In some disappointing news for not only fans but the producer, cast, crew, and the Australian theatre community as a whole, it has been confirmed that the Australian national tour of Beetlejuice the Musical will be ending its Brisbane season preemptively on 5 July 2026, with all subsequent legs to Perth, Adelaide and even Sydney cancelled outright. The tour, headlined by broadway actor Andy Karl as Beetlejuice and the incredible performer Karis Oka as Lydia Deetz first commenced in Melbourne last year for an “exclusive season”, before picking back up at the QPAC Lyric Theatre in Brisbane this month, with its official opening night only last week.
The following announcement was published by Michael Cassel Group on the musical’s official website yesterday, with other notifications going out from venues as of yesterday to those who booked tickets:
While specifics have not been shared on why exactly this tour is no longer going ahead, one could assume that it may not have been selling enough tickets to keep the season financially viable for the remainder of the year. This could be in part due to the growing cost-of-living crisis at this current time, especially for an audience demographic much younger than that of your more traditional, safer, musical theatre productions than what I consider to be a future cult classic for my generation.
For those who are able to reschedule their tickets for a performance in Brisbane during its revised season, I would still highly recommend checking Beetlejuice the Musical out, with it receiving ★★★★½ in my review of it just last week. Hopefully we may see a proshot of Beetlejuice the Musical sometime in the future, for all those who were unable to attend a performance.
This news comes a half-year after the announcement that Crossroads Live Australia were cancelling a majority of their national tour for Back to the Future: The Musical which started in Sydney. Here’s hoping that the second major case in as many months doesn’t mean producers will spend the next few years playing it safe with musicals – there are so many productions that we miss out on national tours of from Broadway or West End, and it would be a shame to see that number increase.
Ultimately, there are no winners – the producers take the financial hit (having worked with members of the MCG team during my tenure at QPAC and knowing how passionate the team there is, I am sure it was no easy decision); the cast, band and crew on ‘Run on Play’ contracts will be out of work in a few weeks; venues may have gaps in their programming that are difficult to fill – and of course, fans who may miss out the chance to see Beetlejuice the Musical live.
Not a “beautiful sound” to wake up to on my birthday. Ticketing information for the remaining Brisbane shows of Beetlejuice the Musical can be found on the musical’s official website.
