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[0:00] Alan Seales: Hi, everyone. Welcome to a very special bonus episode of the Theatre Podcast. This was a panel all about Beetlejuice that was recorded live at BroadwayCon 2020 here in New York City. On the panel with me from the cast is Alex Brightman, Kerry Butler, and Leslie Kritzer, in addition to Line Producer Jenny Gersten and Spotco Senior Creative Director Callie Goff. I know you want to get into this. I was excited to do it. I know you're excited to hear it. So without further ado, please enjoy this episode.

[0:33] Alan Seales: BroadwayCon. Our next moderator is the host of the Theatre Podcast and the Chief Technology Officer of the Broadway Podcast Network. Please welcome Alan Seales.

[0:51] Alan Seales: Hello! Wow, so many people. I'm Alan Seales, host of the Theatre Podcast, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. We have over 40 podcasts, all theatre-centric, theatre-adjacent, 1,900 episodes. So there's a little bit of something for everyone. But you're obviously here because you love Beetlejuice. Near the end, we're going to take some questions from the audience, but the way you get your questions in is you have to get on Twitter and use the hashtag AskBeetlejuiceBway. So if you have any questions throughout the whole panel, just make sure that you get on Twitter, hashtag AskBeetlejuiceBway, and then we'll see them up here and incorporate them into the show. So obviously, the Beetlejuice creative team led by director Alex Timbers, scenic designer David Korins, costume designer William Ivey Long, lighting designer Kenneth Posner, sound designer Peter Helensky, projection designer Peter Negrini, puppet designer Michael Curry, special effects designer Jeremy Chernik, illusion designer Michael Weber, hair and wig by Charles G. LaPointe, and makeup by Joe DeLude.

And they all took inspiration from Tim Burton, who, yes. And the whole original Beetlejuice, everything Tim Burton does, it feels like it's a DIY, made-it-in-his-basement kind of thing, and that translated to stage, and that translated to the movie. And basically, we're going to talk about this. We're going to talk about the TikTok and the cosplay and the fan art and everything that makes this so accessible, which I think is part of the DIY aspect. So, please help me welcome everyone to the stage so we can get this going!

[2:43] Alan Seales: We have Callie Goff. Have a seat. So we have Callie Goff next to me, who is the senior creative director at Spotco. Jenny Gersten, who is the line—oh, she's down there, line producer for Beetlejuice. Of course, Leslie Kritzer, Alex Brightman, and Miss Kerry Butler. So the visuals are layered over an extremely relatable, heartfelt story, and they're told in a very specific kind of comedic tone and have struck a chord, obviously, with audiences. I mean, look how many people are standing here. So, audience, raise your hand if you've seen it three times. Three times? Three? Okay, five times. Oh, keep your hand up. Keep your hand up if it's five or more. Five or more. Eight or more? Wow. Ten or more?

Our lead producer is raising his hand. Mark? Fifteen or more? Anybody? How many times have you seen it? Fifteen times? Wow. Anybody seen it? Twenty times. Wow. Wow, that's incredible. This is some—yeah, everybody gets a sandworm! Look under your chair! Just kidding. Kerry, have you seen this sort of interaction in your past shows, like the audience participation like this?

[4:25] Kerry Butler: I have seen—have been in shows where people go crazy and come back again and again. The difference that—with Beetlejuice, I feel like, is the response when we're in the show now. It's deafening. Like, it's almost like I want to plug my ears because it's so loud. I mean, it's a gift, but it's crazy loud. Like, they just love it so much. As soon as the show is over, and also the laughter during the show, it sounds like there's a laugh track. Did the show evolve—I guess, how did it evolve from rehearsals into showing it in front of an audience? I mean, Alex, can you speak to that?

[5:06] Alex Brightman: Yeah, there was less laughter in the rehearsal room than there is in the theater. It evolved through pure collaboration, led by the collaborative maestro that is Alex Timbers. He's not here. He won't—you don't need to—let's keep going. We'll tell him that you applauded. And then—but during the rehearsal process, he is much more interested in the actual playing than of the actual getting to the end of a scene, blocking a scene. We never came in with the intention of, all right, we're going to do scene two, and if we don't get to it, we have failed. So we came in every day with new ideas, new script pages, improv, sketch stuff, talking for an hour about things, going away for an hour. It was never really in a wonderful way.

It wasn't really structured in the way I've ever done any show before. And I think that shows on stage because the show feels inherently dangerous, which I think is a super fun thing to see when you're watching something live. And that is something we craft—carefully crafted in the room to make it feel that anything could happen. And if anyone was at the show last night—well, don't cheer. A 65-year-old woman passed out and vomited. But she's fine. And to all of you people, by the way, who say that we're not keeping our promise in the beginning of the show about if you die during the show, we won't stop. No one has died yet. So if we are able to save a life during Beetlejuice, we will. But if they do die, we're just going to prop them back up in a seat and keep going with the show because at that point they're luggage. This will be my last Broadway show. Turn it into a Weekend at Bernie's moment.

[7:03] Alex Brightman: So the creativity has just crossed over the footlights and inspired fans to make literally thousands of TikTok videos. And actually, we have two that we'll show here for you. Real quick. Let's roll the two TikTok videos.

[7:32] Alex Brightman: I'm a B to the W, J, F, U, and Jesus, I can't spell.

[7:41] Alex Brightman: You gotta say my name. I don't know your name.

[7:44] Alex Brightman: I can't say it. How about a game of charades?

[7:46] Kerry Butler: Yes, let's play it. Two words.

[7:48] Alex Brightman: Okay. Second word.

[7:49] Kerry Butler: Right. Drink?

[7:50] Alex Brightman: No. Beverage?

[7:51] Kerry Butler: No. Wine?

[7:52] Alex Brightman: No. Juice?

[7:52] Kerry Butler: Yes. Okay, first word.

[7:54] Alex Brightman: Okay. Bug?

[7:54] Kerry Butler: No. Ant?

[7:55] Alex Brightman: Close, but no. Beetle?

[7:57] Kerry Butler: Okay. Leslie, that's you.

[8:03] Alex Brightman: I don't know if it was on. Oh, there he is. Oh, yeah. You're very socially active with fans on TikTok now, right? Aren't you?

[8:10] Kerry Butler: Not on TikTok, no, because I'm old and I still don't know how to use it. I'm looking to hire an intern to teach me.

[8:19] Kerry Butler: No, not on TikTok. On Instagram, yeah, more than TikTok, but I'm learning. I'm not like our TikTok extraordinaire Presley Ryan, who started the TikTok phenomenon with Beetlejuice. I mean, she is personally responsible for, at least on our end, I will say, I'll speak for the group, of really starting that and then starting to teach a bunch of us and being so active, and we're very grateful for her because now she just got verified yesterday. She has 200,000 followers on TikTok, so. But yeah, I'm active on Instagram with the fans as much as I can be. I did a Broadway.com vlog for two months, or six to eight weeks. May come back, may not, but I'll just throw that out there. But yeah, and that was, I found personally by interacting with them on social media and with that, that without really trying too hard, like we weren't trying too hard.

We were just loving our show and doing what we do, and the response is because of that, and also our album is so lit. See, and she thinks she's old. She just used the word lit, everybody. That album is, it's one of the best albums, if not the best, that I've ever been a part of, and it's incredible how it's spread, and it's spread through, really TikTok, I think personally, it's the music, and because it is a music, a lot of music-based videos there, I mean, there's a lot of comedy and all kinds of stuff. Kids and young people were able to connect and create their own version of Beetlejuice in their own creative way, which is amazing. I mean, that didn't exist, what, a year ago? Like, as far as we know, a little over a year ago, so I'm impressed. I'm just, I'm blown away by it.

[10:12] Kerry Butler: Oh, absolutely. I have, I mean, this is unprecedented how social media has breathed so much life into Beetlejuice.

[10:27] Alan Seales: Yeah. And so, Callie, while you're drinking water, okay, so you work for Spotco. First off, what is Spotco, for those who don't know?

[10:32] Callie Goff: Yes, thanks for having me with the cast. This is amazing, and I will be your intern, Leslie, if you want, but I work at Spotco. Spotco is an advertising agency, so we've been around for about 22 years, worked on over 450 Broadway shows. The first one was Rent, and yeah, so we make all of the advertising for the show, so if you've ever seen a TV commercial or a billboard or a flyer or a social media video or anything like that, my company makes those.

[11:05] Alan Seales: And you are a senior creative director there.

[11:12] Callie Goff: Right. Obviously, Beetlejuice is one of your clients, customers?

[11:19] Callie Goff: Yeah, one of my clients, one of my partners. Partners, okay. My children, my love. And so, when TikTok started to explode, did you see an opportunity and capitalize on it, or did it, I mean, is it like a circular sort of like dragon chasing his tail sort of thing? Like, how did this grow?

[11:39] Callie Goff: Yeah, I mean, this was one of the first shows where TikTok really exploded, and I work really closely with our social media team, and we didn't want to interrupt the conversation that was already happening because there was already so much creativity and amazing work happening on TikTok, and we didn't want to come in and say like, hey, check out our ad over here. We just wanted to help the fans make more stuff. And so, it's really inspired us to create a lot of materials that provide new audio clips and things like that. Jenny actually had a great idea around Thanksgiving to put out a song called Dead Bird, and Alex was awesome and got in the studio for us, and the real inspiration behind that was to give fans a piece of audio that they wouldn't have access to anywhere else, and then kind of sit back and see what they would do with it. And they've done a lot. There's a lot of reactions.

[12:38] Alan Seales: So, Jenny, you're credited as the line producer.

[12:44] Jenny Gersten: That's right. For Beetlejuice. So, what is a line producer? I don't know.

[12:44] Jenny Gersten: No, I was brought on to Beetlejuice to work with the producers of the show and also with the creative team to sort of liaise between sort of what was going on creatively in the room and then what had to happen managerially. So, I'm sort of like living in this kind of liminal space between art and commerce, and so I work a lot with the agency, Spotco, on both the social and the media, the advertising, and then I work sometimes with the company on promotional appearances with the press team and creatively with the team as well. So, how involved with the original cast recording are you, or were you?

[13:22] Jenny Gersten: Well, the cast recording kind of was, it was just, no, that was the producers of the album, so I just supported their efforts. Well, just like capitalizing on it. And I work with the label, so.

[13:33] Alan Seales: Yeah, yeah. So, it's one of the most streamed albums of the entire 2018-2019 season.

[13:40] Jenny Gersten: That's right. You guys have all listened to it, right? Yeah. Yeah, okay. So, I mean, why do you think the score has captured such a huge following, though?

[13:53] Jenny Gersten: Well, I think the music's amazing, Eddie Perfect, ladies and gentlemen, and I think that there's something about the album, I think what makes it so incredible, Leslie, is when I listen to it, I feel like I'm part of the show. I don't know if you have that experience, because I've seen the show, but I imagine that if I was listening to it and I'd never seen Beetlejuice, or I'd seen glimpses of it, you know, on the internet or whatever, I'd be like, oh, I've never heard of it. I'd be like,

[14:17] Unknown Speaker: I would really have a sense of what it was like to be part of it, or in it, or watching it, and I think that's what makes it so fun to listen to. Is that sort of what your experience of it is like, kind of?

[14:31] Unknown Speaker: They're like, nope, but...

[14:34] Alex Brightman: Can I say one thing about that, to completely agree with your point, is that my favorite type of cast album is the one that sounds like the show that you saw. And so I always love those versus the one that sounds like top 40 tracks of the songs in the shows, which are good in their own right, they just don't, to me, tell the story. And I think our show tells a great story through the music and through the songs, and I think we didn't do a disservice to the album by trying to pop up or anything like that, or, having been in the studio the days we recorded it, nobody was too precious with their performances because we are currently living them. We didn't do a cast album before, or months later, we did it while we were in the thick of this real raw feeling of trying to still create it.

So stuff on an album that's there forever, it was just stuff that was organically there that day. And to not try and capture lightning when we could, or try to capture it 19 times in a row, is I guess what I mean, was a benefit, because we got to just put whatever was out there and then leave, and sort of leave it up to you guys to enjoy it or not. So thanks for not enjoying it.

[15:42] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I also want to add just really quick, because this is something that has just kept growing, I have so many people that are contacting me saying that they're buying tickets or whatever, there's a lot of musical theater people in here, right? A lot of people that are coming to our show, young people, are not like us. Do you know what I mean? They're falling in love with the album. We're reaching a whole new audience of people that are falling in love with musical theater because of this album. And that is really cool. You know, we're bridging the gap. Somehow, I have friends from high school that I haven't talked to in 15 years, their kids are, more than that, their kids are not in theater, they're like, they're telling us about Beetlejuice, we gotta come, we gotta, and they're not, you know, they're like soccer kids or whatever, but they love this album.

And the coolest thing is when I look out in the audience, and I know you guys have seen this, and we see people lip syncing to the lyrics. People, and it's so cool. But only lip syncing. Only lip syncing. So anyway, I just wanted to add that. Sorry, Jenny, I just wanted to add that.

[16:46] Jenny Gersten: That's good, and I think the songs are super fun to perform. I mean, I'm sure that's your experience of them. So I think it's fun to do them at home. And I think that do-it-yourself quality of the songs is also imbued, as you were saying earlier, Alan, in all the making of the show. And that's what Tim Burton did with the movie, too. Like, it feels like something he made in his basement. It's reachable to, like, the generation that saw the movie, that knows the movie from a while back, and then now, like you said, it's reaching a whole new generation that may have never seen it.

[17:17] Unknown Speaker: Yeah, yeah, it's reaching a whole new generation of people. I guess, show of hands, how many people have not seen the original movie? Wow. That's a lot of people. Shame on you.

[17:32] Alan Seales: Well, I am very impressed by the reach the show has had and by, I guess, you know, for the three of you, Leslie, Alex, and Kerry, I was going to go back to the social media thing for a second. You're very engaged. All three of you are very engaged with your fans and very engaged with connecting with people. Do you feel any sort of pressure to maintain that now that the show is so successful on social media?

[17:57] Alex Brightman: Yes!

[17:58] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah.

[17:59] Alex Brightman: No, it's not that bad. But, you know, it's not pressure. I think that's the wrong word. It's that, you know, when you do something that people like, that's a positive, because that's good for both people. As long as you're liking the thing that you're doing, if people enjoy the thing that you're outputting, that doesn't get any better than that. So the more we do that, not just in the show, but outside of the show, and make people happy in many different, you know, brains of communication, I think that's only good not just for a show, but for a life. I think that's just more of a life thing. If, like, you're doing a thing that you enjoy and other people enjoy it, don't stop doing that. That's a thing that I think is just fundamental.

So it's not a pressure. It's a joy until it becomes a pressure. And usually it's not that. So it's always the exception to the rule when it becomes pressured to do something that you want to have to like to do. It doesn't feel right. So, thankfully, you guys have, you and millions of others, have been super kind and wonderful for the most part. And, you know, there's always outliers. But for the most part, the majority of people have been ridiculous and wonderful. We enjoy seeing just rows of stripes and red dresses and wigs and people behind the wigs going, why did I have to sit behind the guy with the wig?

[19:24] Kerry Butler: People come to the show in full cosplay?

[19:26] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Oh, yes.

[19:27] Alex Brightman: Yeah.

[19:28] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: All the time.

[19:29] Alex Brightman: Yeah, you maniacs.

[19:31] Kerry Butler: Do you have a favorite?

[19:33] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I love that it, like, inspires people. People aren't coming in, like, store-bought costumes. People are taking the time and creating, painting, hand-painting the stripes, sewing the costumes together. It's really inspired creativity, which I love. You know, while we are big on social media, sometimes you want to put your phone down and get kids away from screens. And, you know, we get our fan art is incredible.

[20:00] Alex Brightman: Oh, my God.

[20:01] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah.

[20:02] Kerry Butler: Yeah.

[20:03] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I have a favorite cosplay.

[20:04] Kerry Butler: Do you?

[20:05] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah. What I've loved seeing with the cosplay is, of course, people want to dress up like the characters from the movie, the iconic characters, but I've loved seeing all the people who are now dressing up as characters from the musical and Alex's version of Beetlejuice with the 3-D glasses and popcorn. And we had a costume contest at the theater, and we got a lot of Girl Scouts with arrhythmia. And one had 3-D printed her own pacemaker. So that was my fave. Props to that. Unbelievable.

[20:41] Alan Seales: Oh, my God. Well, speaking of the difference between Alex's Beetlejuice and Michael Keaton's Beetlejuice, I want to show an animatic real quick. This is one of my favorite ones created by Miles Cooper.

[20:52] Unknown Speaker: Oh, yeah.

[20:53] Unknown Speaker: So good.

[20:54] Unknown Speaker: Oh, this is...

[20:56] ♪ Musical number ♪

[21:13] Alan Seales: Yeah, so this goes on for a full five minutes. And I'm not going to play the whole thing because it's five minutes long. That kid is amazing, by the way. He came to see our show, and that kid is, like, not only cool but, like, so creative and continues to output this thing. He just did a Miss Argentine.

[21:29] Unknown Speaker: He did?

[21:30] Unknown Speaker: He just did a Delia one.

[21:31] Unknown Speaker: Oh, a Delia one.

[21:32] Alex Brightman: Oh, yes, yes, yes. I reposted that, yes. So that's one of the newest trends because technology and animation and everyone can just download Photoshop and download Adobe Motion, whatever it is. And, like, are you seeing, like, Alex, what does it mean to you to see yourself represented as Beetlejuice all over the internet versus the traditional Michael Keaton? As a creative anything, you want to try to put something out there that hasn't been there before, and that's really doubly difficult when you are working with a source material. So what I was grateful for was the opportunity to not be strong-armed into doing something that was already there but to try and create something and attempt to be bold and to say, yes, this exists, yes, the cartoon exists, what if there was a third sign to that cross, and what would it look like?

And getting the time, which is something that most performers do not, they're not afforded when we have, you know, I worked on this show in character, and I'm still working on it, I'd like to think, that you had three years running, three and a half years running creating something. So the fact that it is not only being well-received but the fact that it's being, like, mimicked and, you know, for lack of a better word, applauded, is nice because I love the sort of look I made a hat where there never was a hat, but what I like better is that, and I've said this before but I think it warrants, that to be given a pair of shoes that someone else has worn but to be given permission to add your own laces is something I've become very fond of.

Having the last two shows have had two sort of iconic roles to sort of try and skew away from while also paying homage to has been a joy, but the fact that this one has blown up in its own character, as a character actor, nothing makes me happier and nothing lets me sleep more at night than people that have enjoyed my version without having to hate the other one. I think that's the other thing. I do appreciate it, and as a creative entity, thanks for liking the thing, you know?

[23:40] Kerry Butler: I want to add to that because Carrie, now that I think about it, Carrie also played, well, we're both playing characters after iconic actresses. Absolutely. Gina Davis, Catherine O'Hara, but also, Carrie, you've done Mean Girls, which had a lot of heavy hitters. So it's been, I don't know about you, I'd love to hear your experience, but for me, I feel like, very similar to Alex, always working on Delia, I stayed away from the movie because Catherine O'Hara is a queen goddess, and I have followed her her entire career, so I just, you know, I pay a little homage to her at moments, but my Delia is like, I feel like there's three different versions of her, so I play the person that's seen the show 20 times, you've probably seen many different versions of her, and I do different versions of her from night to night, and Argentina too, there's little things, but it's been, you know, I always felt safe in the room with everybody to create, to try, to follow my face, and we also gave each other suggestions, why don't you try this, or what do you think about this? That's the best part about getting in there, because we were all in the same position, but I don't know how you felt, Carrie, about yours.

[24:46] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah, I feel like I do the same thing that Alex does, I don't watch the movie, because now I've done so many musicals that have been based on stars that have played them, like Olivia Newton-John, so I won't watch the movie, because we're not Saturday Night Live performers. No, we're not. So we're not coming in and just imitating somebody else, we have to find it from within first, and then I'll go back and watch the movie and be like, oh, I can exaggerate that, and all the people who love the movie will love that part, they'll still feel like this is the same show that they fell in love with, but they're able to accept our version, so we're not just trying to be somebody else, because as an actor, you have to embrace what makes you special. You can't always be trying to be somebody else and try and copy what makes them special.

[25:32] Alex Brightman: Absolutely.

[25:33] Audience: APPLAUSE

[25:37] Alan Seales: I was just noticing as the three of you were talking that you're all very funny people, you're very on stage, you have these comedic roles that you do over and over again, and knowing you personally, and even right now during the panel, you're very serious people.

[25:53] Kerry Butler: We are?

[25:55] Alan Seales: I think so, because I think you have to be very, very smart and very serious to be good at comedy. This is me completely biting off of one of my favourite comedians. I would 100% slit my throat for my jokes. So they're that important to me. When you take comedy seriously, in my opinion, it works better. I think on the converse of that, though, I do like to say that when you're in a... It's stamina-based, too. This is not just stand-up comedy. So this is eight times a week trying to be this funny that many times is about trying what works, it didn't work, pull it back, turn the dials, all that kind of stuff. So, yes, it's like a science and a math wrapped up into one, and also doing a decathlon while you're drowning.

[26:45] Audience: LAUGHTER

[26:47] Alan Seales: And then there's somebody filming or whatever, and then they have to deal with that. But it is serious, but...

[26:55] Kerry Butler: I would say the room was not serious.

[26:57] Alex Brightman: No, the room was not serious, but we take it seriously.

[27:00] Kerry Butler: Yes, yes, yes, but Alex would crack us up all the time in the room.

[27:05] Alex Brightman: Thank you very much, Carrie. Still, still cracks me up. I mean, still.

[27:09] Kerry Butler: Oh, yes, still on stage sometimes. We're still finding stuff. Do you guys break on stage?

[27:12] Alex Brightman: Alex tries to make us break.

[27:14] Kerry Butler: I break. I'm terrible.

[27:15] Alex Brightman: That's not fair, Carrie.

[27:17] Kerry Butler: He doesn't try. He just knows that I'll break, and I just break.

[27:22] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I turn upstage and I break. It's hard. Can I say one thing that's recent, if you've seen the show recently, that now you're never going to not see it?

[27:31] Alex Brightman: Oh, my God.

[27:32] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But at the end of the show, when Juno... No, this is not bad. This is not bad. When Juno, spoiler alert, is my mom, comes out and she starts chastising me a bit before she goes towards Lydia. My mic is not on, and now I think it's a little on because people are also enjoying it, is I start crying like a teenager. I'm right in the line of sight of Leslie, so when Juno's chastising me, just sort of right under her level, I'm going, and Leslie, for the last week, has had to literally turn upstage and put her head against a wall. I was biting my mouth. This is literally one of the funniest things I've ever seen. We're like 300 performances in, and it's still a ball to just try to have a little fun ourselves at the expense of you guys. Thanks for paying, by the way.

[28:24] Alex Brightman: I think just to piggyback off the serious thing is that we love what we do so much that we take it seriously because it's so important for us.

[28:34] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I get really angry when I don't, I mean, internally sometimes, not all the time, but when I don't land certain things because they were written to be landed. And so when I can't land them, I'm not doing the show that I created, you know? So I do take it seriously because I love the show so much and the jokes are so well crafted and we've worked within an inch of its life to make them work. So when they don't work, sometimes it's, it is always a good lesson. Sometimes you guys are, you're the judge, right? Like if you laugh, you laugh. If you don't, you don't. Jack O'Brien always said to me, laughter is because you're surprised. It's not because you're fun. Like it's, you're not funny. It is right.

And that's what he would say to me all the time. I would beg to disgrace sometimes, but it's, it's, it's a pleasure. It's an honor to be able to do comedy on Broadway. And like last night, I adlib one line and I didn't even, David Sugarman was like, maybe you should go out there and just be like, something happened. Long story short, but I said an adlib and I was like, well, I tweaked it. I don't know if it's going to land and it landed. And to hear that laughter in the winter garden on a line that I've never said, cause it's an adlib, was a gift. It was, it was, it was like a slam dunk. And I just was like, oh wow, that's, that's really, really, really cool. And I don't take that for granted ever.

[30:03] Alex Brightman: Alex, do you, everyone's drinking when asking questions. Alex, do you, do you adlib a lot too? Or are you like. No, I, I, uh, do not adlib a lot in the show. I get, I very, that's one of my favorite compliments I get is, um, and I think any good comedic actor would agree that a great compliment to get is, were you making a lot of that up? Um, if I were to have to make a lot of that up every night, I would be, uh, 20 years older at this point, um, and have no voice. I mean, I'm so used to this, uh, show now that I would say 99.9% of what you're seeing on stage every night is written. But at some point in the last four and a half years, four years, um, in the room, something might've happened, uh, you know, while we were improving something or something came up out of nowhere and made people laugh that then was then implemented into the show smartly by our writers.

So it didn't feel forced. And then our job is to make it feel like this is off the cuff and I'm just thinking about this. Um, so it is cool that like some of the stuff I did, the answer is yes, except three years ago. And now it's just, you know, still paying dividends now because it is, I mean, thankfully funny, but also that's a muscle to stretch of like trying to pretend that you're just thinking of something now. Uh, and then, you know, there's the errant version of, you know, somebody's acting up in the front row or somebody, which is rare. Um, last night, you know, I pushed a dude's glasses case off the staircase cause it was not supposed to be there. And then I picked on them all show you've seen the show.

Uh, uh, yeah. And so, but there are moments where I I'm allowed to, that's the one fundamental difference between this show and any show that I've done is that I do have a moderate within, within very good reason to improvise or something to go awry or something goes off the rails audience wise or something technical happens. Um, I'm thankful that I liked improv when I was a kid too. So I've been doing that forever, but yeah, it's nice to have the permission, but no, 99% of the show is, is scripted and on the tracks.

[32:05] Kerry Butler: You improv when your mic is off. I improv when my mic is not on creepy old guy. Yes. Just to carry mostly. So watch out for that guys. Kelly and Jenny, uh, how are you looking for, for new social trends? Like how are you looking for things that are coming out of, out of the audience, out of the world? Like Kelly. Well, I think we, I actually think we take a lot of our cues from the fans. I mean, I think Kelly already mentioned that, but I think that, um, I mean, I've never, I've never been part of something where the creativity was so incredible, um, coming from the people who've seen the show or listened to the show or just want to be part of the show. So did I, what happened? Oh, okay. Okay.

So, um, and so yeah, I think that that's been a lot of what we've been taking the cues for and we are constantly like thinking about how to make, as, as we talked about with dead bird, we're looking for those moments where we can sort of inspire another and, you know, engagement because we, we like having that opportunity to talk to y'all. So, yeah, exactly. I think we're really just watching what you all are doing on social and, uh, not creepy way. No, in a creepy way. Yeah. Um, and we're, yeah, we're just, um, we're, we're kind of following along and going where you lead us. Um, and I have a special announcement in fact, about something new that's coming, um, today because we've been seeing that a lot of folks are on our Instagram and you like to transform yourselves into the characters and the Beetlejuice.

So, uh, today we are releasing an Instagram filter on our stories. Um, yes. And, uh, you'll be able to go to our stories, uh, at Beetlejuice B-Way. Uh, you'll find an AR mask that transforms you into Beetlejuice and insider tip, if you nod your head, it will rain beetles on you. You heard it here first. I think that it's brilliant. And for a show like this, if I had your job, which I think is very cool, I think you would just be waking up and saying, what is new on my plate this morning? What has somebody else invented that we can just grow into this massive thing? It's the most fun show to work on ever. Just getting to channel the characters that the cast have built and that the creative team have built and basically trying to think like a demon is, um, the best job in the whole world.

Well, and Callie, you just also wrote a great script for, for Delia too. That was, well, coming, coming soon. Um, but, um, wait, what's coming? It's coming. But Callie's a really awesome writer. She actually really is great at finding the voice of, of Beetlejuice, the musical. And I have to give a shout out to Jen Gracel too, because she's really great at managing our channels. This is legitimately the first time that Leslie just heard about this. I love it. I love it. She's gonna love it. Um, okay. Okay. So just a reminder real quick, if you have questions, hashtag ask Beetlejuice B-Way, we're going to get to questions in a second. Um, fan art, the fan art that everyone makes, um, it is incredible. Uh, Alex, Carrie, Leslie, tell, tell us about the wall, the wall of fan art.

[35:22] Alex Brightman: It's now three floors of artwork. It's, we're running out of space. Goes all the way up to the top dressing rooms and, oh yeah, you're showing some of them. It's, and it's beautiful. It's, it's more than, it's more art to keep up with. Every, every day we have mailboxes that get sent. We, and we get everything you guys send and it's more mail than I've seen anybody get on the planet. Not just me, not just, it's more than Santa Claus. And, you know, it's like that. We are sincerely running out of space. We have filled up three full floors of wall space with every bit and nook and cranny of art. That's not just pieces of paper, by the way. We've hung up puzzles that you guys have sent us and, and, uh, you know, coffins that open that have something, you know, like the actual physical pieces of art.

It looks like a museum. Um, and it's also just ridiculously inspiring when you, you know, are feeling 98% when you should be feeling a hundred and you walk down the stairs and go, well, now I have to feel, I mean, I, I have no reason not to feel a hundred percent. There's all these people that not only like what we do, but are willing to show it through their art. It just makes the show as if it's not easy enough to do anyway for these ridiculous crowds, but it makes it so much more fun to do for people that are continually going to be inspired to create incredible, I mean, stuff I would buy, um, truly. I mean, I've said that too. I won't, but I, but, um, but I would, but I won't.

[36:56] Kerry Butler: Yeah. It's been, it's like every time we walk down the stairs, you know, it's a grueling schedule. You look at all this artwork and you're just like, wow, this is what we, you guys have created this movement of love for us. And we, we, that's, that's what makes us be able to do what we do, you know? And even when we go to the stage door, uh, and see you guys, all the gifts you give us, I mean, this morning walking here, there was a whole line down the street of people dressed up waiting to buy tickets, you know? And I'm like, I've never been a part of something like that ever. So it's, it's just, it's really cool. Unexpected. I'm going to throw this question out for any of you that want to answer it, but from a psychological standpoint, this is just a generic question. Why do you feel like people make fan art and then send it in? What, what is it, what purpose is it serving for them?

[38:03] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I've, I've actually honestly thought about this a ton because I do have, you know, this, this might be, this might split the room a little bit, but that's fine. Um, I, I, one of my biggest pet peeves in the world is when somebody gives me something that is meaningful and I, every time I've received something that is meaningful from a fan, I take it straight to my heart. It's something that you didn't have to do and something that you did. And that's great. And nothing ruins that moment more than, can you please tweet about that I gave you this? Because then it's not for me, it's for you. So I, you know, but that being said, I've thought a lot about the psychology of like what it means to do something.

I think that the purity of making something just because it's on your mind and you want to exercise it out onto whatever piece of art, that is the most gorgeous thing in the world because that's what I do, because I do that on stage. I don't know how to draw. I don't know how to paint. I know how to do what I do, but I consider that some type of exorcism of feelings and emotions that I have that day walking into the theater and I can get them out using art. So I appreciate, and I'm with you on this level of like making things because it just feels good to make. Um, so yeah, I think psychologically it's because you feel good and then when you have it and it's yours, you want to show other people.

We're all narcissists and egotists. That's not a bad thing. It's good to like yourself and it's good to like want to let people know, look at the thing I'm good at. We love it. When we get it, we're all about it. We love it. So please always this, you know, psychopaths, please send them, you know, all your way, all the drawings, all the, you know, writings on your walls or whatever you're doing. Um, please, we are with you and we encourage it.

[39:24] Kerry Butler: But I also think that like the show embraces the strange and unusual, right? And I think there's something about sort of seeing a version of yourself on the stage and we see that in a lot of different shows. We could name a ton right now, but like, I think the idea of like being again, like making yourself a part of that by sharing your creativity and saying I'm with you and the show meant so much to me. I mean, you talk a lot about like how you get a letter saying like the show changed my life, you know, whatever that it, they, I found something in it that was like deeply meaningful. So I think that's a part of it too.

[40:05] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah. Thank you. I don't know why I said, yeah, but no, I, I love that. I think it's, I agree with it. I think it's, it's a lot of, um, seeing yourself represented on stage, whether it be in terms of, of gender identity or sexual identity or, uh, mental identity. Um, I think especially now in today's society, it's very important to be able to see yourself. Like maybe you're feeling a little undead this morning. Like you just want to, you just want to see yourself on a show. Can I just say something about exactly what you just said about seeing yourself in something is that that is what the, I mean, back, back, back, back, back all the way back in the day when they were doing shows where light was fire and everyone was still afraid of the sun.

This, the, the thing about theater and good theater, in my opinion, is that it reflects the world around you. It doesn't, it doesn't harken back to a better time. I don't, I don't enjoy theater that does that because I don't, things are constantly evolving. And that's the thing I love about our show is that you, I don't think there is any, anything that isn't represented in our show in some way or another. And I think that that is the world we are now living in this new time where people can really, truly, and there's still work to be done, feel free enough to be themselves and express it in whatever way they want. That is legitimately a core value in our show to be able to, the search and the want to express in the way you want.

And so that is a huge thing. I love that in theater. And I think more, the more Hadestowns that come out and the more things that are continually trying to push that boundary to let people know, look, this is not only in this theater, this exists outside of here to get used to it. I think we're going to be in a much better place than a revival of something else.

[41:53] Alex Brightman: Questions? We had 15 minutes left. I wasn't going to not mention that.

[41:59] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Got a couple of standing ovations.

[41:59] Alex Brightman: We're thinking we should just leave the fan art for them. Oh my God. Well, speaking of which, the final question I have before we go to audience questions is actually, let's talk about the sandworm in the room. Is Beetlejuice actually closing on June 6th?

[42:22] Kerry Butler: Now, Alan, we're not using the C word.

[42:25] Alex Brightman: We're not using the C word.

[42:27] Kerry Butler: We are being evicted.

[42:28] Alex Brightman: We're leaving the Winter Garden.

[42:29] Kerry Butler: We're leaving the theater. And that is an actual, that is not coded language. Just so all of you know that are like, yeah, evicted means they're closing. It's, they are our producers and they, they have one right here and there's one over there. We'll, you know, we'll tell you time and time again, if you ask them with absolute certainty that all they are doing 24 seven right now is looking and actively looking for another space.

[42:51] Kerry Butler: And until we know anything further, it is not the end of Beetlejuice on June 6th. Truly.

[43:21] Kerry Butler: He's already undead, so, you know, can't die. Let us haunt the theatre. It'll be fine.

[44:08] Kerry Butler: Okay, so let's switch over to audience questions here. Okay, from Jane Anne, NYC, do you have a go-to pre-show meal snack? What about any rituals before you hit the stage?

[44:22] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I listen to stand-up comedy almost religiously, if not watching it. And I also have the luxury now, I have a hair person, Leanne, and a make-up person, Pat, and a dresser, Travis, who are with me almost the entirety of an hour before the show. And I'm getting to not only watch stand-up that I've seen, but introduce them to comedians. So it's really fun to kind of also be a person to get, like, to introduce something to your favorite people, favorite people to your favorite people. And so that's what I do. I can't really eat before the show. If you've seen the show, you'll know why. You know, I just drink a lot of water that then comes out of my mouth a lot after, in the form of spit. We also hang out a lot.

Like, I warm up a little bit. Carrie will tell about her ritual. But, like, I'll warm up, I'll hang out, I'll eat a little something. I've learned the hard way. Never eat cauliflower rice before the show. It's terrible. But I hang out with people, because I don't go on to a show for, like, 20, 25 minutes. So I don't like getting dressed right away. I have to do my wig. I hang out with Pat. But I'm in, like, Jill Abramovitz and Dana Steingold, who are in the show as well. I'm in their room like we're in a sorority. I mean, it's crazy. And I hang out with them. We catch up with people. It's really, the best part of coming to work for me, besides obviously doing the show, is that we have a family there.

We have, like, it's like college. We hang out, we talk, we catch up, we find out about each other's lives, what's going on. And that's one of my favorite things. That's the ritual, is checking in with everybody before we go make the magic.

[46:02] Kerry Butler: No, but I do sing to my plants. No, I take care of my plants, and I do, like, a 20-minute vocal warm-up every single day before the show, much to my neighbor's dismay.

[46:20] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: You sound great.

[46:22] Kerry Butler: No, Adam Danheiser's right next door. He doesn't love it. He doesn't sing, really. And I sniff a lot of stuff up my nose, so it is less, like, I love salt water.

[46:30] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: You should clarify what you mean by that a lot.

[46:34] Kerry Butler: Clarify it. Please clarify that.

[46:36] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I love salt water. I love the Alkalol stuff that you use.

[46:42] Kerry Butler: Oh, yeah. We just bought a new machine called the Navage, and it kind of is like a vacuum in your nose. It's no joke. Those are the things I'm obsessed with before doing a show, but no drugs or anything like that, except maybe Excedrin once in a while when my voice isn't feeling good.

[46:59] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Leslie, to comment on something, on what you said, it is a family. The casts are very much a family, and I guess in interviewing as many people as I have, and the three of you included, on one-on-one, and I feel like so many people get to know each other on such a deeply personal level doing shows, because trauma is not the right word, but it is a heavily emotional investment.

[47:27] Kerry Butler: Yeah, I mean, even though we are being evicted June 6th, and I literally get choked up about it, our front of house staff, our crew, we all know each other. I like going through the front door of the theater sometimes so I can say hi to Callan and Dave and John, our head usher, and our house manager, and all the ushers, and the bar staff, because I love saying hello to them. They're part of our family. A lot of them, besides Hound, will be there, and they'll take on the next show, so that part won't continue, but everybody in that building, our doormen, everybody, is part of what makes it special, and that will be the hard part is when that part is done, because that part will be done with certain people that live on in that theater, and they will embrace the next show, but for me, this show, more than any other show I've done, I really feel like the best part of coming to work is the people in the show and the crew.

It's a special, special group, and it lives in there, and we make sure that that continues. It's important to us, and you guys can speak to this too, that the vibe and the energy of that building, that's important to us, and we try really, really hard to keep it that way, and it's hard each show of the week. It's not easy, but at least that's for me. People come to my room. My room's become like a central mission control sometimes. I don't know why. There's ten people piled in my room.

[49:01] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It's the biggest room in the dressing room.

[49:02] Kerry Butler: Maybe it is. I don't know.

[49:04] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It's the most people, yeah. It was in her contract. She wouldn't do the show unless she had the biggest dressing room, you guys.

[49:08] Kerry Butler: All right, let's do another question. From Dr. Lazarus, what was the most shocking gift a fan has sent you guys?

[49:20] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I have one, and they're all nice, but shocking, certainly. I was gifted two, that I found out later, very expensive rings that was like, here's a gift for your wife. I was like, I don't feel – so then I just got rid of sort of the card, and I went home, and I went, look what I bought you.

[49:49] Kerry Butler: There's the laugh. That is the most – can I say one thing that will take 30 seconds again just while I have you all here? Gifts are awesome, and they're really, truly wonderful, and it's super creative, and the art stuff is meaningful the most. If you have – spending money on stuff is fine, but make sure that – know that we also make money, so we are very happy to buy our own things and stuff like that, so we're good as far as essentials go. We'd much prefer – I would much prefer – this is the Jewish mom in me. I'd much prefer that you save your money and just send us a letter saying you like us rather than a diamond ring. That's all I'm saying. You can feel free to disagree, but I don't like that stuff. I would prefer a letter that is meaningful than whatever, another Beetlejuice shot glass, which is like we have 70,000 of them. I just want to make sure that you know it's meaningful, but please, please save your money for your own lives. We make money.

[50:48] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Leslie Carey, do you guys have a shocking – I can't think of one.

[50:54] Kerry Butler: I can't think of one either. All right. Next question. Favorite celebrity who came to see the show from Olivia saw Beetlejuice?

[51:04] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: We just had a good one last night. We sure did. So Leslie and I both love the B-52s. I just got the picture. I just saw them when we got the picture. And the lead singer, Kate Pearson, was there. Leslie and I were like in the hallway singing, Ten round, rusted! I mean, yeah, it was amazing to meet her, and she was so cool. Like we've been able to meet all these amazing people. I mean, Catherine O'Hara was a big, big, big one. That was so cool.

[51:34] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: My favorite, only because he's not only great, but he's also a Beetlejuice lifer just like you guys, is John Mulaney. Of course. He's been such a fan because he knew Alex Chamberlain from Oh, Hello! And him and Nick Kroll had seen all the readings prior, like in the studio. And so they've just been such fans. And John was at opening night and brought his wife, and they've been back I think four times total. So that was a big one for us just because it's so cool. They just don't want to come back anyway. And then a personal one for me, only because I want to model my career after his, is Adam Scott came to see the show. And just getting to chat with those people, that's the huge perk of the job. You just get to actually chat on a level that's not like, I like what you do. They get to go, I like what you just did. You go, yeah.

[52:21] Kerry Butler: Do the three of you ever get starstruck?

[52:23] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yes.

[52:24] Kerry Butler: I would only get starstruck by one person. If someone told me that Mel Brooks was in the audience, I would have a very hard time pulling myself together before going on. Maybe Carl Reiner as well. But just the two of them would be it. Everyone else, no, I don't care.

[52:40] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Carol Burnett would be mine.

[52:43] Kerry Butler: Oh, yes. If she came, I'd lose. No one can ever tell me that she's there. And if I have a personal day, you better tell me to come to work that day and not tell me why. So, yeah, that would be mine.

[52:56] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I don't know who my person would be, but I don't like to know when any celebrities are in the audience.

[52:59] Kerry Butler: Yeah, we both don't like that.

[53:00] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yes, because I feel like I give 100% no matter what. And if they're there, then I'm going to be like, did they laugh at that? How are they doing?

[53:09] Kerry Butler: Carrie, tell them what we do right before.

[53:12] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Oh, creepy old guy. We're like, our show's pretty much done. So then we tell each other who's there. That's when we find out. We're like, hey, Kate Pearson's here. And Carrie's like, what? Yep, that's when we usually find out. That's our safe time. Awesome. All right. Another question?

[53:26] Kerry Butler: From JordanIsAtBroadway. They're all changing their Twitter names here. If you could switch roles with anyone, who would you switch with? Also, please tell Kevin I say hi.

[53:40] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I will tell him. He's sleeping right now. He sleeps like a stoner.

[53:45] Kerry Butler: I would do Liddy. I just want to sing Dead Mom and Home. I just want to do that one time. I've actually thought about singing it. I would do it in a second. I mean, I would look crazy. But 42-year-old daughter. But yeah, she sings some amazing songs. So I'd love to do that. It would be fun.

[54:04] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Otho. Mainly because he has a 45-minute break in the show.

[54:10] Kerry Butler: Another one. That was so good. Beetlejuice. Who wants to see her go on tonight as Beetlejuice? The fans have spoken. Carrie, how would...

[54:20] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Oh, no. I want to make you say the F-word. But what would Carrie be like doing Beetlejuice?

[54:27] Kerry Butler: I'm gone. I want to hear your best Beetlejuice voice now. Do a line. Do a line. What's a line? What's one of your lines?

[54:36] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I don't know. I don't do Beetlejuice.

[54:38] Kerry Butler: Hey, folks. Welcome to BroadwayCon. We should do a one night and just raise money for a charity and just all switch and see.

[54:46] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Not going to happen.

[54:48] Kerry Butler: You do the voice now.

[54:53] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Hey, guys. Fuck you guys. I would lose my voice within four hours after that. It would be gone.

[55:04] Kerry Butler: All right. We have two minutes left. Let's do one more question.

[55:06] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: From Rob Johnson. Have you ever been in a show where the set is so much like another cast member like this is with the house set? Thank you for the run on sentence.

[55:17] Kerry Butler: What? All right. No, I get it. I get it, too. Where the set is so much. Yeah, definitely not. The set is a part of the show. The set is a cast member.

[55:26] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yes, yes, yes. Definitely. I mean, the show is. I've never been in one, but I think the play that goes wrong is one of my favorite things I've seen recently. And that show would not be a show were it not for that set that literally falls apart completely by the end.

[55:39] Kerry Butler: Absolutely. And so, yeah. But no, I think our show is just designed, again, within an inch of its life to become a character in the show that changes and evolves just like everyone in the show. I think it's amazing. A cool part of rehearsal, too, was they would be improv-ing a scene or something and then they'd be like, can we get the set to do this? And then they would go and brainstorm and think, right? Like, oh, maybe we can get the set to do this. And can we budget it? And it did.

[56:06] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Okay, so that is all we've got. If you go to bpn.fm.com for the theater podcast, you can hear my individual interviews with these three. Episodes 50 through 54 are these three, plus Alex Timbers, plus William Ivey Long.

[56:28] Kerry Butler: Oh, you don't want to go yet. We're about to do something. Don't go. Don't go. Go see them before June 6th. Yes.

[56:37] Kerry Butler: And because this show is so much about social media, we're going to do a giant audience selfie right now.

[56:46] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Oh, my God. Everybody stand up and crowd in the middle. One, two, three. Thank you.