Eddie Perfect’s Beetlejuice musical to open at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre in April 2025

The Beetlejuice co-creator has revealed the painful chapter that inspired a signature song in the musical that is set to open in Melbourne.

Eddie Perfect and Michael Cassel talk about Beetlejuice. Picture: Supplied

Beetlejuice co-creator Eddie Perfect has opened up about the real-life tragedy that inspired a signature song he wrote for the hit Broadway musical.

Perfect’s wife, Lucy Cochran, was eight years old when her mother, Mary, died in a car accident.

“From the very first time I met Lucy, she was very much informed by the tragic accident that happened to her mother, and what it’s like to be in the world without a mum.,” Perfect said. “I was really indebted to Lucy for allowing me to use little parts of her story.”

Eddie Perfect’s hit Broadway musical is coming to Melbourne in 2025.

Those insights inspired the show’s signature song, Dead Mom, sung by a grieving daughter named Lydia.

It includes the lyric, “Daddy’s moving forward, but daddy didn’t lose a mum.”

Perfect: “Lucy said the way her father dealt with the loss of her mother was different to her. Everyone has a different attitude towards it. I wanted to honour people who had really lost someone. That was really important.”

Beetlejuice, from a book by Scott Brown and Anthony King, and based on a 1988 film starring Michael Keaton and Geena Davis, with music and lyrics by Perfect, will open at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre in April 2025.

Producer Michael Cassel and Victoria’s Major Event Minister Steve Dimopoulos said Melbourne nabbed the show after interest from other states.

The musical is about a dead couple who call on a ghost, Beetlejuice, to haunt the new occupants of their former home.

Perfect said he was emotional about staging the show in his hometown. He wrote the songs for Beetlejuice in a back room at his home in East Brunswick.

Asked if he will play the lead character, Perfect replied: “It’s too early to talk about casting.

It’s a role that requires ginormous energy. One of my hopes in announcing the show early is,

actors might be able to mentally schedule this production into the head and start making themselves available for it.”

The Herald Sun rephrased the question — does he want to play Beetlejuice?

“That’s something to consider,” Perfect answered.