‘I think I’ve got feelings for you’: Beetlejuice star Elise McCann tells how onstage chemistry led to love

A couple of months into working on Groundhog Day the Musical, Elise McCann realised she had a crush on co-star Andy Karl.

Beetlejuice the Musical stars Tom Wren as Charles, Erin Clare as Delia, Karis Oka as Lydia Deetz, Eddie Perfect as Beetlejuice, Elise McCann as Barbara and Rob Johnson as Adam. Picture: David Caird

The difference between chemistry on stage and in real life is … you can have good on stage chemistry with someone and not be attracted to them or not want to have anything romantic with them. It’s often about respect and a sense of humour with each other. The character I play opposite in Beetlejuice is a guy called Rob Johnson and we have really great chemistry together. There’s a lovely energy between the two of us that makes you feel like they really like each other. And that’s true – we do really like each other, but we’re not at all attracted to each other. We’re both very happily in relationships.

I had a crush on …my partner (musical theatre star Andy Karl) a couple of months into working on Groundhog Day the Musical together. We instantly got on. We had the same sense of humour and we were really able to be good friends. He was married and they were going through a process themselves. We didn’t start dating until after they’d had all those discussions about separating. When we started dating we’d already been friends for quite a while. I remember having this conversation one day and being like, “I think I’ve got feelings for you” and him being like, “I think I’ve got feelings for you”.

Andy Karl and Elise McCann at Hamilton. Picture: Instagram

I started mental health app Hey Lemonade with my friend performer Lucy Durack … during the pandemic. I’d been living in America and I came back to Australia. My mum had been diagnosed with cancer and I needed to be close to her. I’d had a bunch of shows lined up and they’d all got cancelled. My partner at the time and I were talking about whether we’d have kids. Ultimately he decided he didn’t want to have a family and that was one of the reasons we decided to break up. Lucy had been doing Shrek the Musical and it got cancelled overnight. One day we went for a walk and our chat really consisted of us being like, “I’m stressed about this” and the other person essentially being a cheerleader and reminding you, “you’ve got this, you’re doing such a great job. Don’t worry, this will pass.” We were like, we should make this (as an app). Because you can’t always call a friend at the exact moment that you need them. We wanted to find a way to create that feeling of a best friend, but in your pocket.

When I was doing Mamma Mia! the Musical the fans I met … were a lot of young people who were probably looking for some kind of mother figure or someone that felt like their best friend, because Mamma Mia is so much about friendship and community and those kinds of personal relationships. They would come repeatedly to stage door. They’d write me letters, they’d make me books of their thoughts and pictures and scrapbooks of things that I’ve done. Some of them would confess and confide really deeply in me. You have a real responsibility to be gentle and caring and to listen to someone, but also put up some boundaries.

Elise McCann: “This role is probably one of the most musically challenging roles I’ve done only because it’s got a really high belt range.”

Before I step on stage to play Barbara in Beetlejuice I … go to the hot steam room to start my warm-up. This role is probably one of the most musically challenging roles I’ve done only because it’s got a really high belt range. It’s absolutely my wheelhouse, but you have to be really, really warm. If you do breathing exercises and gentle warm-ups in steam it keeps everything really plump and hydrated which means the muscles move better and you don’t get that dryness or crackliness in your voice.

Beetlejuice the Musical is …wild and chaotic and kind of crass, but ultimately, just kind of stupid. The book is funny and the score is funny and the performances all have chances for improvisation. But the thing that I love the most is the musical has found a way to bring so much heart to it that I think we don’t always get in the movie (starring Geena Davis). It’s about finding family and connection and communicating with each other.

Beetlejuice the Musical is showing at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre until September 11.