In my opinion this show should have never been sold off as a Jr. show, the two things that make this show successful is not the original story, which is most likely what the Jr. show will pull from. What made this show survivable outside of the concept, is that it really explores Lydia's struggle with her Mom's death, thoughts of un-aliving herself, her struggle with her father to connect and mourn, Adam and Barbara's struggle to have a life, the lack/loss of their child, and of course the fact that BJ is not a good person, he is manipulating Lydia, Adam, and Barbara to do do his bidding. That...and the fact that it is literally a raunchy and self aware take at the industry as a whole. I'm shocked there wasn't a tongue and cheek joke about how, " The Industry will attempt attempt to milk its success and then sell it off as a watered down Jr. version". The same Industry that tried to scrub its place on Broadway for the new shiny less subversive, big name musical.
But not every theatre can always do a full performance and what about for young actors like elementary-middle school they aren’t gonna do a musical that has sexual jokes or swears so like if we didn’t have jr versions of shows how would younger actors get opportunities to preform
@@Goofygooberart Plus, aside from that one random F-Bomb and crotch grab, the original film is totally appropriate for kids 7 & older and is generally viewed as being a family film, so it's bizarre that the stage musical went the route of being of a full-blown PG-13 nature(I don't know why she said it was of an R nature, as it's not quite at that level from what I've been able to gather). If you remove the raunchy humor, dial down the number of uses of the word "shit"(obviously, any usage of even PG swear words would be omitted from a "jr" rendition), and remove Beetlejuice sniffing cocaine during the song 'The Whole "Being Dead" Thing', you have a show of a PG nature. You can tackle the subject of suicide in a way that doesn't go beyond the PG level. It's all in how you handle the subject matter. Also, outside of the line that references the movie 'Lolita', there's really nothing about the song 'Creepy Old Guy' that's "inappropriate". They just mention how a minor getting married to an adult is messed up.
I agree, I'd be ok with this having a high school version but IMO Jr. is kinda weird. It's not just about cutting swears and other suggestive stuff Beetlejuice says. There's one really deep plot point that would really take away from things if it were cut IMO, but you'd need to cut it for a young group of performers (Lydia being so desperate that she almost jumps off her roof.) Yes the struggles with losing her mom and feeling invisible, nothing wrong with that for youth if the adults give them the right guidance, but the *level* of desperation needs to be there for it to have the biggest impact.
@TheHorselessCantor Hear me out. Aside from that one random F-Bomb and crotch grab, the original film is totally appropriate for kids 7 & older and is generally viewed as being a family film, so it's bizarre that the stage musical went the route of being of a full-blown PG-13 nature(I don't know why she said it was of an R nature, as it's not quite at that level from what I've been able to gather). If you remove the raunchy humor, dial down the number of uses of the word "shit"(obviously, any usage of even PG swear words would be omitted from a "jr" rendition), and remove Beetlejuice sniffing cocaine during the song 'The Whole "Being Dead" Thing', you have a show of a PG nature. You can tackle the subject of suicide in a way that doesn't go beyond the PG level. It's all in how you handle the subject matter. Also, outside of the line that references the movie 'Lolita', there's really nothing about the song 'Creepy Old Guy' that's "inappropriate". They just mention how a minor getting married to an adult is messed up.
I'm being beetlejuice for Halloween this year! So this is quite the perfect timing video . I would love to see you do a comparison between one of my favorite musicals,the little mermaid! I've done both the Jr musical, and seen the full musical live and I'm seeing it next month again!
Probably nearly the original thing since its highschoolers. Even with beetlejuice, if you put it into a highschool, personally. I would keep it mostly the same like nothing cut from twbdt (the whole being dead thing) and just get rid of the after math sex scene and thats pretty much it, just make sure you have to be atleast 13 to watch so it isnt too too bad
You will need a degree to teach - but if you're just interested in the directing aspect you can absolutely volunteer with your local community theatre! That's a great place to start if it is something you're passionate about.
my local theatre was one of the first theatres to do this. i wasn’t in it, but the kids in it did have fun. i personally believe that the best part of beetlejuice is how it is slightly vulgar and has rude humor, it just doesn’t have the same charm to is as a jr version.
@katybeard Aside from that one random F-Bomb and crotch grab, the original film is totally appropriate for kids 7 & older and is generally viewed as being a family film, so it's bizarre that the stage musical went the route of being of a full-blown PG-13 nature. If you remove the raunchy humor, dial down the number of uses of the word "shit", and remove Beetlejuice sniffing cocaine during the song 'The Whole "Being Dead" Thing', you have a show of a PG nature. You can tackle the subject of suicide in a way that doesn't go beyond the PG level. It's all in how you handle the subject matter.
I have been searching for the Heathers High School script to no avail! I will add Elf to my list, that would be a great video especially with the holidays coming up!
Aside from that one random F-Bomb and crotch grab, the original film is totally appropriate for kids 7 & older and is generally viewed as being a family film, so it's bizarre that the stage musical went the route of being of a full-blown PG-13 nature(I don't know why she said it was of an R nature, as it's not quite at that level from what I've been able to gather). If you remove the raunchy humor, dial down the number of uses of the word "shit"(obviously, any usage of even PG swear words would be omitted from a "jr" rendition), and remove Beetlejuice sniffing cocaine during the song 'The Whole "Being Dead" Thing', you have a show of a PG nature. You can tackle the subject of suicide in a way that doesn't go beyond the PG level. It's all in how you handle the subject matter. Also, outside of the line that references the movie 'Lolita', there's really nothing about the song 'Creepy Old Guy' that's "inappropriate". They just mention how a minor getting married to an adult is messed up.
Fair point! I’m honestly tired of all of the Jr adaptations of full length shows meant for adults - I would rather see more pieces originally written/composed for jr performers.
You make a good point! I would just like to put out there that a lot of middle schoolers I know would be very excited if they were able to perform these shows, and are very upset that there are certain shows they can't perform simply because there are some adult themes. Making Jr. Versions of shows is actually something I really appreciate for this reason!
@superstarsoli4580 I'm happy about it to but sometimes enough is enough there more play websites with tons of kids plays that are takes on fairy tales and such
Anyone have a guess as to when the rights to a Jr/High School Edition might be made available? How long after pilot productions do these things usually take? Obviously I know no one will have a real answer - but curious as to if there’s a rumor or guestimated time frame
Also if you ever attend a Junior Theater Festival, they do a showcase featuring the new Jr. shows coming. They also supply the teachers/directors with a QR code to read the scripts and listen to the music. Check out iTheatrics or JTF if you haven't.