Interview: The Man Behind the Magic in Beetlejuice Musical

Micheal Weber was reluctant to reveal much of the magic that will be seen in “Beetlejuice: The Musical, The Musical, The Musical” and he’s sure wouldn’t explain how and why any of the illusions he created for the production works

But the legendary illusionist says the tricks and illusions he created and designed for the stage adaptation of Tim Burton’s 1988 film are very real.

And Weber did give up some generalities of the “Beetlejuice” magic.

“Characters and things appear and disappear,” he said in a recent interview. “They levitate. They can walk through walls. There's invisibility. Sometimes they multiply or transform their shape. Those are very magical occurrences. But they're not happening just for purposes of entertainment, these things are essential elements of the storytelling.”

Beyond that, Weber adheres to the magician code of silence in talking about the tricks and illusion that occur throughout the musical.

“I always say magicians keep secrets for our audiences, not from our audiences,” Weber said. “Because so much of what magic relies on, one of the aspects that draws people to want to have a magic experience, is surprise. If we explain to you what the end of the story is like, or even how the story is being brought about, that's too much information and that mitigates your experience.”

That said, the secrets behind much of magic today can be found with little effort. And that search is what creates the next generations of magicians. 

That, however, isn’t the aim of the musical’s magic, said Weber, who has written a book on magic.

“If someone really wants to know how magic is performed, it's never been easier to learn it,” Weber said. “I'll say that in terms of ‘Beetlejuice,’ we used a lot of things that you can't find on the internet and that aren't in books anywhere.  

“That's just because I'm a guy that still believes in the power of secrets, not to keep them from someone, but to make them a tool that's still as effective as it can be for every audience,” he said. 

Weber, a magic superstar who partnered with the late great Ricky Jay, has in addition to his own performances, designed magic for movies “Oceans 13,” “The Prestige” and “The Illusionist,” created the wheelchair that made Gary Sinese’s legs disappear in “Forrest Gump” and the “ladder of light” for the theatrical presentation of “Angels in America”

Weber, whose work is in such demand that his interview got bumped back by an hour so he could talk with Steve Martin about magic for upcoming episodes of the Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building,” created the “Beetlejuice” magic about a decade ago.

Working with the full creative team – director and scenic, costume, sound, projection, puppet and special effects designers – Weber created magic for a far different milieu that is usually presented on stage or screen.

“What’s unusual about a show like “Beetlejuice’ is this is already a magical world,’ Weber said. “This is already a series of spaces, another world that have their own magical characteristics to them, so things don't always operate the way they wouldn't ordinarily. And most of the characters in the show have what I will say are some powers or some unusual abilities.

“Part of the story is that some of these characters have abilities that they don't realize,” he said. “Some characters acquire abilities that they would have to learn how to harness and use to achieve the things they want. So the nice thing about the characters and the magic and the illusions in ‘Beetlejuice’ is, instead of demonstrative magic, something just to please the eye. All of the magic is functional magic.”

The “Beetlejuice” magic isn’t performative per se – there are no card tricks or balls appearing and disappearing between fingers and other common magic tropes. But some of the magic is performed by the musical’s actors in a manner unlike Edward Norton doing magic in “The Illusionist,” or Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale dueling over an illusion in “The Prestige. " 

“These were actors playing the parts of magicians doing shows, whereas many of the characters in ‘Beetlejuice’ are magical characters.” Weber said. “They're people who have acquired their skills by passing on to the other side. They're people like young Lydia, who can see things that the adults around her can't see.

“And they're characters like Beetlejuice who, like The Music Man, is an unreliable narrator who will do whatever he can to achieve his ends and accomplish his loss,” he said. “And he has a full bag of tricks.”

Some of the musical’s magic is built into the sets, costumes or the objects that the actors will encounter on stage. Other tricks and illusions have to be taught to the actors who will perform them.

Given the scale of the production and size of the auditoriums where the musician is performed, it would, from the outside, seem like there would be few close-up tricks or sleight of hand in the show’s magic mix.

But that, Weber said, isn’t the case.

“Beetlejuice has some things that would be considered sleight of hand,” Weber said. “I don't want to give away too much of what happens, but I can think of a number of things that are sleight of hand. But often those are augmented with special props or materials or a setting. 

“These folks have to do the impossible every night, seven nights a week,” he said. “So there's some engineering to that, there's some choreography to that, there's some design to that because it all has to work together, right?”

Weber believes that magic is best seen live, not through the filter of film or on television.

“Those are entertaining, but for me, it's not the pinnacle, which is why a show like ‘Beetlejuice’ is so great, because it's fun,” he said. “There are lots of surprises. The magic helps deliver a lot of those surprises.”