The sad day-o has come. On Nov. 23, viral internet icon Trisha Paytas took her final bow in the musical “Beetlejuice” on Broadway at the Palace Theatre.
“Sobbing,” Paytas wrote in an Instagram post following her final performance, alongside photos and videos of her and fellow castmates. “From fan to family. Thankful. Grateful.”
Paytas’ final show comes almost two months after it was announced that Paytas would be taking the stage as Maxine Dean for a three-week limited engagement.
“I am joining the cast of [‘Beetlejuice’ on Broadway],” Paytas wrote in a post to Instagram on Oct. 10, accompanied by a carousel of photos showing her love for the Warner Bros. property. “Words can never express my gratitude in this very moment. Beetlejuice the musical has been so near and dear to my heart.”
For the 37-year-old influencer, who has amassed over 20 million fans and 2 billion views on YouTube for her larger-than-life personality and wide array of content – including mukbangs, make-up tutorials and even parody musical videos – her connection to the Great White Way runs deeper than just a simple stunt cast.
“Broadway and live theater have always been my escape since [I was a] young girl,” Paytas said. “I so wanted to be a part of the stories with sequined costumes, catchy music and endings to everyone’s story perfectly wrapped in a bow.”
Longtime fans of Paytas are well aware of her “theater fever.” She previously made her Broadway debut in “Trisha Paytas’ Big Broadway Dream,” a one-night benefit concert featuring performances from Rachel Zegler, Joy Woods and Ben Platt. When she got the call offering her one night on the Great White Way, Paytas admitted she could barely believe the news.
“You know what?” Paytas said during an interview with Theatrely in Jan. 2025. “I’ve always dealt with stuff myself before. Nothing ever comes to fruition. After, I’ve been doing [social media for] 15 years and people are like ‘we want to do a reality show for you. We want to go [do] this.’ It never happens. So I’m just like, ‘Yeah sure whatever.’ Literally not thinking about it.”
It wasn’t until plans began forming that the influencer realized her dream might become a reality.
“So then when it actually started coming [up] and we met with Skylar [Fox], the director, I was just like, ‘This might be happening,’” Paytas said to Theatrely. “I used to assume things just weren’t happening, but now I’m assuming things will just happen. I will be on Broadway. I will be in a movie.”
And while this was the first time Paytas made it to Broadway, it wasn’t the first time her potential debut was announced. In celebration of April Fool’s Day a year prior, Theatrely posted an article jokingly reporting that the influencer would be playing Roxie Hart in Broadway’s “Chicago.” The news had fans so excited that they drove record-breaking visits to the site, causing it to crash.
“Obviously, I know that’s not real ‘cause no one approached me about it, but I was like, ‘What is this? This is so weird,’” Paytas told People Magazine during an interview published in December 2024. “People were so happy for me, and I was like, ‘F— .’”
Still, after sharing her love of Broadway on social media – posting videos of herself singing beloved theater hits like “Burn” from Hamilton in her kitchen and starring in high-production recreations of iconic numbers such as “Suddenly Seymour” from Little Shop of Horrors – Paytas’ recent Broadway run suggests that sometimes manifestation can work, after all.
