Beetlejuice Is Back — And Brisbane Is About to Lose Its Mind

There's a particular kind of excitement that comes with a show that's already proven itself.

Beetlejuice The Musical isn't a gamble. It's a Tony Award-nominated Broadway hit with a cult following, an Australian production that swept the Green Room Awards, and a premise so perfectly calibrated for spectacle that it almost writes itself. When it played Melbourne, it was a phenomenon. Now it's Brisbane's turn — and this time, Broadway is coming with it.

The show opens at QPAC's Lyric Theatre on 7 June for a strictly limited six-week season.

The Cast

Leading the Brisbane and Perth seasons as the ghost-with-the-most is Andy Karl — one of Broadway's most decorated leading men, best known for originating Phil Connors in Groundhog Day (Tony nomination), and starring in Rocky the Musical, Pretty Woman the Musical, and Moulin Rouge. He is, to put it plainly, a big deal.

Joining him as Barbara Maitland is Jenni Little, stepping in as Elise McCann takes parental leave. A Victorian College of Arts graduate with credits spanning Tina – The Tina Turner Musical, Jagged Little Pill, and Kinky Boots, Little describes the role as "an absolute dream" — and her enthusiasm for Brisbane specifically ("I just LOVE Brisbane") feels entirely genuine.

Returning from the Melbourne season: Karis Oka as Lydia Deetz, Rob Johnson as Adam Maitland, Erin Clare as the gloriously zen Delia Deetz, and Tom Wren as long-suffering dad Charles. Brisbane's own Angelique Cassimatis is back as Miss Argentina.

The Show

If you don't know the story: Lydia Deetz is a strange and unusual teenager with a fixation on death. Her new house turns out to be haunted by a recently deceased couple. And lurking somewhere between the living and the dead is Beetlejuice — chaotic, irreverent, and entirely impossible to ignore.

What makes the musical work isn't just the spectacle (and there is plenty of spectacle). It's that underneath the mayhem, there's genuine emotional weight. The score by Australian composer Eddie Perfect — who won four Green Room Awards for this production, including Outstanding New Australian Writing — has the rare quality of being both funny and moving, sometimes simultaneously.

Director Alex Timbers, a two-time Tony winner, keeps everything moving at a pace that never lets the energy drop.

Worth Knowing

All performances are now on sale via QPAC. The season runs for six weeks only, and Brisbane tends to be the last stop before the production moves on — so this is genuinely it.

Beetlejuice The Musical, QPAC Lyric Theatre, from 7 June 2026. Tickets via QPAC.

All images: Beetlejuice The Musical — Australian Production. Photo by Eugene Hyland.