Every year the Plaza Theatre El Paso is visited by touring musicals to provide entertainment for an audience of a diverse group of people.

This year, the Plaza was happy to showcase Beetlejuice The Musical, Tina, Pretty Woman The Musical, Chicago, and Hadestown.

Beetlejuice the Musical toured from November 26, 2024 to December 1, 2024, giving theater fans and families alike something to look forward to during the Thanksgiving break!

The performance on Friday, November 29, was crowded, with nearly every seat occupied by eager Beetlejuice fans, thespians, and El Pasoans of all ages, ready to watch the performance.

The musical is inspired by the 1988 film, Beetlejuice, by Tim Burton, with a 2024 sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, giving the story a twist.

The plot revolves around a 16 year old girl, Lydia Deetz, who recently lost her mother and follows her interactions with the couple who recently passed away in the house she moved in after her mom’s death.

Beetlejuice is introduced as a wacky ghost who just wants to be seen and live again, resembling Lydia’s desire to be seen by her recently widowed father.

The audience members were often brought to tears by moving song numbers like, “Home,” and, “Dead Mom,” that were not afraid to cover the difficult topic of losing a loved one.

The musical often made light of the dark subject matter by using upbeat songs and choreography to ease the viewers.

The show has a recommended audience rating of 13 and older because of the heavy themes and occasional adult humor, but that did not stop the younger audience members from dressing up as Beetlejuice characters and being very engaged in the show.

The 2p.m. showing was Sophie Aknin’s very first time playing the lead role of Lydia Deetz, with her co-star, Justin Collette, who posses the unique talent of contorting his voice to the raspy tone he uses in the show.

The entire performance was very interactive and gave the audience an unforgettable, “strange and unusual,” experience.