gareth!

[34:55] Gareth Isaac: Yeah Gareth!

[34:56] Eliza Gunther: Yep.

[34:57] Gareth Isaac: No!

[34:58] Eliza Gunther: Why are you guys surprised that I have a hot take on a deep dive?

[35:01] Tori Bullard: Because you don't like anything fun in this world, Gareth.

[35:04] Gareth Isaac: It's true. I'm an eld man, and I just don't like fun.

[35:07] Eliza Gunther: Um I think there are I feel like Tim Burton movies are very specifically enjoyed by very specific people, if that makes sense.

[35:14] Gareth Isaac: Like, I feel like everyone can like blanketly enjoy um, but there's like a specific, not a kind of person.

[35:20] Eliza Gunther: I'm that specific kind of person.

[35:22] Gareth Isaac: Like I love Tim Burton because I love things like Coraline.

[35:25] Eliza Gunther: I love things that um bring me both joy and give me the creeps at the same time.

[35:30] Gareth Isaac: Yeah.

[35:30] Eliza Gunther: Um because I myself changed and usually.

[35:33] Gareth Isaac: Um I hate myself so much.

[35:36] Eliza Gunther: I'm critically depressed.

[35:38] Gareth Isaac: She's so unique.

[35:39] Eliza Gunther: I'm so unique.

[35:41] Gareth Isaac: And unlike the other gals, I like Edward Susserhans.

[35:44] Eliza Gunther: Yeah.

[35:45] Gareth Isaac: Alright.

[35:46] Eliza Gunther: Sniff sniff.

[35:48] Gareth Isaac: Oh, that's gonna that's gotta make that's gonna make the video.

[35:51] Eliza Gunther: Sniff sniff.

[35:53] Gareth Isaac: Um well, we we've said a lot about Beetlejuice as a show.

[35:58] Eliza Gunther: I think we'd like I think we should probably close on one thing. Did we like it or did we not like it?

[36:05] Gareth Isaac: I like um I like it.

[36:09] Eliza Gunther: I enjoy it.

[36:10] Gareth Isaac: It's um it's not it's not one of the it's not the kind of bop that legally blondes that I just listen to it all the time.

[36:18] Eliza Gunther: Obviously, though, currently my hyperfixation is the playlist from Stranger Things season four, and I have listened to that on repeat multiple times every day.

[36:25] Gareth Isaac: Eddie Munson, if you're out there, I'll take you any day.

[36:28] Eliza Gunther: Um we don't have time to do that.

[36:32] Gareth Isaac: Sorry, Danny.

[36:33] Eliza Gunther: Um no longer.

[36:35] Gareth Isaac: Sorry, she's no longer Danny uh a weirdo from the 90s.

[36:39] Eliza Gunther: 90s, 80s has got me.

[36:41] Gareth Isaac: Um but um it is it is fun, it's an enjoyable show to listen to.

[36:45] Eliza Gunther: I feel like it'd be a really enjoyable show to see.

[36:47] Gareth Isaac: I don't know if it would be a show personally for me that I would go back and see multiple times, as I have done with some of my favourite shows like Anastasia and Come From Away.

[36:55] Eliza Gunther: But I I would see it.

[36:56] Gareth Isaac: I would enjoy it, and I think it'd be really fun.

[36:58] Eliza Gunther: I feel like it could be a show that maybe would do well in Australia.

[37:02] Gareth Isaac: Not entirely convinced, but I think it'd be interesting.

[37:06] Eliza Gunther: I agree.

[37:07] Gareth Isaac: I think it's a good show.

[37:10] Eliza Gunther: It's fun, it's good, it's nothing out of this world, ironically.

[37:15] Gareth Isaac: Like the least complimentary thing I can say at any time about any musical is it sure was a show.

[37:22] Eliza Gunther: And I can't say that about Beetlejuice, because it was an experience, it's an extravaganza.

[37:27] Gareth Isaac: There's a lot of good laughs, a lot of good design, a lot of good bops, like counted by the half rhymes I mentioned earlier, but otherwise, like go and see it if it's out there, and also cast me as Adam if it ever comes to Australia, please and thank you.

[37:41] Eliza Gunther: Oh yeah.

[37:41] Gareth Isaac: I feel like just what you just said though, yes.

[37:45] Eliza Gunther: Similarly to something like Moulin Rouge, where Moulin Rouge, it's fantastic and it's a spectacle.

[37:51] Gareth Isaac: It is so much fun to see, and the things that the people do in the show, crazy.

[37:55] Eliza Gunther: It's nothing never necessarily revolutionary.

[37:58] Gareth Isaac: Um, the casting, however, is revolutionary.

[38:00] Eliza Gunther: Please continue to cast diversely.

[38:04] Gareth Isaac: Thank you.

[38:04] Eliza Gunther: Um, but it's the kind of show where it it's a bit of an extravaganza.

[38:09] Gareth Isaac: I mean, I I have feelings on Moulin Rouge in general, but we'll get to that.

[38:13] Eliza Gunther: Yeah, we'll always maybe our next one.

[38:15] Gareth Isaac: I mean, for me, I honestly thought it was fantastic.

[38:20] Eliza Gunther: I I know that um we've obviously had a few critiques on the show and things like that, but I I sat there and I was like, this is really good.

[38:29] Gareth Isaac: And I I am a comedy, like musical theatre person.

[38:33] Eliza Gunther: I love it.

[38:34] Gareth Isaac: I like it better than the movie.

[38:37] Eliza Gunther: Um, I think it has such a good entertainment value and just show value in general.

[38:42] Gareth Isaac: I think that all of the actors' comedic timing is quite brilliant.

[38:47] Eliza Gunther: And was really I would be a privilege to see in person how they do that and manage that, especially with things like the pop culture references, um, references to the audience and getting all of that timing to get the audience on your side.

[39:03] Gareth Isaac: That's hard work and they make it look so easy.

[39:07] Eliza Gunther: So I thought it was fantastic, and I would love to see it one day in person.

[39:11] Gareth Isaac: This was a fun one.

[39:12] Eliza Gunther: I liked this.

[39:13] Gareth Isaac: This was fun.

[39:14] Eliza Gunther: And I love how short it was because it meant that we had to be so fast paced.

[39:17] Gareth Isaac: It was great.

[39:18] Tori Bullard: Hey, look, we have a time constraint. We'll get all of our thoughts out in an orderly manner.

[39:21] Eliza Gunther: It somehow was easier.

[39:23] Gareth Isaac: I know both myself and Eliza.

[39:25] Tori Bullard: I have to get to work.

[39:27] Eliza Gunther: Eliza likes to get to uni.

[39:28] Gareth Isaac: Gareth needs to go the fuck back to sleep.

[39:31] Eliza Gunther: I have to teach.

[39:32] Gareth Isaac: Or do you have to teach?

[39:34] Eliza Gunther: Yes, I do.

[39:35] Gareth Isaac: I have to teach later today as well.

[39:37] Eliza Gunther: My ride never ends.

[39:39] Gareth Isaac: It's a never ending story.

[39:41] Eliza Gunther: Well, it's a never ending story.

[39:43] Tori Bullard: No, Tori.

[39:44] Eliza Gunther: No.

[39:45] Gareth Isaac: No.

[39:46] Eliza Gunther: And that would make a good musical.

[39:48] Tori Bullard: Ooh.

[39:49] Eliza Gunther: We'll get there next time.

[39:50] Tori Bullard: But anyway, you guys, thank you so so much for listening.

[39:53] Eliza Gunther: Um, after this episode airs, I will post a poll for our next deep dive.

[39:57] Tori Bullard: Or maybe we'll do Moulin Rouge.

[39:58] Eliza Gunther: Let us know what you think.

[40:00] Tori Bullard: Um but anyway, thank you so so much for being here.

[40:03] Eliza Gunther: And until next time, stay happy, healthy, and safe, and we will see you then.

[40:06] All: Bye.