Musical 'Beetlejuice' comes to Wharton

By Chloe Gregg
Editor in Chief

“Beetlejuice” is making its Wharton Center debut Tuesday, March 14 through Sunday, March 19.

Based on Tim Burton’s 1988 cult classic of the same name, the Broadway musical adaptation follows the gothic teenage daughter Lydia Deetz (originally played by Winona Ryder), as she and her family move into a new estate.

The Maitlands, a young married couple who want to have their own child, had recently passed away inside of the estate, causing them to be stuck there as ghosts. With the help of Beetlejuice, they want to rid the house of all of the “living,” so that they can have it back to themselves.

Jackera Davis plays the Girl Scout, as well as being Lydia Deetz’s understudy in this production. Originally from Houston, Davis said she was not really interested in musical theater until high school, when she fell in love with it.

“My freshman year, I forged my mom’s signature to audition for ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ a show my high school was doing,” Davis said. “I got cast as the lead and I fell in love with it from there.

“My junior year of high school I was like ‘Whoa, I think I want to do this as a career.’ I hadn’t even realized that you could major in musical theater.”

Davis ended up at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, where she graduated in May of 2022 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She said she is most excited to see the audience having fun at this musical.

“I’ve never done a role like this,” Davis said. “This is definitely the youngest character I’ve played. … Sky the Girl Scout is supposed to be around 11 years old, so as a 23-year-old woman, they have to age me down quite a bit.

“This is also the biggest ‘gig’ I’ve gotten to be a part of. Getting to play this iconic character that all of these fans are obsessed with is really, really cool. Our fans for Beetlejuice are amazing.”

The musical premieres Tuesday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m., with tickets ranging from $49 to $109. The Wharton Center is located on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing.

For more information on the show or to purchase tickets, visit the Wharton Center website here.