Need a new musical to die for? Based on the iconic 1992 film, Death Becomes Her is Broadway's new laugh-out-loud musical comedy. The acclaimed new musical is directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli, features a book by Marco Pennette, and an original score by Julia Mattison & Noel Carey.
Madeline Ashton is the most beautiful actress (just ask her) ever to grace the stage and screen. Helen Sharp is the long-suffering author (just ask her) who lives in her shadow. They have always been the best of frenemies…until Madeline steals Helen’s fiancé away. As Helen plots revenge and Madeline clings to her rapidly fading star, their world is suddenly turned upside down by Viola Van Horn, a mysterious woman with a secret that’s to die for. After one sip of Viola’s magical potion, Madeline and Helen begin a new era of life (and death) with their youth and beauty restored…and a grudge to last eternity.
The film on which the musical is based (starring Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, and Bruce Willis) has earned cult status for its biting satire, groundbreaking special effects, and iconic performances by Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, and Bruce Willis. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film explores themes of vanity, immortality, and the absurd lengths people go to in pursuit of eternal youth. Its sharp humor and campy tone, coupled with its innovative use of early CGI technology, have made it a standout in the genre.
Over the years, Death Becomes Her has become a cultural touchstone, celebrated for its queer appeal, memorable one-liners, and commentary on society's obsession with beauty and aging. Its enduring popularity is reflected in frequent revivals, tributes, and its influence on subsequent works in film and fashion.
Before the musical arrived on Broadway, it played at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago in early 2024. Both the Chicago and original Broadway productions were led by Megan Hilty, Jennifer Simard, Christopher Sieber, and Michelle Williams.
So if you want perfection, look no further than Death Becomes Her.
Marco Pennette’s book gives Hilty all the grand-dame one-liners, but it’s Simard who gets the more unexpected laughs with delightful line readings that take a second or two to register. The sharp dialogue is in perfect tune with Julia Mattison and Noel Carey’s lyrics, and that duo’s music, which is merely serviceable, manages not to get in the way of the characters and the story, which Pennette has made far less convoluted than its source material.
Death Becomes Her’s deft score, by Broadway newcomers Julia Mattison and Noel Carey, gives the performers plenty of humor to play with, along with nicely overblown strains of mystery and grandeur when called for. The book by Marco Pennette, a veteran TV comedy writer, preserves key jokes from Martin Donovan and David Koepp’s screenplay while adding solid zingers of his own—when Madeline condescendingly suggests that Helen should change jobs, she notes that being a pharmacist is “like being a doctor and a cashier”—and only minimal injections of filler. (Don’t think gay audiencewon’t notice when you crib a joke from Maggie Smith!) Pennette’s most significant changes to the story, at the end of both acts, have the salutary effect of keeping the show’s focus securely on the two main women. Sieber stops the show in a drunken and frantic second-act number, “The Plan,” but in the end this Ernest is just not important.
2024 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
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