Alex Brightman and Sophia Anne Caruso to Star in The World Premiere Pre-Broadway Engagement of “Beetlejuice” at Washington D.C.'s National Theatre

Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures (Mark Kaufman) and Langley Park Productions (Kevin McCormick) announce today that Tony Award nominee Alex Brightman (School of Rock) will star as Beetlejuice and two-time Lortel Award nominee Sophia Anne Caruso (“Lazarus”) will star as Lydia in the world premiere Pre-Broadway engagement of the new musical comedy “Beetlejuice.”Directed by two-time Tony Award nominee Alex Timbers (“Moulin Rouge!,” “Peter and the Starcatcher”), with choreography by Connor Gallagher (“The Robber Bridegroom”), an original score by Eddie Perfect (“King Kong”) and a book by Scott Brown & Emmy Award nominee Anthony King (“Broad City”), “Beetlejuice” begins performances on Sunday, October 14, 2018 and officially opens on Sunday, November 4, 2018 at the National Theatre in Washington D.C. Additional casting will be announced shortly.It’s showtime, folks! Beetlejuice is ruder, raunchier and frankly, more repellent than ever in this original musical based on Tim Burton’s wonderfully demented film. “Beetlejuice” tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager obsessed with the whole “being dead thing.” Lucky for Lydia, her new house is haunted by a recently deceased couple and a degenerate demon who happens to have a thing for stripes. When Lydia calls on this ghost-with-the-most to scare away her insufferable parents, Beetlejuice comes up with the perfect plan, which involves exorcism, arranged marriages and an adorable girl scout who gets scared out of her wits.“Beetlejuice” features scenic design by two-time Tony Award nominee David Korins (“Hamilton”), costume design by six-time Tony Award winner William Ivey Long (“The Producers”), lighting design by Tony Award winner Kenneth Posner (“Kinky Boots”), sound design by four-time Tony Award nominee Peter Hylenski (“Frozen”), projection design by Drama Desk Award winner Peter Nigrini (“Dear Evan Hansen”), puppet design by Drama Desk Award winner Michael Curry (“The Lion King”), special effects design by Jeremy Chernick (“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”), illusions by Michael Weber (“Forrest Gump”) musical direction by Kris Kukul (“Joan of Arc: Into the Fire”), music producing by Matt Stine, dance arrangements by David Dabbon, casting by Telsey + Company and Rachel Hoffman, CSA; Associate Director Catie Davis, Associate Choreographer Nancy Renee Braun and Line Producer Jenny Gersten.“Beetlejuice” is based on the 1988 Academy Award-winning Warner Bros. motion picture with story by Michael McDowell and Larry Wilson. The smash hit comedy was directed by Tim Burton and starred Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder.Ticket Information:
Tickets for “Beetlejuice” range from $54.00 – 114.00 and are available at www.TheNationalDC.com.——–The National Theatre
Managed and programmed by Jam Theatricals since 2012, the National Theatre is located on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House. The National Theatre opened in 1835 and is one of the country’s oldest continuously operating theaters. During its storied history, the National has served as one of the country’s leading pre-Broadway venues, hosting legendary world premieres such as “Show Boat,” “West Side Story” and “Crazy For You.” Many of the world’s leading performers have graced the “Stage for a Nation,” including Washington, D.C.’s own Helen Hayes, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, Eartha Kitt, Ian McKellen, Sir Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Chita Rivera, Will Rogers, and George C. Scott to name but a few. Jam Theatricals, under the direction of Steve Traxler and Arny Granat, introduced Broadway at the National, a new and exciting subscription series. In addition to the world premieres of “If/Then” and “Mean Girls,” recent theatrical presentations include “Blithe Spirit” starring Angela Lansbury, “Jersey Boys,” “Les Miserables” and the Washington premieres of “Motown The Musical,” “American Idiot,” “Fun Home,” “Something Rotten!” and “Newsies.” In addition, the National has recently presented many special events and concerts, including Kacey Musgraves, Dave Koz, Bryan Adams, Bill Burr, Eddie Izzard, Savion Glover, The Irish Tenors and ThePianoGuys.Biographies:ALEX BRIGHTMAN (Beetlejuice) is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Dewey Finn in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical “School of Rock,” for which he received a 2016 Best Actor in a Musical Tony Award nomination as well as an Outstanding Actor in a Musical Outer Critics Circle Award nomination. Ben Brantley of The New York Times called his performance “as notable for its generosity as its virtuosity,” and David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter raved “a star-making performance.” Alex’s Broadway debut was in James Gardiner and Nick Blaemire’s “Glory Days.” He since appeared on Broadway in “Wicked,” “Big Fish” and “Matilda.” Off-Broadway he starred in Encores! City Center’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Assassins,” and in The Old Globe’s world premiere musical, “Nobody Loves You.” Alex will next be seen starring in the title role of the National Theater’s Pre-Broadway run of “Beetlejuice,” under the direction of Alex Timbers. On television, Alex most recently appeared on the Showtime series “SMILF” and “The Good Fight” with Christine Baranski. He has also appeared on USA’s “Royal Pains,” and on Comedy Central’s “Important Things With Demetri Martin.” He can next be seen on IFC’s “Documentary Now!” opposite Bill Hader. Alex has established himself as a playwright. He and his writing partner, Drew Gasparini, premiered a new musical thriller called “Make Me Bad” at the Bloomington Playwrights Project in 2013. Their next production was the one-man show “Everything In Its Place: The Life And Slimes Of Marc Summers,” starring Marc Summers. The duo are currently developing several other projects, including a musical adaptation of “The Whipping Boy,” based on the Newbery medal-winning children’s book and a musical adaptation of Universal’s “It’s Kind Of A Funny Story,” which was workshopped this past year at Feinstein’s/54 Below. Alex enjoys teaching music and for several years has taught at Broadway Artist Alliance, Camp Broadway and in his own class, “Alex Brightman Teaches You How to Kick Auditions in the Ass.” Alex currently resides in New York City.SOPHIA ANNE CARUSO (Lydia) began her professional career at age 9, in the role of Helen Keller in “The Miracle Worker,” directed by Patty Duke. She played Young Norma Jean alongside Bernadette Peters in NBC-TV’s hit series, “Smash.” Sophia’s regional credits include the world premiere of “Second Hand Lions” directed by Scott Schwartz at the 5th Ave Theater in Seattle, and Charlotte Van Goethem in the world premiere of “Little Dancer,” directed by Susan Stroman at the Kennedy Center. Sophia was Brigitta Von Trapp in NBC-TV’s first live TV musical, “The Sound of Music Live!.” Her first off-Broadway stage show was “The Nether” directed by Anne Kaufman at MCC where she received her first Lucille Lortel nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Following “The Nether,” Sophia began work on her first feature, a multi-award winning film about autism called “Jack of The Red Hearts,” directed by Janet Grillo. Sophia was also featured in the film “37 The Kitty Genovese Murder.” Caruso’s love for the stage brought her back to off-Broadway, when she was cast as “The Girl” in the David Bowie / Enda Walsh world premiere musical, “Lazarus,” directed by Ivo van Hove, at the New York Theater Workshop. She received her second Lucille Lortel nomination, for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical and was also nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress. After a record breaking sold out run in New York City, “Lazarus” transferred to London’s West End in 2016. Sophia received her first West End nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical from the prestigious “What’s on Stage Awards”. She is also prominently featured on the “Lazarus” cast album, most notably in “Life On Mars.” Her first Broadway credit came in the Tony-nominated production of “Blackbird,” directed by Joe Mantello and starring Michelle Williams and Jeff Daniels. That same summer she also appeared in New York City Center’s production of “Runaways.” Sophia appears in the first episode of Season 2, in the Facebook hit series “Strangers” that is currently streaming on Facebook Watch. Next year she will be seen in the new Showtime series, “City on a Hill,” co-starring opposite Kevin Bacon, as his teenage daughter.ALEX TIMBERS (Director) is a two-time Tony-nominated director and writer and the recipient of Golden Globe, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards, as well as two OBIE and Lortel Awards. Directing credits include Jonathan Groff in “The Bobby Darin Story,” Nick Kroll and John Mulaney’s “Oh Hello on Broadway” (also aired on Netflix), “Moulin Rouge!” at the Emerson Colonial Theater, David Byrne’s “Here Lies Love” (Lortel Award- Best Director, Drama Desk and OCC nominations – Best Director, London Evening Standard Award), “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” (also book writer; Drama Desk Award – Best Book, Lortel and OCC Awards – Best Musical, Tony nomination – Best Book), “Peter and the Starcatcher” (co-director, OBIE Award- Best Director, Tony nomination – Best Director), “The Robber Bridegroom” (Lortel Award – Best Revival), “Rocky” (Drama Desk and OCC nominations – Best Director), “The Pee-wee Herman Show” (also aired on HBO), “Gutenberg!” (Drama Desk nom. – Best Director), “Hell House” (Drama Desk nom.), “A Very Merry Unauthorized Pageant” (OBIE Award). TV: “Mozart in the Jungle,” “John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous Tour at Radio City Music Hall.” Recipient of the 2016 Jerome Robbins Award.CONNOR GALLAGHER (Choreographer). Selected work includes the first New York revival of “The Robber Bridegroom” (Roundabout Theatre Company, Astaire Winner and Calloway Nominee), the national tour of “Elf,” the world-premiere stage adaptation of Disney’s “Tangled,” Robert Schenkkan and Neil Berg’s “The Twelve” (Denver Center), “FOUND” (Philadelphia Theatre Company), a new adaptation of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” (Director, Disney Creative Entertainment), “The Magic School Bus” (Director, Theatreworks), “Spelling Bee” (Bucks County Playhouse), “The Fabulous Lipitones” (Goodspeed), “Bunnicula” (DR2), “Fat Camp” (NYMF & Playhouse Square, Best Choreography Award), “Spidermusical” (The Mint), “Perez Hilton” (Fringe, Barrow Street Theatre, Joe’s Pub), and numerous events for Broadway Cares. Connor has created choreography for Glidden Paint, Luxxotica Eyewear, Hanky Panky Underwear, The Writers Guild Awards, and the HIFA Festival in Zimbabwe. Associate: “Into the Woods” (Public Theater), “Beauty and the Beast” National and International Tours. Connor is a graduate of The Cincinnati Conservatory. connorgallagher.comEDDIE PERFECT (Music & Lyrics) is one of Australia’s most diverse, respected and prolific writer/composer/performers, having made his mark in the fields of comedy, music theatre composition, playwriting, screenwriting, classical music, jazz and acting for stage and screen. As a composer/lyricist, Eddie’s credits include “The Big Con” (Malthouse Theatre), “Shane Warne The Musical” (Token), “Drink Pepsi Bitch” (Malthouse Theatre), “Angry Eddie,” “Misanthropology” (Sydney Festival), ”Songs From The Middle“ with The Brodsky Quartet, “Strictly Ballroom” (Global Creatures) and “Vivid White” (Melbourne Theatre Company). Eddie is currently writing and developing both “King Kong” (Global Creatures) and “Beetlejuice” (Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures) in the U.S. Eddie also wrote the stage play “The Beast” for Melbourne Theatre Company, the screenplay for the absurdist comedy “The Future Is Expensive” for ABC television, and co-artistically directed the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in 2016 and 2017. Eddie can be seen on Australian television’s “Playschool” where he is a presenter, and on Netflix as Mick Holland in the Australian Drama/Comedy series “Offspring.”SCOTT BROWN (Book) wrote/composed the Off-Broadway musical comedy “Gutenberg! The Musical” (dir. Alex Timbers) with childhood friend and “Beetlejuice” collaborator Anthony King. He started his career in journalism, writing for Entertainment Weekly (senior writer), Wired (columnist), GQ and Time, among others. He was chief drama critic for New York Magazine from 2010 to 2014, and received the 2012-13 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism. He saw “Spider-man: Turn off the Dark” three times, two of them sober. Lately, he’s written for HBO’s “Sharp Objects,” based on the novel by Gillian Flynn, directed by Jean Marc Vallee and starring Amy Adams. He’s also written for WGN’s critically acclaimed “Manhattan” and is currently a writer-producer on Stephen King’s “Castle Rock” for Hulu, executive produced by J.J. Abrams. He’s also at work on a new project for Amazon, but then, isn’t everyone? His young-adult novel “xL” will be published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2019. Scott was born in Alabama, and spent most of his childhood in North Carolina. He lived for seventeen lovely years in New York, until it got too expensive, and then moved to Western Massachusetts, where he is politically irrelevant.ANTHONY KING (Book) is an Emmy-nominated writer, director, and performer. He co-wrote the Off-Broadway show, “Gutenberg! The Musical!,” which also enjoyed a run Off-West End in London and is now being performed all over the world. The show received Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle & Drama Desk Award Nominations, and won a NYMF Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre Writing (Book). Anthony has developed television projects for CBS, HBO, Comedy Central, A&E & AMC and has written/produced for shows like “Silicon Valley” (HBO), “Broad City” (Comedy Central), “Search Party” (TBS), “Playing House” (USA), “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp” & “Ten Years Later” (Netflix), “Wrecked” (TBS), “Best Friends Forever” (NBC) and more. He was the Artistic Director of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in NYC from 2005-2011 and still performs often at the UCB Theatre in Los Angeles where he lives now with his wife and two wonderful daughters. And also a weird little dog.