Sarah Litzsinger has an impressive Broadway resume: Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Bet in Oliver! with Patti Lu Pone and Marilyn in Les Misérables.

None of which is quite like the wild and crazy ride she's experiencing as Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice about to open for a short run at Broadway at the Hobby.

Based on the 1988 movie directed by Tim Burton with Michael Keaton, the musical contains many of the same characters but several plot points go a different way. It opens with a funeral scene as Lydia Deetz's mother has died. Next, widower Charles Deetz moves to the country with his daughter who has, as it turns out, a morbid curiosity that she'll get to fully explore in coming days. Dad has a secret lover named Delia who he hires to be Lydia's life coach. That, of course, does not go well especially after his daughter learns Delia and Dad are engaged.

Turns out, the house is haunted by the previous owners, Adam and Barbara Maitland who die suddenly and unexpectedly. Lydia can see them, the others cannot. The Maitlands, who are tied to the house, want the new occupants out and enlist the services of Beetlejuice, a demon, who is not a nice guy.
Litzsinger says she wanted to play the part of Delia because she loves this character. "It's a very wonderful surprise playing this role." A huge fan of the movie, she didn't know what to expect when she saw it on Broadway. "I just thought it was so funny and irreverent and delightful  and it was fun to see the new twists that they added."

Music elevates the story, she says. "Music is there because words aren't enough. When it's done right, songs can transport you to a more heightened place or it can elevate the story even more."

Litzsinger describes her character as "lovable, insecure, definitely quirky. She has several lines about being older than she says she is and really trying to hang on to her youth."

When she was six years old, Litzsinger's parents took her to see a production of Annie at Clowes Memorial Hall in Indianapolis, Indiana. They also bought her the album and she was hooked. No one knew she could sing until: "It wasn't until I started singing along with the record and my parents heard me sing and were kind of blown away."

Later when her mother saw in the paper that there were auditions for Annie. She made it to the top 10 and the director pulled her mother aside an, saying her daughter had a knack for this, and to get her involved in community theater.


Graduating high school she went straight to New York City. She had already made her Broadway debut at age 11, in a show called Marilyn, an American Fable. She went from Marilyn (it didn't do well) to Bet in Oliver!

She's enjoyed traveling on tour, getting to see different cities, with a cast of about 25. The audiences are interesting as well, she says. While she describes them all as "amazing" but there are different reactions. "There's definitely true and true jokes that we have that always get laughs . From city to city it's a younger audience versus an older audience on what they pick up on.

"I've never done a show that has such a great fan base," she says. "A lot of our fans come dressed in Beetlejuice attire. They really go all out and it's really fun to see."

Asked why people should come see Beetlejuice, Litzsinger replies: "Because they’re going to laugh themselves silly. It’s such a fun wild ride and it’s so entertaining. The show has a lot of heart to it.; it's remarkably touching. It’s got the heart and the funny which makes for a great show."

Performances are scheduled for March 5-10 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday, 1:30 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Sunday at the Hobby Center, 800 Bagby. For more information, call 713-315-2525 or visit broadwayatthehobbycenter.com or thehobbycenter.org. $40-$250.