Beetlejuice The Musical- Cast Interview: Bailey Frankenberg

Ahead of this weekend’s quick Kansas City stop at Starlight Theatre of the musical touring production of Beetlejuice (get your Friday, Saturday and Sunday tickets here) and with the modern help of the interwebs, we managed to ask an actor in the company. Bailey Frankenberg, a few questions.

Frankenberg plays Delia Deetz, the wife of Charles Deetz and the stepmother of Lydia, who is an eccentric, over-dramatic artist and sculptor, originally portrayed by Catherine O’Hara in the Tim Burton films, Beetlejuice (1988) and sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024).

The musical, like the original film, tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager whose whole life changes when she meets a recently deceased couple and a wacky, manic demon that likes to dress in stripes.

As for Bailey, she’s from our general area, born in Oklahoma City, OK and spent time in regional smaller towns before moving to Dallas. She started performing in community theater and school productions in Texas, going on to study at Collin College. From there, she was admitted into the famed CAP21 Conservatory in New York City, where she now makes her home and is also a singer, dancer, and filmmaker.

Her theater credits include Theatre Aspen (You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown / The Full Monty / The Cottage), Queens Theatre (The Cottage / Queen Bees- Original Cast), and Alvin & The Chipmunks Live! (National Tour) and recently was in the Peter Pan National Tour, playing Tiger Lily and was the Fight and Dance Captain. In fact, she was a standby and part of the company when we saw Peter Pan at Starlight in 2024!

We Heart Music: Beetlejuice is, of course, based on the 1988 Tim Burton film. What memories or connection have you had with the original film, or with any of Burton’s other unique works?

Bailey Frankenberg: I came of age with Tim Burton being one of my favorite filmmakers- I’m definitely a spooky person who connects with spooky things and I can’t believe I get to combine two of my passions doing Beetlejuice- performing arts and the paranormal (or the Strange and Unusual…)

Not to mention that I am performing a character that was originally brought to life by the late, great Catherine O’Hara. I’ve tried to build my version of Delia with influences of Catherine’s work that spans her filmography. I truly feel so much gratitude every day to be doing this!

Have you worked in, or visited Kansas City prior to this weekend run? If so, what were any highlights, or what are the expectations about visiting the area?

I’ve had the privilege of playing Starlight before with the Peter Pan National Tour in 2024. I was a Swing at the time, which meant I was an off-stage performer who knew all the tracks and could “swing” into any of them at any time. Sort of like an understudy on reserve for an emergency.

I didn’t end up performing on the stage during my time here, but I got the opportunity to see the show from the audience as the moon rose over the horizon. I’m so excited to be back with the opportunity to be onstage with Beetlejuice. I also remember going to the zoo here and having some good BBQ, of course.

Starlight Theatre is an outdoor venue that first opened back in 1950- as an actor, what are the challenges (other than potential weather) of performing outdoors, versus an indoor venue?

Oh, I have a deep love and big history for performing in multiple outdoor venues. In previous outdoor shows I have played, we didn’t have a roof like Starlight does over the stage. We would perform in the sand, sweat, heat, bugs, bats, feral cats, pouring rain, gusts of wind, but also sunsets, crickets sounds, moon rise, and starlight.

I think there’s an incredible magic to performing and experiencing theatre outside. I’ve been looking forward to being in Kansas City for months! Sound travels different in an outdoor venue than some of the indoor spaces, which can take getting used to as well as the amount of light from the evening sun can possibly affect the reveal of stage magic- so there’s extra level of protection we have to adapt with to maintain illusions (sometimes!)

What three words best sum up the reason to come see Beetlejuice on October 2, 3, or 4 at Starlight?

Celebration of Life. (See you there!)

Beetlejuice plays at Starlight Theatre this weekend- October 2, 3, and 4, with tickets available here