The chaos, comedy, and eye-popping spectacle of ‘Beetlejuice‘ the musical returns to Philadelphia this month, lighting up the stage at the Academy of Music.
Among the cast is Philly native and Penn State alum Marc Ginsburg, who plays a unique and demanding role behind the scenes. As the national tour’s male swing and understudy, Ginsburg must be ready to step into multiple roles — including the ghost with the most himself — at a moment’s notice.
Ginsburg sat down with Metro to discuss his background in theatre, the mental juggling act that comes with learning a multitude of very different tracks, and the unexpected ways ‘Beetlejuice’ resonates with audiences.
Where exactly did you grow up?
I was born in Northeast Philly, but we moved to Bensalem when I was eight or nine.
Do you remember your first theatre experiences here?
I’m pretty sure it was at the Valley Forge Music Fair venue. I was probably five, but I remember seeing ‘Annie’ there with the amazing Marcia Lewis. I saw Debby Boone in ‘The Sound of Music!’ When I was younger and living in the area, I would go to all the touring houses and see whatever came through.
My family has always been a really big theatre family, and my great uncle—who was the biggest theatre nut in the history of the world—would take my father and my aunt to all the pre-Broadway tryouts that came to Philly like ‘Funny Girl’ with Barbra Streisand and ‘Gypsy’ with Ethel Merman. I love Philly theatre and I love that it’s still going strong.
Why did you choose Penn State for your BFA in musical theatre?
I had auditioned at schools around the East Coast. As much as I was interested in NYU, which I did audition for, it occurred to me that I didn’t want a conservatory-style program. It didn’t feel like me. I wanted to take “gen ed” classes, not just because I enjoyed learning, but also because I think it really helps support your choices as you grow as an actor.
The more you know about the world and different cultures can only inform your work as a performer. I just felt very comfortable there when I auditioned. Everybody was very supportive and the faculty was fantastic. One of my dance teachers, who’s still a close friend, was a Fosse dancer. I mean, who better to learn from?
What does a typical day look like for you in ‘Beetlejuice’?
I try to approach the day like I’m going to be on that night. I’m not an onstage cover, so I don’t perform unless somebody can’t. A lot of time is spent in my dressing room getting worked on or making sure I’m ready to go if needed. I try to get more sleep than I normally would. My wife and my two sons have toured with me this entire time and they have been wonderful about letting me sleep as much as possible.
I take lots of vitamins because I’m the last line of defense. I can’t get sick! I’ll do something to make sure my cords are healthy, do vocal and physical warm ups. Every other week, I have virtual vocal coaching. The rest of the day is for personal stuff, spending time with my family and checking out what each city has to offer. We try to experience as much as possible.
What would be the most challenging thing for you as a swing?
I was shot out of a cannon! I was auditioning for future replacements, not for an open role. That turned into a bunch of callbacks and then finally they said, ‘Our male principal swing is leaving, we need someone to start in a week.’
I was doing ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ at the time, just a week into rehearsals. Thankfully, that theatre company was so kind and told me to go for it. I ended up in New York a week later, rehearsed for four days, then went out on the road and kept rehearsing. I went on as Beetlejuice for the first time two and a half weeks later.
At the start, the challenging part was just learning and remembering everything. It’s a huge show. Beetlejuice never shuts up! With all these different characters, there are so many props and so many tricks we have to learn. When I’m on as Adam in the very first scene, I think, ‘Okay, paper bag goes here, keys go there, jacket off by this point, plug this in, grab the mayonnaise jar, spread the mayonnaise.’ I thought my brain was going to leak out of my ears. The challenge after getting everything in my head was literally just staying prepared, energized, and healthy.
Do you have a favorite role to play?
I love them all for different reasons. Adam is the closest to me—a fun, nerdy guy living his best life. He wants to be a family man and loves his wife so much. So it’s fun to tap into myself a little bit. Charles, because he goes through the biggest growth of any of the characters I play. He’s gone through such an awful loss and he’s trying to suppress that by diving back into work and building a different life. He’s neglecting his daughter, and in the Netherworld when she says, ‘Dad, there’s nobody here, we’re alone’, instead of fighting back, he knows she’s right.
Maxie—we expect him to be this real estate mogul all buttoned up and businesslike, but he comes in and he’s this brash, abrasive chain-wearing guy who just takes everybody aback. The audience is not expecting that. Otho I love because you can do anything. We have a bunch of people who play Otho and everyone is so different. The accent that I use — they said in the breakdown he has an indiscernible accent — is Martin Short from ‘Father of the Bride’ meets Catherine O’Hara meets Jennifer Coolidge.
And Beetlejuice, he carries the show. From day one, our associate director just said to go for it and make whatever choices you want. They’ll tell you if it’s too much, if they need more, if it’s slightly inappropriate. All of us who play Beetlejuice are all radically different. It’s very collaborative and it’s a lot of fun to be let off the leash and go bonkers for two and a half hours.
Why do you think ‘Beetlejuice’ works so well as a musical and keeps fans coming back?
It’s just fun. The music is great, the rhymes are so smart. Eddie Perfect is an amazing lyricist. It’s beautiful to look at — the lighting, the costumes, the sets, all the magic tricks. In addition to that, something I was not expecting when I joined the show…was having a throng of people waiting at the stage door — some in cosplay — telling me, ‘This show has saved my life.’ It really attracts the “strange and unusuals”, as quoted in the show.
They feel invisible, like Beetlejuice feels invisible. People who feel different, who feel like outsiders, who haven’t been treated as nicely as they should have. They feel such a connection to ‘Beetlejuice’ and to the feeling of finally being accepted and seen.
I’ve had so many people tell me that and it means so much every time. I met a young boy who loves to grow his hair long, put sparkles in it, paint his nails and wear dresses. He was having a tough time in school because young kids just don’t expect that. That’s such a shame. I’ve kept in touch with him since then and it’s just so special to see what this show means to people.
My first time going on as Charles, a guy told me that’s his favorite character, which I don’t hear very often. He said he has three daughters and would jump into hell for them. I feel like there’s really something for everyone to attach to and I wasn’t expecting that. It was a very pleasant surprise.
‘Beetlejuice’ kicks off the 2025-2026 Broadway season at Ensemble Arts Philly and will be on stage at the Academy of Music from July 29 to Aug. 3. Information and tickets are available online at ensembleartsphilly.org
