Prince Edward Theatre Review 26th September 2026

There is something rather wonderful about sitting in a packed theatre and feeling an audience collectively decide that they are going to have a very good time.

That was certainly the atmosphere at Beetlejuice on Saturday night. From the opening moments, there was an enormous amount of affection in the room, and judging by some of the reactions, plenty of established fans too. The laughter came thick and fast, the applause was enthusiastic and, whatever reservations I might have had along the way, the audience around me seemed more than happy to forgive them.

And for the most part, so was I.

Anyone arriving from Tim Burton’s 1988 film should be prepared for something quite different. Beetlejuice himself is much more prominent here and, at times, the musical almost becomes his own supernatural stand-up show.

At this performance, alternate Tom Xander took on the striped suit and appeared to be having an absolute whale of a time. His Beetlejuice throws jokes, asides and contemporary references at the audience with gleeful abandon, frequently breaking through the story to address us directly.

It is very funny, and Xander has the confidence and energy to hold the whole thing together comedically. The audience were completely on board with him.

There is, however, an interesting tension in the writing. So much of Beetlejuice’s humour is knowingly contemporary that it occasionally seems to belong to a completely different world from the film that inspired the show. The constant present-day references get laughs, but they can also pull you away from the strange, gothic universe of the story. There are moments when the show seems unsure whether it wants to retain the DNA of Burton’s late-80s creation or plant Beetlejuice firmly in 2026.

Then there is Hannah Nordberg as Lydia Deetz, who for me is the star of the evening.

Nordberg has a terrific voice, but more importantly she finds the emotional centre beneath all the spectacle. Lydia’s grief and isolation never become merely a device to get us to the next joke or song. Nordberg gives her a genuine connection to the narrative, and when the show allows that emotional story room to breathe, she is excellent.

Visually, there is plenty to enjoy. The sets are bold, colourful and appropriately macabre, while the choreography and ensemble work are terrific. The company bring tremendous energy to the production, and several of the larger musical numbers combine song, movement and staging to spectacular effect.

Not every piece of stagecraft is quite as successful.

Several sequences are played against projected curtains while larger scene changes happen behind them. Once or twice this works perfectly well, but repeated use of the device begins to feel surprisingly cheap beside the otherwise lavish physical production. On a few occasions scenery also appeared still to be moving into position as scenes began. Whether intentional or not, seeing the machinery of the change happening slightly punctures the illusion created by those impressive built sets.

The show could also stand to be tighter. At approximately two hours and forty minutes, there are places where its considerable energy starts to spread a little thin.

Yet every time I found myself questioning something, I became conscious of the people around me laughing.

A lot.

And that matters.

It is very easy when reviewing theatre to become so absorbed in analysing individual choices that you overlook what is happening in the rest of the auditorium. On Saturday night the Prince Edward Theatre was packed with people who seemed to be having an enormously good time.

Perhaps they were more willing than I was to overlook the occasional visible scene change, the reliance on projections or the curious collision between 1980s source material and very 2026 jokes. Or perhaps they simply understood exactly what Beetlejuice wants to be: a big, ridiculous, irreverent night out.

This isn’t Tim Burton’s film transferred faithfully to the stage. Beetlejuice himself has become much more central, louder, more knowing and considerably more interested in talking directly to us.

But with Tom Xander joyfully causing havoc, Hannah Nordberg providing an outstanding emotional and vocal centre, a superb ensemble and some genuinely exhilarating musical staging, it is difficult not to get swept along with it.

The dead may be restless, but on Saturday night the audience were very happily possessed.

Show	Beetlejuice – The Musical
Dates & Times	Closing 2nd Jan 2027
Venue	Prince Edward Theatre, London
Booking	Via Production Website (and many ticket agencies)

Disclosure: I purchased a ticket