Catherine O’Hara‘s co-star Michael Keaton is paying his respects.
Michael and Catherine both starred in Beetlejuice and reunited for the sequelBeetlejuice Beetlejuice in 2024, and they also worked on other projects together. After news of the 71-year-old’s death on Friday, the actor was quick to share a tribute to their friendship. Sharing a recent photo of them, he wrote on Instagram:
“We go back before the first Beetlejuice. She’s been my pretend wife, my pretend nemesis and my real life, true friend. This one hurts. Man am I gonna miss her. Thinking about Beau as well.”
Spooky Pinball has released a newBeetlejuice pinball machine, which includes themes, film footage, and audio from the 1988 movie, along with a unique voice control feature called “Spooky Speak”, and features artwork by Christopher Franchi.
scott randall
Pinball artwork icon Christopher Franchi
Christopher Franchi is one of the most celebrated artists in modern pinball, known for his bold, dynamic style that blends comic-book vibrancy with lifelike detail.
Beetlejuice Pinball pinball imagined from the iconic 1988 Tim Burton film. Players will get to battle a pinball-eating Sandworm, working with their Case Worker Juno, or digging up Beetlejuice himself.
This Takes Pinball to the Next Level of Fun
For collectors and fans of the movie
Officially licensed with unlimited access to film footage and audio, unique “Spooky Speak” voice control feature, and detailed cabinet art.
High price point (expected to be around $11,399$ 11 comma 399$11,399), and the Collector’s Edition version is already sold out.
Is The Company Really Called Spooky Pinball?
Spooky Pinball LLC, a manufacturer of pinball machines located in Benton, Wisconsin. Founded in 2013, known for producing games with licensed themes like Rick and Morty and Scooby-Doo
Company: Spooky Pinball LLC
Location: Benton, Wisconsin
Founded: February 1, 2013
Product: A variety of pinball machines, including those with licensed themes and original designs.
The company has grown from a small operation to a leading manufacturer, winning awards for games like “Total Nuclear Annihilation” and “Alice Cooper’s Nightmare Castle”.
Where Can I Get A Beetlejuice Pinball Machine?
You can get the Beetlejuice pinball machine directly from the manufacturer, Spooky Pinball LLC, or through their authorized distributors, though most units have already been pre-sold. It’s best to check with a distributor like Little Shop Of Games or Flip N Out Pinball LLC to see if they have any remaining availability or orders you can join.
Find Beetlejuice also at your local favorite arcade
The time has come! The leaves are changing colors, the stores are starting to smell like cinnamon, and everything pumpkin is available at our fingertips! All of this could only mean one thing, and it’s that our favorite way to end our day is with one of these movies for the foreseeable future!
Halloweentown (1998)
You simply can’t go through the fall/Halloween season without watching Halloweentown. It would be borderline criminal. There is nothing quite like the music that plays when the Cromwell kids first enter Halloweentown, seeing Debbie Reynolds be the greatest movie grandmother of all time, or seeing the quaint town of St. Helens, Oregon, transform on screen into our dream location.
Practical Magic (1998)
This movie is as close to perfect as a movie has ever been. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman light up on screen and bring such warmth and whimsy into the film. This movie features the best song placement in our memory with ‘This Kiss’ by Faith Hill, and features a quote we have lived by ever since. So remember, always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, plant lavender for luck, and fall in love whenever you can.
A murder mystery featuring Chris Evans as the villain, Daniel Craig as the detective, and a career-high performance from Ana de Armas? Count us in! This movie does a perfect job at keeping you guessing, yet if you watch it again, you will see each clue that led up to the reveal clear as day. It’s the ideal fall family watch with a star-studded cast.
Beetlejuice (1988)
Beetlejuice is synonymous with the spooky season. Like clockwork, the calendar turns to October and we are set ready to sing along to some Harry Belafonte and remember what sparked our love for obscure art and tiny replicas. Beetlejuice has become a cultural mainstay; you can’t go into any Halloween section without seeing the face of Michael Keaton looking back at you, as it should be.
Twilight (2008)
It is officially Twilight season! We have ‘Eyes on Fire’ by Blue Foundation on repeat, we are relishing in the rainy days, and we are falling right back into a time when the only choice we had to make that held weight was if we were Team Edward or Team Jacob. This movie launched the careers of some of the best working actors today, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, so technically, we have Stephanie Meyer to thank for the best Batman movie!
Hocus Pocus (1993)
We know we said Beetlejuice is synonymous with spooky season, but Hocus Pocus gives it a run for its money! From the endless quotes that have become a normal part of the cultural zeitgeist to the Sanderson Sisters being on every piece of merch imaginable, there is no escaping what a timeless film Hocus Pocus has evolved into.
Scooby-Doo (2002)
Scooby-Doo may just be the best casted movie of all time. They nailed every single role and crafted the world of Spooky Island in a way that made it feel real. We still think not making Spooky Island into a real amusement park was a miss of epic proportions. We actually are going to go watch this movie right now, and relish in what masterpiece it is.
Check out more of our Fall/Halloween coverage here!
We would love to hear from you! What is your comfort fall–time movie? Is it Hocus Pocus? Is it Twilight? Let us know by commenting below or by tweeting us @TheHoneyPOP! We are also on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!
If you’re a movie prop replica collector, you know exactly which Beetlejuice sign we’re talking about.
For years, as a Beetlejuice decor hunter, there has been one item I refused to buy on principle because it had one glaring mistake: it was not in-universe accurate. I’ve bought the Adam and Barbara monster face hanging decor, the inflatable Sandworm for my lawn, and the “Here Lies Betelgeuse” tombstone—but never the iconic light-up sign due to the fact that it always featured the ghost with the most’s name spelled wrong.
Here’s what I mean. On the left, the scene from Beetlejuice; on the right, the old version of the sign from Spirit Halloween:
The spelling of Beetlejuice’s name has long been a point of contention. Tim Burton’s classic film spells its title Beetlejuice. But within the movie, Michael Keaton’s wisecracking dead guy always spells it “Betelgeuse.” It’s seen on the lighted sign, the tombstone, and the flyer the Maitland family finds.
Whether it was an oversight or products simply going with the recognizable spelling, it always bugged me that the licensed replicas were technically incorrect. And in my household, we love to collect in-universe-specific items, so when we built up our Beetlejuice decor, we never bought the sign—or any other item that featured the “Beetlejuice” spelling when it should have been “Betelgeuse.”
So you can imagine my surprise when, perusing the Spirit Halloween website, I noticed the change we film snobs have been waiting for in this, our year 2025:
We would like to thank whoever made this happen for looking out for the fandom. Now, of course, the hunt is on to find it at our local Spirit Halloween; good luck!
The 24-ounce “Sandworm Slayer” cocktail is described as “a mix of blue and black raspberry” juice on the rocks, “matched with [an undisclosed] premium vodka.” The drink is topped with six sour gummy worms (likely Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers) and served in a plastic cup, if you plan on bringing the concoction into a theater. Here’s what it looks like, as delivered:
As the outlet notes, the blue drink generally retails for the comparatively modest, yet somehow still ghastly price of $21. The unfortunate customer above happened to purchase his Sandworm Slayer in the state of Illinois, which “bumped the drink’s price to $28.25, plus tax.”
For its cost, many have noted the cocktail (even if it tasted incredible, which seems rather dubious) is visually underwhelming, making little effort to evoke Tim Burton’s film in either theme or presentation. First of all, why is it blue? Similar to Beetlejuice himself, the Sandworms are black-and-white striped annelids with a pair of red eyespots and two sets of green-tinged lips. There are several ways to represent this as a visually striking cocktail almost worth the $20-30 price point.
For one, a layered cocktail—black syrup with a white liqueur to evoke the creature’s flesh, served with two maraschino cherries for the eyespots. Rim a tall glass with green sugar, and your drink already takes on the basic appearance of a sandworm. If that’s too difficult, offering a black-and-white striped straw with your cocktail would go miles. Make the drink a green one instead of blue, and you’re already more Beetlejuice-forward than AMC’s confusing Sandworm Slayer. Hell, you can even represent represent the worm’s true head with an additional bomb shot. Not to mention what could be done with a drink meant to evoke Lydia’s iconic red wedding dress, or the first film’s surreal “Day-O” musical number.
The disappointment AMC’s absurdly expensive tie-in drink evokes isn’t so much capitalism run amok, as it is a failure of creativity on the theater chain’s part. As the company had a recent brush with death, itself, you’d think it’d be more contemplative of matters pertaining to the grave. Or at least alcohol.
Have you tried the Sandworm Slayer? Would you try it? Let us know in the comments below.
In 1988, the movie releases of the day were something of a mixed bag. From titles like Killer Klowns from Outer Space to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, it was an “anything goes” sort of year for film. Maybe that’s why Beetlejuice managed to “get past the censors,” so to speak. Released on March 30, 1988, it was hardly expected to be the commercial success that it was, raking in seventy-five million dollars on a fifteen-million-dollar budget. Unsurprisingly, getting it made was something of an uphill battle, with one executive at Universal telling Beetlejuice’s co-writer and eventual co-producer Larry Wilson that trying to put it into production was a waste of time. Wilson, in fact, recalled the unnamed person’s naysaying as follows: “‘This piece of weirdness, this is what you’re going to go out into the world with? You’re developing into a very good executive. You’ve got great taste in material. Why are you going to squander all that for this piece of shit’ was basically what he was saying.”
Soon after, the Beetlejuice script was sold to the Geffen Company (because, needless to say, gays have taste). Perhaps because, at that time, it had made something of a name for itself in the genre of “weird,” “off-kilter” movies like After Hours and Little Shop of Horrors. Cutting to 2024, not only is the Geffen Company no longer around (it became defunct in 1998), but all of its content (save for Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and maybe Joe’s Apartment) now belongs to Warner Bros., which Geffen had originally distributed its films through. Perhaps that’s part of why Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has a noticeably different tone that has less to do with “the current climate” and more to do with being under the thumb of a major corporate juggernaut.
And, talking of the current climate in film, it’s obviously vastly different from the abovementioned mixed bag/almost anything goes vibe of 1988. Indeed, 2024 has been an especially marked year for remakes, reboots and various forms of sequels—including Twisters, Deadpool & Wolverine, Alien: Romulus and The Crow. All of which is to say that, as most already knew, Hollywood is notorious for playing it safe. In other words, the suits controlling the purse strings rarely, if ever, take a gamble on anything that isn’t “existing IP” that already has a built-in audience. Which is the category that, “kooky” or not, Beetlejuice definitely falls into—making it right at home among the movie release climate of 2024.
That said, the obvious tonal shift of the sequel is a direct result of not just the “corporate-ification” of the movie thanks to Warner Bros. being entirely at the helm (complete with cross-promotional products like the Fabergé x Beetlejuice Beetlejuice® fine jewelry collection and the Limited-Edition Fanta Haunted Apple x Beetlejuice Beetlejuice® drinks), but the corporate-ification of all aspects of the movie industry in general. Even when it comes to what would have once been deemed more “indie” fare (which usually tended to be a euphemism for “offbeat” [a.k.a. unclassifiable by Hollywood executives]). Tim Burton’s own film evolution provides no better example of that, showing a stronger predilection for corporate-ifying his now “signature style” over the years (see: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland, Dark Shadows and Dumbo). In branching out to TV (for the first full-blown time) with Wednesday, Burton also revealed his increasing inclination toward “softcore gloom,” a byproduct, perhaps, of too many years working with major studio backing. And yes, collaborating with Jenna Ortega on the series led to her being “thought of” for a major part in the sequel.
In it, Ortega plays Astrid Deetz, daughter to Lydia (Winona Ryder), who has herself gone totally corporate by hosting a sham-y supernatural reality show called Ghost House. Granted, Lydia can actually communicate with the dead—as her rapport with Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis) showed audiences back in ‘88. Unfortunately for Astrid, however, Lydia has never been able to wield her gift for the purpose of seeing Richard (Santiago Cabrera), Astrid’s father whose cause of death was a boat accident in South America. And no, his body was never recovered (which seems like it might a detail that’s brought back later, but it isn’t).
Lydia and Richard had already divorced before his death, which speaks more to Ryder’s original vision for the character in a sequel: “I never thought about Lydia ever being a mom. I thought she would just be this spinster by choice in that attic…” Turns out, corporate-ification makes such a thought an impossibility, with Ryder also adding, “…but I think that’s where the incredible Jenna Ortega comes in. She answered a ton of those questions, and it felt so right.” Some might even say it “felt so right” that it was the true reason “destiny” made it take this long to put together a sequel—well, that, and “destiny” also needed to align Monica Bellucci romantically with Burton to give her a part that, once upon a time, probably would have gone to Helena Bonham Carter. (Side note: the role is an undeniable aesthetic nod to Sally in The Nightmare Before Christmas.)
In any case, some might like to see Lydia and Astrid as a “macabre” version of Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, with their relationship mirroring the latter’s more during their estrangement in season six—until they finally get close once Astrid realizes her mother’s medium abilities are the real deal. Before that pivotal moment though, Astrid’s initial resentment-filled dynamic with Lydia is established via the plot construct of an important funeral. Thus, her rage toward her “Alleged Mother” is exhibited in all its complex glory when screenwriting duo Alfred Gough and Miles Millar bring them together against Astrid’s will for the funeral of Lydia’s father/Astrid’s grandfather, Charles Deetz (Jeffrey Jones, who might as well have “died” in real life after being cancelled for child pornography/sex offender charges). And yes, as some have accurately pointed out, Charles a.k.a. Jones enjoys way too much screen time for someone that’s not actually in it—in addition to pointing out that having a children’s choir sing “Day-O” at the funeral of an IRL sex offender is a bit…ill-advised. (On the plus side, however, his death allows Catherine O’Hara many opportunities to shine as Delia Deetz.)
What’s more, while Burton has also claimed that the Maitlands aren’t featured in the story because they’ve “moved on,” the fairer assumption (apart from Davis admitting, “Our characters were stuck the way they looked when they died forever, so it’s been a while, it’s been a minute”) is that Baldwin isn’t without his own controversies of late (*cough cough* killing someone). And, if corporate-ification is capable of anything, it’s steering clear of any controversies that might prompt a dip in sales. Except no one seemed to consider the potential of Brad Pitt’s inevitably fledgling reputation in the wake of Angelina Jolie’s lawsuit claiming the actor has a “history of physical abuse.” Nonetheless, he serves as a producer on the project, which, whether intentional or not, found him working with Jennifer Aniston’s other ex, Justin Theroux (who plays Lydia’s annoying user of a fiancé, Rory).
Elsewhere, the addition of Willem Dafoe to the cast as Wolf Jackson—a B-rate actor who died while playing a detective, therefore also acts as one in the afterlife—feels a bit overstuffed and out of place, contributing to some of the issues with being able to effectively service all the storylines and characters (especially Bellucci’s Delores) without making everything feel somewhat rushed at the conclusion. Granted, there is at least a satisfying-to-OG-fans wedding ceremony between Lydia and Beetlejuice reserved for Act Three (during which Lydia, in her “updated” [read: post-woke] state, makes a joke that comments on their unsettling age gap—and just in time for age gap autumn, too).
But even during these moments that cater to the original fanbase, the shift in tone from Beetlejuice when it was a “low-budget,” underdog affair is night and day when compared to the over-the-top, trying-as-hard-as-possible-for-laughs posturing of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. And don’t even get one started on the hooey final scene that leads to coming across as a totally non sequitur nod to A Nightmare on Elm Street. Even so, there are worse “bad dreams” than this sequel, and many others have failed miserably in trying to achieve a follow-up to such a beloved movie (see: Speed 2: Cruise Control or Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps). Besides, it’s almost impossible to make a sequel better than the original (save for rare exceptions like Die Hard 2 or The Dark Knight).
But, as best as it can, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice stays true to the wonderful weirdness of Beetlejuice (even if that wonderful weirdness is a little too manicured now). Alas, there’s no denying that the scrappy, rough-hewn nature of the original is something that can never be recreated in the present landscape…regardless of Ryder keeping the exact same coif as Lydia when she was sixteen (in a maneuver that smacks of Briony Tallis’ never-changing hairstyle in 2007’s Atonement).
Though Burton brought back original stars Winona Ryder, Catherina O’Hara and Michael Keaton for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, his 2024 follow-up to the 1988 classic, Baldwin and Davis do not return.
“I think the thing was for me I didn’t want to just tick any boxes,” Burton told People. “So even though they were such an amazing integral part of the first one, I was focusing on something else.”
In the original film, Baldwin and Davis played Adam and Barbara Maitland, a recently deceased couple confined to the Connecticut house where they used to live when at odds with the home’s new residents, the Deetz family: Charles (Jeffrey Jones) his daughter Lydia (Ryder) and Charles’s wife Delia (O’Hara).
In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice — which wowed audiences during its Venice Film Fest premiere on Wednesday — Jenna Ortega plays Lydia’s teenage daughter who accidentally reopens the door to the afterlife.
“A sequel like this, it really had to do with the time,” Burton continued. “That was my hook into it, the three generations of mother, daughter, granddaughter. And that [would] be the nucleus of it. I couldn’t have made this personally back in 1989 or whatever.”
Davis previously told Entertainment Tonight in April that her theory was she was not returning because “ghosts don’t age.”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will release in theaters Sept. 6.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice andBluey fever join horror classics and spooky lore-inspired collections at major home decor retailers and seasonal pop-up giants Spirit Halloween and Party City.
Halloween’s niche in horror fandom has expanded way beyond October 31, so it makes sense that home decor and goods inspired by scary movies, classic monsters, and supernatural legends are becoming more and more a staple of everyday life. Hey—if the comic book and sci-fi nerds do it all year, so can the spooky season folks. What’s so shocking, however, is that Halloween teases are now dropping so soon after July 4. In previous years, anticipation for stores to fill their shelves with orange-and-black delights got more of a chance to build, at least until back-to-school aisles were cleared. And while some retailers are apparently still checking the calendar—including Target, which has thus far kept its Halloween collection under wraps—if you visit the sites or even locations for the Disney Store, Lowe’s, Spirit Halloween, Home Depot, Party City, Michaels, At Home, and Joann, you can start shopping pumpkins, ghosts, skeletons, and more.
You’ll have to be quick though! Early-bird horror fiends are already raiding the aisles—as are re-sellers intent on snatching up any items with the potential to go viral and become the Halloween must-haves for 2024. That’s why so many are sold out in the middle of summer—though most will be re-stocked, so if you see something you can’t live without, get on those alerts so you’ll be first in line when it returns. And keep in mind what’s been dropped so far isn’t everything; there’ll be more as we get closer to fall. The Disney Store just started its release schedule with The Haunted Mansion collection but has more planned in the coming weeks. And Beetlejuice stuff has begun to trickle out to retailers like Spirit Halloween—witness this giant inflatable at Party City of the circus carousel ghost with the most—but it’s worth noting that so far it’s only been product from the iconic first film. We have yet to see anything from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, but it’s definitely coming. Tim Burton fans will be happy to learn that The Corpse Bride will be a huge feature at Spirit Halloween as will slashers like Scream and John Carpenter’s Halloween franchise. Home Depot will feature the Universal Monsters, the not-so-scary (but clear-cut kid favorite) Bluey, and more Nightmare Before Christmas with that 13-foot Jack Skellington animated statue (which we hope comes with a Sandy Claws outfit for Christmas).
But what if you don’t need pop culture splattered all over your seasonal decor? Fans of supernatural folklore, witchy classic literature, kooky familiars, sentient pumpkins, and paranormal specters aren’t getting left behind either. Michaels, At Home, and Joann Fabrics have some deeply aesthetic collections of their own out to shop that aren’t IP at all but will make your abode feel supremely haunted. We particularly love the Midnight Moon and Haunted Forest collections at Michaels that harken to some classic monster and A24 atmospheric vibes. Then for those into astrology, traditional Halloween, and graveyard goth, definitely look into the drops at Joann and At Home (but shout out to these awesome Jack Skellington pieces). And lets not forget Lowe’s truly epic aquatic horror line. There’s a huge front yard Kraken that’s already hard to get your hands on, because who doesn’t want to release the Kraken for Halloween?
There’s already something for everyone and picking a theme is going to be so hard this year! Let us know if you’ve managed to secure anything already or if you’re going to wait and show up only to find Christmas aisles in September. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Turns out the Elvira-inspired intro to the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice trailer is rooted in a new character development for the grown-up Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder).
Evil’s Michael Emerson on Working Opposite a Giant, Hairy, Five-Eyed Demon
In a new interview with Ryder in Empire, we learn that after the events of 1988’s Beetlejuice, the goth teen icon known for her deadpan delivery and penchant for ghost photography leaned into her relationship with the dead to “host her own TV series: Ghost House With Lydia Deetz.” We cannot wait to see what that entails, and if it will be a way to explore how the Maitlands might have moved on once they resolved their unfinished business—when alive, they’d longed to be parents; at the end of Beetlejuice, they’re shown to be helping raise Lydia—and crossed over. Original film stars Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin are notably absent from the announced cast list of Warner Bros. upcoming sequel to Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice.
Ryder talked about returning as an older Lydia and reuniting with director Burton along with co-stars Michael Keaton and Catherine O’Hara. “I struggle to find the words,” Ryder told the magazine. “It’s just one of the most special experiences that I’ve ever had. The fact that we’re coming back to it, it’s… It’s beyond.” She also added, “This is a first for me. I’ve never revisited a character, ever.”
From the looks of it, Lydia is that Gen X goth adult whose look may have shifted slightly but remains curated in black with her iconic spiked bangs and smudgy charcoal eyeliner. In the clip of her with the Elvira dress homage, it’s clear Burton is once again paying tribute to how horror hosts evoke that effortless dark demeanor with a bit of camp that younger generations might not get. And it makes sense, because one of the things Burton wants to tackle with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is what happens when the weird goth kid grows up. He put a lot of his personal experience in Lydia’s new story, he told Empire. “The new film became very personal to me, through the Lydia character,” he said. “What happened to Lydia? You know, what happens to people? What happens to all of us? What’s your journey from a gothic kind of weird teenager to what happens to you 35 years later?”
This was key to Ryder’s journey of finding Lydia for the film. “I went through so many stages of, ‘Who is she now?’, but I always wanted to have it be Lydia. She can’t lose who she was,” she said. For one thing, she’s now mom to Astrid (played by Wednesday’s Jenna Ortega) who becomes involved with the summoning of Beetlejuice, bringing back Lydia’s memories of the past but also causing her to reflect who she’s become in the time since: “She can’t be the same person, she can’t be just completely deadpan, she has to have evolved, but she also has to have kept that thing she had when we first met her. So that was the big challenge for me.”
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE | Official Trailer
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opens September 6 in theaters.
Tim Burton’sBeetlejuice introduced the blueprint for cinematic meta agents of chaos into pop culture long before Disney’s Genie from Aladdin or the MCU’s Deadpool and Loki. Without much of a mythology, save for some comparisons to trickster entities of folklore and classic lit like Puck from Shakespeare’s AMidsummer Night’s Dream, Betelgeuse—as his name is spelled in the film’s flashy neon sign—can be anything not beholden to a history.
First Fandoms: Emma McDonald
Michael Keaton’s original summoning of the character introduced Beetlejuice as an unreliable narrator, which is followed in every variant of him we’ve seen in television and on stage; he has powers we don’t quite understand and no one can control outside of saying his name three times before he can stop them. Keaton’s version of the character will seen again in this September’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice—and though there’s always some trepidation awaiting a long-in-the-making sequel, here’s why we’re too not worried about what to expect from this one.
In the 1988 dark comedy about life as ghosts for the recently departed, Keaton shone as the larger-than-life poltergeist in a performance that helped make Burton’s wacky creation iconic. With stand-up gags and stop-motion buffoonery (some of which might not be so PC nowadays), the villain of his own movie almost stole the show from Winona Ryder’s teen goth dream Lydia and her ghostly found family after nearly getting rid of her living family (who may have deserved it). The film grossed $74,664,632 in North America, garnering its success in theaters and being embraced as a hit family film about death. It also primed Keaton to reunite with Burton for Batman.
Image: WB Entertainment
Beetlejuice’s jump in the line from the films into becoming a cultural staple was propelled by Beetlejuice, the animated series. The cartoon had a more family-friendly, looser interpretation of the plot introduced in the film. It got rid of the Maitlands and the questionable child-bride thread, and instead made Beetlejuice a lovable manic sidekick Lydia rehabilitates into more of an anti-hero. Their spooky cartoon adventures ran from 1989 to 1991 and it became a popular movie-to-show experiment, solidifying Beetlejuice’s place as a spooky pop-culture star.
His inclusion in the real world through his presence at Universal Studios theme parks continued to keep the Ghost with the Most in the zeitgeist through the ‘90s. Beetlejuice Graveyard Revue was my first introduction to the character before watching the film, which came out before I was born. The live theme park stage show was a monster mash of pop-rock music covers performed by the Universal Monsters and hosted by Beetlejuice; it debuted in the ‘90s but had updated iterations throughout the years. It was a genius move by Universal, crafting a formative theme park-experience that made such an impact on monster kids, goths, and normies—reframing Beetlejuice as the crypt keeper for a new generation but for silly spooky nonsense.
Full Final Performance of Beetlejuice Graveyard Revue at Universal Studios Florida
Because… why is he hosting a graveyard jukebox musical? What does it have to do with the movie? Why are the Universal Monsters there? Wait—no, they make sense, why is he (a Warner Bros. property) there? By the time he jumped out of the grave none of those questions mattered; he was back and badder than ever. Beetlejuice has been a Universal Studios character meet and greet staple ever since—even past the closing of his revue back in 2015. Most recently in 2021, Beetlejuice got a Halloween Horror Nights house at Universal Studios Orlando; it proved to be one of the annual event’s most popular attractions and showed that fans were still clamoring for more, even before Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was greenlit.
Image: Universal Studios Products and Experiences
Still another iteration of Beetlejuice came to life shortly before the pandemic. In 2019 a Broadway musical adaptation of the property hit the stage for a stint before returning in 2021 and heading out on a national tour. The show, starring Alex Brightman (who recently was featured as Richard Dreyfuss in the Jaws behind-the-scenes play The Shark is Broken), may appear at first to be merely a musical version of the film—however, if you’ve seen it, you know it’s much more than that. The book for the musical, written by Scott Brown and Anthony King, departs greatly from the film with a more cohesive storyline, centering Lydia’s journey through the grief of losing her mother (while her dad quickly remarries Delia), and the Maitlands’ grief at not being able to live long enough to have a family. Both give the story more to explore at depth—all while retaining the funhouse comedy romp that comes from dealing with death by means of Beetlejuice’s comedic chaos counseling. By the time the second act hits, it feels like such a completely different story from the movie in a good way, and if it happens to stop in your town on tour, don’t miss it.
Image: Matthew Murphy
Each variant of the Beetlejuice story down to its core is about the character’s freedom to fit into any medium with meta commentary about death—perhaps because since he’s dead, he exists outside reality. His presence makes sense of the unexplainable not by giving answers but by exploring the questions people have about life and death through a movie, cartoon, haunted house, and musical. Beetlejuice’s modus operandi is to not entirely change others, but to be changed by the situations he’s in—all while being his best hedonistic self and at most encouraging the living to live a little through the horrors of humanity. It’s why he and Lydia have become goth legends for the Hot Topic and Spirit Halloween crowds. Beetlejuice isn’t high-brow “cinema,” it’s about a guy who’s the executioner of gallows humor. And that is why we shouldn’t be too worried about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: it’s not a legacy sequel that has a bar to reach, and I honestly think it might make fun of that concept in the best way. I’m just hoping for another good time, a new reason to laugh and not be afraid of death while seeing that Beetlejuice fella be up to no good again before getting exorcised back to his resting place… we know it’s not final.
The first teaser trailer for the highly anticipated Beetlejuice sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, hit the internet this week, delivering a satisfying dose of nostalgia for fans of the 1988 cult classic.
The trailer features returning cast members Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara as Lydia and Delia Deetz, respectively. Fans also caught a glimpse of the Deetz patriarch, Charles (Jeffrey Jones), in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo of sorts. Jones’s image appears on a bizarre-looking tombstone as a chorus of children sings an acapella rendition of Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)”.
Charles’s death solves two issues for the sequel: it gives Lydia a reason to return to Winter River, Connecticut with her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) in tow. And it also gives the film a narrative reason for not bringing back Jeffrey Jones.
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
Since this is Beetlejuice, Charles Deetz could always return as a ghost. But his reps told The Hollywood Reporter that Jones wouldn’t appear in the film. Jones worked with director Tim Burton in multiple films, including Sleepy Hollow and Ed Wood. He is also famous for his work in Amadeus and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Why isn’t Jeffrey Jones in the sequel?
Jones’s exclusion from the film is likely due to his 2002 arrest for possession of child pornography and for soliciting explicit photos from an underage boy. Jones pleaded no contest to solicitation and was forced to register as a child sex offender. Jones’s career has stalled since the charges became public and has acted sporadically since then.
Jones’s exclusion from Hollywood seems to be the rare case where predatory behavior has lasting consequences.
Chelsea was born and raised in New Orleans, which explains her affinity for cheesy grits and Britney Spears. An pop culture journalist since 2012, her work has appeared on Autostraddle, AfterEllen, and more. Her beats include queer popular culture, film, television, republican clownery, and the unwavering belief that ‘The Long Kiss Goodnight’ is the greatest movie ever made. She currently resides in sunny Los Angeles, with her husband, 2 sons, and one poorly behaved rescue dog. She is a former roller derby girl and a black belt in Judo, so she is not to be trifled with. She loves the word “Jewess” and wishes more people used it to describe her.
There’s a little movie from 1988 called Beetlejuice. You may have heard of it. Directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton as the title character, it’s kind of famous. Well, there’s a musical version, one that opened on Broadway in 2019, and guess where it is now on tour.
That’s right. Beetlejuice (the musical, the musical, the musical) is here in Houston, courtesy of Memorial Hermann Broadway at the Hobby Center, and it’s both exactly what you’d expect and nothing at all like you’ve seen.
But first, the story.
Somewhere in New York, teenager Lydia Deetz’s mother dies. Somewhere in Connecticut, married couple Adam and Barbara Maitland find themselves unceremoniously, well, recently deceased, too. When Lydia’s father buys the Maitlands’ former home and moves the two in, Lydia discovers that not only can she see ghost-Adam and ghost-Barbara, but that they have something in common: Lydia wants to go home to New York, and Adam and Barbara want their house back. But there’s an elephant in the room. His name is Beetlejuice, and he has every intention of using this situation to his advantage. Specifically, he needs someone living to say his name three times. Once they do, he’ll be visible to people and, if that seems like a bad thing, it’s because it is.
Because he’s a demon.
As longtime owners of a mock copy of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased will surely recognize (i.e. fans of the film will no doubt notice), the musical is much more a reimagining of Burton’s film than a faithful adaptation. The book, by Scott Brown and Anthony King, takes some big liberties – “What a departure from the source material,” says Beetlejuice in an early meta moment – but the show is all the better for it, balancing heart with humor and crass with sensitivity. It’s a balancing act that director Alex Timbers handles well amidst the chaotic frenzy that is most of the show.
Isabella Esler (Lydia), Will Burton (Adam) and Megan McGinnis (Barbara) in Beetlejuice.
Photo by Dan Norman, 2023
That said, there’s still plenty of nostalgia here, with the production hitting on the film’s most iconic characters, looks, and sounds which, yes, include the Harry Belafonte tunes. I know I, for one, would be rioting if the show didn’t include some bit of “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” and “Jump in the Line (Shake, Señora).” Eddie Perfect wrote the original music and lyrics for the show and, while the songs certainly serve the story and aren’t bad, per se, there aren’t really any breakout numbers either. Connor Gallagher’s choreography does its best to enhance the fun of the numbers and does, but…Let’s put it this way, I don’t know if you’ll leave humming any tune other than Belafonte’s.
But that’s not really why we’re here. We’re here for Beetlejuice and the demon of the hour does not disappoint.
Is it possible to be a scene-stealer in a show where you play the titular character? Probably not, but Justin Collette certainly owns every second he’s on stage. As “the ghost with the most,” Collette is a naughty fourth-wall breaker with a throaty growl that nods to Michael Keaton’s classic performance and a screaming delivery that is even more reminiscent of (and rivals) the late Sam Kinison. The jokes fly, fast and furious, and Collette’s timing is unmatched – especially when he rides the never-ending waves of the audience’s appreciation. Needless to say, they ate up every bit of Collette’s performance.
Isabella Esler is the heart of the production, balancing out and calming the show with her vulnerability as a young girl dealing with the devastation of losing her mom. It’s impossible not to feel for her when she sings of being invisible, and even more so later during the numbers “Dead Mom” and “Home.” Of course, Esler also puts on a fun performance during the second act’s “Creepy Old Guy” bit.
As the white-bread couple coming into their own post-mortem, Megan McGinnis (Barbara) and Will Burton (Adam) are pretty fun to watch. They rapidly establish themselves and get out their anxieties during “Ready, Set, Not Yet,” and spend much of the rest of the show being harassed by Beetlejuice and bonding with Lydia. And that’s exactly what you want to see from them.
Jesse Sharp makes the believable turn from weirdo-aloof-dad to kind-of-normal, kind-of-understandable dad as Charles. Sarah Litzsinger’s Delia is over-the-top obnoxious, but still somehow likable in the end and that’s skill.
Abe Goldfarb’s Otho with the Toyota Prius is just right in terms of not minding so much when he ends up stuck in a Beetlejuice-designed wacky (and deadly) game show. With a very particular laugh, Kris Roberts’s Maxine Dean certainly catches the eye, but it’s Roberts’s later turn as Juno, an angry old Netherworld worker with a surprising connection to Beetlejuice that makes for a good if unexpected villain.
Special mentions also go out to Jackera Davis as a sweet-voiced Girl Scout named Sky, who opens the second act with an unexpectedly fun number (aptly titled “Girl Scout”) and Hillary Porter’s Miss Argentina, who drops “What I Know Now” with gusto befitting a former beauty queen.
Beetlejuice has an undeniable carnival-like feel, a current of whimsy and irreverence running through the show’s length that is only heightened by scenic designer David Korins. Korins has crafted an ode to Burton with his sets, all conspicuously lit by Kenneth Posner’s bold lighting designs and enhanced by Peter Nigrini’s projections.
Burton’s spirit lives through the designs – sometimes only in spirit but sometimes quite literally with clear references to the filmmaker’s work. The expressionistic approach uses lots of angles, exaggerations, and distortions perfect for a show that only grows more outrageous as it goes on. The characters romp through a simple country house, to the same house redesigned with the more modern sensibilities of the Deetz family, and finally to the kind of hellish landscape you’d expect if you hired someone like Beetlejuice as your interior designer.
William Ivey Long’s costumes (with assists from Charles G. LaPointe’s hair and wig design, and makeup by Joe Dulude II) fit the world Korins has created perfectly. As does all the trickery living in this production, a mix of Jeremy Chernick’s special effects and the magic and illusion designs of Michael Weber, and Michael Curry’s puppets (it’s sand worms, people, there are sand worms).
Beetlejuice is a wild ride, non-stop and thrilling, with an eager-to-please personality that’s hard to resist. Not that anyone seemed to be trying to hard. And really, why would you? Don’t you want to be entertained? If so, on entertainment alone, I don’t know if you’ll see a better show in Houston this year. And that’s definitely saying something.
Performances will continue at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1:30 and 7 p.m. Sunday through March 10 at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby. For more information, call 713-315-2525 or visit broadwayatthehobbycenter.com or thehobbycenter.org. $40-$250.
What did you mean when you said the episodes are more like movies?
I mean, in the first season we had episodes that really stood out visually, like the dance episode was a really big one for people, and that setting was very particular and it felt like Prom Night, a little bit, or Carrie. Every episode [of season two] that Iâve read so far is like that. It just stands out on its own as a very memorable scene or bit or setting, which I think is what Iâm most excited for, because to pull that off for eight episodes is, I think, really incredible and really lucky.
Youâd been working for a long time before things really took off.
I have been doing this for 12 years. Itâs weird to look back on all the experiences that Iâve had doing the job that I do. And then to be here now isâ¦I donât know, I feel like itâs some sort of sick prank.
You must have vivid memories of your early years, auditioning and trying to get roles.
I wanted to start when I was six. But I didnât actually start until I was 10. Thereâs a lot of things that Iâve done in my career that I used to say I wanted to do, or dreamed about doing. Iâm definitely a perfectionist, but I also think that that comes with never being satisfied or never being able to stop and slow down and appreciate whatâs been going on or what Iâve seen. The last few months Iâve been able to reflect on the fact that a lot of the things that I wanted to do when I was younger, including work with Tim Burton, have happened. I almost didnât realize it because I was so focused on the work and had tunnel vision.
Does it still live up to what you imagined?
To still enjoy the job just as much 12 years laterâeven seeing all of the ugly and wonderful and extremeâI think is pretty cool. I made this decision when I was 10, so Iâm living off of a 10-year-oldâs choices.
Anything you wish youâd done differently?
Iâm very much a people pleaser. I like to say that Iâm not anymoreâbut I am. I wish that I felt that I was a bit more in control of my experiences. When I was younger, I was just so happy to be a part of the conversation that I wasnât really playing it in a strategic way. Not that it has to be. I wish that maybe I had felt more autonomy in who I was from a younger age. I think Iâve definitely fallen into patterns of taking myself too seriously or not being able to create much balance in my life.
Balance in what way?
When I was younger, I wasnât thinking about sleepovers and friends and proms. It was always, âWhat am I going to do next? How am I going to get this job? What meeting should I take?â It was work and school and sleep and repeat. So itâs been funny as Iâve gotten older to realize, âHuh, yeah, you do need your hands in other bowls and you do need to take a step and a breather.â Iâm glad that I realize that now, but itâs strange to have not really had that experience or been eager for that experience when I was younger.
Itâs important to have connections back to reality.
Definitely. Everything thatâs happenedâit almost feels like another person that people are talking about. I donât feel attached to my name at all, or peopleâs perception of my name. I have conversations with people all the time about the position that Iâm in now and everything thatâs happening, but nothing in my personal life has really changed or been altered in any way. It almost doesnât sound real. I just feel very detached from the whole thing, which maybe helps as well. But at the same time, itâs kind of scary. I donât know how people do it. I feel like thereâs probably some handbook out there that just was never handed to me.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. For fashion and beauty details, go toVF.com/credits.
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice: Say it three times, and Michael Keaton will open up about the upcoming sequel of his iconic 1988 film, Beetlejuice.
In a recent interview with People magazine, the actor who portrays the rambunctious spirit revealed that he and director Tim Burton were “hesitant and cautious” about making a sequel for the classic but ended up having so much fun working on it.
“We thought, ‘You got to get this right. Otherwise, just don’t do it. Let’s just go on with our lives and do other things.’ So I was hesitant and cautious, and [Burton] was probably equally as hesitant and cautious over all these years,” he told the publication. “Once we got there, I said, ’OK, let’s just go for it. Let’s just see if we can do it, if we can pull this off.’”
Keaton shared that early in production, he and the filmmaker also discussed how neither one of them was particularly interested in doing something that was too technology-heavy.
“It had to feel handmade,” he said. “What made it fun was watching somebody in the corner actually holding something up for you, to watch everybody in the shrunken head room and say, ‘Those are people under there, operating these things, trying to get it right.’”
He continued, “It’s the most exciting thing when you get to do that again after years of standing in front of a giant screen, pretending somebody’s across the way from you.”
Beetlejuice Poster
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara return for Beetlejuice 2, aka Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which also stars Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe, Monica Bellucci and Justin Theroux in new roles. Sources previously told The Hollywood Reporter that the Ortega plays the daughter of Ryder’s Lydia, while Dafoe portrays an afterlife law enforcement officer, and Bellucci takes on the role of Beetlejuice’s wife.
Halloween is here and during the week – so you have a whole pre weekend to enjoy the boo-tiful season. Why not spend an evening (or afternoon) chilling with your favorite snack and maybe some cannabis. Marijuana tends to a movie more immersive, the sensory bombardment brings out the thrill and makes you see and feel it much more.
So this is the prefect weekend for weed and a scary movie! Here are some suggestions.
Frankenstein is a 1931 American pre-Code horror film directed by creative master James Whale. Bride of Frankenstein was the sequel release 1935 and as with the first film directed by James Whale. A cinema lover’s black and white delight with the addition of a couple of campy great scenes. Perfect bing watch.
Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice is a 1988 American is a fantasy, horror, comedy film directed byTim Burton.The visuals alone are worth the watch and you immerse yourself into the entire movie. One great singalong coupled with the rhythm of the movie will make for an enjoyable high.
Psycho
Psycho is a 1960 classic horror film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The pace is a slow build and allows you to feel each moment. With a tight cast, Hitchcock knows how to keep you focused in the move.
Hocus Pocus/ Hocus Pocus 2
Hocus Pocus is a 1993 American fantasy comedy Halloween movie film directed by Kenny Ortega. The sequel came out in2022 was directed by Anne Fletcher. Lighthearted fun movie with music and lots of visuals to delight all the senses. When the edibles hit, Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy will be your besties and keep you humming, laughing and enjoying the colors and rhythm of the film.
The Shining
The Shining is a 1980 classic horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick and co-written with novelist Diane Johnson. Again, the visual and the script will draw you end and you will feel you are in the hotel. More of a true horror flick, be prepared for excitement and surprise.
The Conjuring is a 2013 supernatural horror film directed by James Wan and based on the true life of the Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators and authors. This was the first of the movies in the Conjuring Universe and also the best. Definitely a nail biter and a movie to get the heart pumping.
Bombastic Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert reportedly gave campaign money to a bar owned by the man with whom she was ejected from a performance of the “Beetlejuice” musical.
The right-wing lawmaker blew $317.48 at Hooch Craft Cocktail Bar in July, according to Politico. That Aspen, Colo., establishment is run by Quinn Gallagher, who became a national figure in September when he and the vaping 36-year-old lawmaker were asked to leave the Buell Theater after they engaged in lurid conduct.
Boebert initially denied she was misbehaving, but security video from inside the theater appeared to show she was smoking from a vape pen and being handsy with Gallagher. She reportedly labeled her spending at Gallagher’s establishment “event catering” on a campaign finance filing.
Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert and a male friend were asked to leave the Buelle Theater in Denver during a performance of the “Beetlejuice” musical, where witnesses said the right-wing representative was speaking loudly, waving her arms, vaping (pictured) and being generally disruptive.
The MAGA congresswoman became a grandmother in June when her 17-year-old son, whom she left high school to raise, became a dad. Boebert said in May that she and her husband were in the process of getting a divorce. She told TMZ last month that her brief relationship with Gallagher had also come to an end.
Gallagher’s business was swamped with negative comments online after his fling with Boebert. The watering hole’s Yelp page is governed by an “unusual activity” alert that restricts site users from commenting on the establishment.
Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert famously knows how to be disruptive. It’s her thing. She goes toe to toe with would-be gun regulators, drag queens, Muslims, and even fellow Freedom Caucus members. To Boebert and her far-right base, all the world’s a schoolyard in which to pick fights—and maybe hit vapes.
This is all to say that it’s not so surprising that disruption (and vaporization) would be her main approach when she went to see a traveling stage performance of the Beetlejuice musical in Denver on September 10. The congresswoman and her date—reportedly a Denver bar owner who skews Democratic—had a blast until they didn’t. They were asked to leave the show after fellow theatergoers complained of Boebert’s vaping and general loudness, and the pair could be seen groping each other on surveillance footage. On the way out, per the security report obtained by the Denver NBC affiliate, she said, “Do you know who I am?” and “I am on the board,” and “I will be contacting the mayor.” (She’s since denied this last bit. “There’s reports saying I was arguing, threatening to call the Denver mayor. I don’t know why I would ever call the Denver mayor. I think he would have tried to lock me up,” she said Sunday in an interview with the far-right news network OAN.)
Initially, Boebert said that she was kicked out for enjoying the musical too much. “I plead guilty to laughing and singing too loud!” she tweeted. This is true, in a way. Boebert was not lying. She really did seem to be enjoying everything around her too much. The congresswoman with the teenage worldview was remembering what it was like to physically be a teenager, maybe. Denver’s 9News obtained a recording of the incident, and the video clearly shows Boebert vaping, dancing, and partaking in some light groping with her companion. The video also shows a pregnant woman behind her leaning forward and saying something to her. There’s no audio, but the woman told The Denver Post that she asked Boebert to stop vaping. Boebert would not. Please, a round of applause for local journalism and night-vision technology.
Boebert had initially denied the vaping portion of the incident, but had to walk that back when confronted with the video of herself vaping a ton. She blamed her divorce and “the natural anxiety of being in a new environment.”
“Whether it was the excitement of seeing a much-anticipated production or the natural anxiety of being in a new environment, I genuinely did not recall vaping that evening when I discussed the night’s events with my campaign team while confirming my enthusiasm for the musical,” the statement read. “Regardless of my belief, it’s clear now that was not accurate.”
The congresswoman also told OAN, “I was a little too eccentric. I’m very known for having an animated personality, maybe overtly animated personality. I was laughing, I was singing, having a fantastic time,” Boebert said. “Was told to kinda settle it down a little bit, which I did, but then my next slip-up was taking a picture.”
Who among us has not forgotten our disturbing actions due to the thrill of finally getting to see the Beetlejuice musical? Who among us has not been punished by the media for our sparkling personality? Who among us has not suppressed all memory of certain behaviors due to the “natural anxiety of being in a new environment”?
DENVER (AP) — Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert apologized Friday after getting kicked out of a musical play in Colorado last weekend for disruptive behavior and then falsely denying she had been vaping.
The apology came a day after surveillance video emerged that showed Boebert vaping at her seat in a Denver theater. Her campaign earlier denied the theater’s contention that she had been vaping.
The normally combative Boebert said in a Friday statement that her actions were not meant to be malicious or cause harm “but the reality is they did.”
She was kicked out of the “Beetlejuice” musical last Sunday following complaints from people in the audience that she and another guest were vaping, singing, using phones and causing a disturbance.
When the lights were still on and as people were taking their seats around Boebert, she could be seen in the surveillance video putting her hand to her mouth then blowing out a cloud of vapor. After the lights went off, the footage showed Boebert dancing in her seat and flashes from her phone as she held it up and appeared to take photos of herself during the performance.
Two days after the incident, Boebert posted in social media: “It’s true, I did thoroughly enjoy the AMAZING Beetlejuice at the Buell Theatre and I plead guilty to laughing and singing too loud!”
Boebert noted in her statement that she has been going through a divorce and said her behavior was unacceptable.
“I genuinely did not recall vaping that evening when I discussed the night’s events with my campaign manager,” she said. “We do understand the nature of how this looks.”
In her relatively short time in Washington, Boebert built a national profile and has aligned with the extreme right wing of the GOP. Her assertive style has grabbed media headlines, most famously when she heckled President Joe Biden during his 2022 State of the Union address.
She is in her second term in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, largely covering the state’s western half.
The city-owned Buell Theater did not name Boebert when it released the video clips from surveillance cameras that showed the congresswoman and her companion being led out of the theater by members of its staff.
During the confrontation, the two made comments along the lines of “do you know who I am” and “I will be contacting the mayor,” according to theater representatives.
The two guests at first refused to leave the venue, even after an employee threatened to get the police, the theater said. Once a police officer was on the way, the two left, the theater said.
Brown reported from Billings, Mont.
Jesse Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
It looks like Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) was just blowing smoke when her team denied that she was vaping and being disruptive at a performance of the “Beetlejuice” musical as new video appears to catch her in the act.
She initially tried to downplay the incident, but the security footage shows what really went down.
Kyle Clark of 9News shared the highlights:
A pregnant woman who said she sat behind Boebert told the Denver Post that she asked the lawmaker ― who she didn’t recognize ― to stop vaping.
She refused, and later called the pregnant woman “a sad and miserable person.”
“These people in front of us were outrageous,” the woman, who was not named, told the newspaper. “I’ve never seen anyone act like that before.”
Boebert’s team earlier this week had claimed that the only thing she did wrong was take a photo during the performance. Boebert herself wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that she was “guilty” only of “laughing and singing too loud.”
9News also has an extended cut of the footage, which shows Boebert being disruptive at multiple points during the performance, raising her hands and being very animated even at points in the performance when everyone else was sitting calmly:
