Thanks to her return as Lydia Deetz in the movie sequel “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” Winona Ryder is trending again. But then the 52-year-old film star who broke out in the original “Beetlejuice” in 1988 was already trending on account of her recurring role as mom Joyce Byers on the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things.”
That show — about the supernatural goings-on in a town called Hawkins, Ind. and the Upside Down dimension discovered by some intrepid young people — is even hotter than Ryder. It debuted to raves in 2016 and will stream its fifth and final season sometime next year.
The show also inspired Jonathan Hogue’s “Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical,” a success off Broadway that’s enjoyed productions as far away as Europe, Australia and South America.
It’s making its West Coast premiere this weekend at Oceanside Theatre Company’s Sunshine Brooks Theater. OTC Artistic Director Kevin “Blax” Burroughs, who’s directing the show, first caught “Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical” in a streaming production in August of last year, though he’d previously fallen for it “because I’d been listening to the cast recording many times. The second that I watched it just to see it on its feet I thought ‘This is for me.’”
“When you have the good writing of the TV show and its production and then you turn it into a parody musical, sign me up,” Burroughs said.
The musical employs the same characters from “Stranger Things,” though the storyline emphasizes the show’s first season events. It’s also a nod to the 1980s in which the series created by Duffer brothers Matt and Ross is set, evoking the likes of Michael Jackson and even “Beetlejuice.”
Speaking of “Beetlejuice,” there’s a tune called “Crazy” that showcases Joyce (Natasha Gomez at OTC) but also Winona Ryder herself.
“The idea is that we’re doing ‘Stranger Things’ material,” Burrough said, “but we’re also mentioning the Emmys (Ryder’s never been nominated for one, including for ‘Stranger Things’) and other roles she has played. People are going to be surprised, like ‘Oh, they can do this?’”
Burroughs deems his “Stranger Sings!” actors, Gomez included, “probably the most fearless cast I’ve ever worked with as a director or as a performer. They’re not afraid to make choices. I can trust them enough to do that and yet stay true to the material.”
The others include Priya Richard from New Village Arts’ “Fun Home”; Tirzah from Moxie Theatre’s “Man and Moon”; Allyce Calloway, seen earlier this year in OTC’s “Chicken & Biscuits”; Sophia LaRosh, who was in San Diego Musical Theatre’s “Legally Blonde;” Tommy Tran and Dylan August. Fredy Gomez Cruz is playing Hopper, chief of police for the city of Hawkins.
For this production at OTC, some audience members will be seated on the stage.
“There’s a chance you’ll be involved in some capacity,” said Burroughs, who’s three-quarters of the way through his first year there as artistic director. “We’ve never done, in the year that I’ve been there or even before, people sitting onstage for the entire time of the show. It might not work — we don’t know. I’m all for taking risks and trying new things, because that’s how good theater gets created. I love the idea of different.”
“Stranger Things” was certainly different when it premiered on Netflix eight years ago. Burroughs thinks that’s only part of the reason it’s been so popular.
“People love nostalgia,” he said. “It lets people relive the ‘80s. That’s why jukebox musicals that have a specific artist or kind of music that are past and gone are successful. People get to relive their memories.”
“Stranger Sings! The Musical Parody” goes that one better. It lets fans relive memories from a TV show that’s still around and won’t be going anywhere for at least for another year.
‘Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical’
When: Preview, 8 p.m. tonight. Opens Saturday and runs through Oct. 20. 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays (Also 8 p.m. Oct. 7)
Where: Oceanside Theatre Company At the Brooks, 217 N. Coast Highway, Oceanside
Tickets: $20-$50
Phone: (760) 433-8900
Online: oceansidetheatre.org