Drew Minard and the other Beetlejuice clones
Being dead slays for ‘Beetlejuice’ actor/dancer Drew Minard
RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
rich@dallasvoice.com
Just after opening night last Tuesday, Feb. 20, actor and dancer Drew Minard realized that they had just played to their biggest crowd ever. They and the cast of Beetlejuice have taken over the Music Hall at Fair Park for Broadway Dallas until March 3.
This is a big time for the performer, this being their first tour since they were 12 years old and playing the title role in Billy Elliot. Now, at 23, Minard is serving up zombie realness in the touring musical Beetlejuice.
“I get to be a zombie football player, a zombie cheerleader, and other characters which definitely makes for a fun show,” they said. “That means a lot of makeup and costume changes, so it’s a lot of work. But it’s been great.”
Minard joined the tour in November, so they’re still soaking in the experience of the production and the audiences. But when they say “It’s a lot of work,” the classically trained dancer doesn’t skip a warm-up before each performance.
Drew Minard
“People don’t think it’s a dancical until they see it, and it’s all over the place,” they said. “I have had to warm up for this more than any other shows I’ve done. The choreo is quick and sharp with lots of tumbling.”
While still exploring their artistic endeavors, Minard has also pursued a life of advocacy for LGBTQ issues. Identifying as queer, they have endured some fashion of bullying all the way back to their childhood home in Iowa when classmates graffitied the driveway of their house.
That sparked something in Minard.
“That was a crazy story because it happened when I came back from the Billy Elliot tour. When I reported it, people told me who did it, and they were friends who I had played with,” they said.
“That made me start an anti-bullying club at my school that is still going on. That experience really ignited my advocacy.”
Today, Minard works with the Research Foundation To Cure AIDS, where they help to coordinate fundraising and stem cell research along with facilitating creative endeavors that spread awareness and efforts to find a cure. They do some of this work remotely while on the road.
While on the road, working for the foundation and pursuing their B.A. degree at Columbia University, the goal for Minard is to bring queer stories to the forefront through theater and activism.
“I’m majoring in directing for theater, and hopefully, I can create stories — mostly queer stories — and use that as a vessel for my advocacy,” they said.
“There are such parallels in theater and nonprofit advocacy work. I want to create opportunities for people. People think theater equals queer, but we are severely underrepresented. I want to change that.”
While doing that, Minard will be serving up his queer takes on the number of zombies they play as well as their clone of the titular character. Which led to a whole other thing: Beetlejuice is certainly a flamboyant character. Could he himself be queer?
“I love that! The way he flirts with Adam, he definitely gives off queer energy. He does represent queerness in such a fun way. Plus, his fanbase is incredibly queer, so it’s amazing to see the fans of this show come out. And I think they see themselves in the show as well,” they said.
Heck, even Minard draws those vibes from the show while they are in it.
“I totally get to be myself and completely let go. Coming from ballet and classical training — there’s a strictness there. But here, I paint my nails and do my wigs how I want and really embody my own self. Wait till you see my queerness coming out in my Beetlejuice clone onstage,” they said.
For tickets, visit BroadwayDallas.org.
