Geena Davis might not be in the long-anticipated sequel to the 1988 comedy “Beetlejuice,” but her spirit (so to speak) will be there for moviegoers in Lovell, Wyoming.
The historic Hyart Theatre is screening “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” this weekend, and for the occasion is displaying the famous white gown Davis wore in the original campy-creepy movie that’s become a cult classic.
“We have a local resident here in Lovell, Stacy Bair, and she is kind of a movie buff,” Hyart Theatre Manager Linda Mangus told Cowboy State Daily. “So, she actually reached out to us when she heard we were going to be playing the movie ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ to see if we wanted to display the dress.”
The dress is on display for this opening weekend while “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is showing, then it will go back to its owner.
Tickets for the movie are available first-come, first-serve, Mangus added. There are no advance sales.
The theater, known for its large 40-by-20-foot curved screen has about 735 seats.
Prop Collector
Movie costumes are one of Bair’s specialties, though she sometimes buys props as well.
She has about 80 costumes, including the “Beetlejuice” gown, which she bought at an auction in London at the same time the corresponding tuxedo was sold. The latter went to MGM Grand in Vegas.
“There used to be a few different companies that dealt in movie props,” Bair told Cowboy State Daily. “But it’s kind of been narrowed down to one bigger company called Prop Store. And they do, usually, two auctions a year — one in California and the other in London.”
Bair happened across movie prop auctions quite by accident in 2011.
“My family’s big into Halloween, and I was trying to find a specific costume,” she said. “And just through searching for that costume, I stumbled across this world of movie props.”
Bair is a big movie buff, so she was immediately fascinated and couldn’t resist buying something.
That something was one of the costumes worn by the Necromonger troops in the Vin Diesel movie “Chronicles of Riddick.”
“I’ve been slowly collecting props ever since, and I’ve learned a lot about what’s more collectible and what’s not, and the different types of movie props,” she said. “Since then, I’ve collected the actual Riddick costume, as well as two more Necromongers. One is a captain, so it’s got a cape, and now I have four pieces from that movie.”
She just missed getting Dame Vaako’s gown, a brown scaly dress that looked somewhat reptilian in the movie, complimented by a snaky, metallic spinal column running down the back of the dress. Bair does have a swatch of the material used to make the gown.
Each costume goes onto a mannequin for proper display, which are all kept in a prop-filled room that she affectionately calls her museum.
Geena Davis, left, in the white wedding dress she wore in the original 1988 film "Beetlejuice." She's pictured here with Catherine O'Hara, who played the annoying stepmother. (Courtesy Photo) 
The iconic white wedding dress Geena Davis wore in her role as Barbara Maitland in the 1988 cult movie classic "Beetlejuice" is on display this weekend at the Hyart Theatre in Lovell, Wyoming. It's showing the long-awaited premired of the sequel, "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice." (Courtesy Photo)
Inside The World Of Movie Memorabilia
The world of movie costumes is an interesting one, with its own protocols that must be learned, much like the rules of the afterlife Davis and costar Alec Baldwin have to navigate once they learn they’re dead in the original “Beetlejuice.”
“A lot of times the actors make deals,” Bair said. “Part of their deal for doing the movie is some of the costumes and movie props. So, a lot of the higher end stuff, it’s kind of predetermined where it’s gonna go. If you watch, some of these actors, when they pass, a lot of times their estate sales will have the more valuable movie props.”
Bair doesn’t have time to keep up with estate sales and follow the movie scene that closely, she said, but she loves being involved in the movie world in this small way. Particularly since it gives her the opportunity to support her local movie theater.
Bair is always taking things to the Hyart for display, depending on what movies are showing.
“I just kind of watch to see what movies are coming up, because the Hyart’s beloved to our whole community,” Bair said. “So, we kind of know what movies are coming, and if there’s ever something that matches a piece I have, I take it down to them.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
