by Matt Storti
Despite coining 2024 as the year of Death Becomes Her with a resurgence of the film in pop culture, referenced in iconic media like The Substance and Sabrina Carpenter’s Taste music video— it is maintaining its status in the new year with the Broadway production at the Lunt-Fontanne theater. Lead by a star-studded cast consisting of Megan Hilty (Wicked, SMASH), Jennifer Simard (Company (Revival), Christopher Sieber (The Prom, Company (Revival), and Michelle Williams (Destiny’s Child, Aida), this production is exactly that: star-studded. In the way that an adaptation can often lack, this story is transformed almost perfectly for the time and place; the place being the stage and the time being now. It is refreshing to see the care and appreciation of the source material translated directly on stage. In this instance not only was it clear in the writing and visuals that the movie was honored but included meaningful alterations for the change in medium, at least for the most part.
In this genre of big-box, flashy musical theatre, Death Becomes Her does it the best. Specifically in a post-Covid industry, where this style is oversaturated, the original story is nurtured to appropriately make sense on stage. As much as we would love to completely separate the films from the theatre in many situations, the nature of these adaptations invites the comparison between the two. It comes with the territory. Here we get the opportunity to compare a musical theatre adaptation of a campy, horror movie starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn, that has been championed by the queer community. I have finally found my niche.
Out of the gate, the audience is immersed into the world of Viola Van Horn (Michelle Williams) and her cult of live forever-ers sensually moving throughout the purple landscape. Williams is an absolute vision, captivating the audience with the power and talent that can be attributed to her illustrious career and performance ability. The ensemble begins as her mystical extensions adorned in Mugler- looking bodysuits designed by Paul Tazwell, and these outfits are only the beginning of his brilliance in this piece.
Out of the exposition, Madeline Ashton (Megan Hilty) graces the stage for “For the Gaze.” This moment and song are where the audience is introduced to all the elements that make this production so successful. A spectacle of an opening number that encompasses the excitement and humor about to occur for the next two hours. Off the bat, the tone is established with witty, tongue-in-cheek lyrics by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey. Immediately, Madeline is characterized as someone obsessed with vanity, singing about how she does it all “for the gaze”, an incredible play on words that foreshadows the plot and speaks to current popular culture. We are making theatre that speaks to the current moment. Director, Christopher Gattelli masterfully leads the lane of this piece, making it clear from top of show what this is and where it lives. This number pays homage to the opening musical number of the movie, while highlighting the utter skill and elegance of one Megan Hilty, accompanied by the rainbow-adorned ensemble in a celebratory explosion of queerness. Quite cheeky. After which we are introduced to a new character: Stephan, Madeline’s Assistant (Josh Lamon, performed by Kyle Brown), a walking stereotype of a gay man but in a good way. Quickly after, we distinguish the “friendly” rivalry between Madeline and Helen (Jennifer Simard), and Simard functions as a perfect foil to Hilty’s extravagant, sexual, and confident as the more reserved and intellectual, exemplified in her zingers between Madeline’s “Tell Me, Ernest” advances.
Although I found the wedding sequence to be a bit arbitrary, it precurses Helen taking the place of the old supreme, Madeline, who has fallen victim to the harsh reality of aging women in Hollywood. “Madeline”, the song where we see this full-force, features Helen assuming the role of her frenemy tossing out backhanded compliments left and right. Here we begin to hear beloved lines from the film integrated into the book, written by Marco Pennette. Hilty’s subsequent solo number, “Falling Apart”, is a great example of how the musical adapts the content, as the scene is derived from the one of Madeline manically, driving down a rainy highway after being betrayed by her young lover, both of which are, thankfully, cut.
After some more Michelle Williams (ft. the Immortals) and some Latin, we get to the pinnacle of the show. The largest departure of the production (thus far) is Ernest’s character. It is one thing to depart from the wrung-out, regretful man riddled by alcoholism but this musical completely changes his motivations to fit the new narrative. Rather than killing Madeline himself, Helen is the one that pushes her down the stairs while Ernest watches idly. Now begs the question: how can we accomplish the “Confrontation” without movie magic? With body doubles of course. This is theatre. Having a dancer of the ensemble hinge, flail, and fly down a set of stairs for upwards of three full minutes was a hilarious and genius way to pull off this stunt. From there, the epic battle between the women is performed by these body doubles, harkening back to the good old days of entertainment where people flung around rag dolls to simulate fights, hysterical and effective. Peaking when Helen whacks Madeline’s head clean off, only to bring Megan Hilty, crammed into a box Chip from Beauty and the Beast style, reciting lines with her body double moving their hands and torso appropriately. And that’s all just in Act I.
Act II resumes the story, similarly to the beginning, with an interlude from Viola Von Horn setting the stage for one: Helen and Madeline to repair their undead bodies in a song that highlights Christopher Sieber’s immense talent and perfect musical caricature of Ernest. Two: have some resolution for Stephan (whose storyline isn’t the most fleshed out, but in the spirit of fun, I am okay with it). And three: kidnap Ernest to give him the potion so he can stay alive and fix Helen and Madeline for all of eternity, landing us back to Viola’s mansion. Phew. But, when Ernest refuses and bolts with the potion in hand, we experience a “house of mirrors” vogueing chase sequence, which for those of us that love the movie know, brings us to the roof. In this production, rather than Ernest scaling the building and throwing away the potion in a moment of life or death, ultimately accepting he would rather die now than never at all, Michelle Williams pops up out of nowhere and simply pushes him off the front of the stage to get the potion back. Along with flopping visually, to justify such a jarring change, there would’ve had to be a Gollum-esque “my precious” feeling established for the potion from Viola. This, however, is followed by a beautiful duet of our leading ladies as they realize they are each other’s forever. In the movie this is where we would normally cut to Ernest’s funeral, years later, because as we know, he survived the fall but allowed Helen and Madeline to believe he was dead to finally escape them. In the musical rather, we see a busted looking Madeline and Helen coming to the cemetery in funeral garb, for some reason, cleaning their own gravestones and spotting a geriatric, yet living, Ernest on a bench with his also living wife, Sarah. This change is not nearly as weak as the fall but does not pack the punch of the original. I think the eulogy of Ernest is more important and relevant to the story than the one used in the musical.
What else can be said about a musical adaptation that remained so loyal to the original material? With tens across the board for writing, composition, direction, and performances, you can tell the love that went into this project. Death Becomes Her on Broadway is a campy and thoroughly entertaining celebration of the contemporary screen to stage adaptation. Bottoms up, no need for a warning this time, it is well worth the watch!
Matt Storti (she/her/they) is a creative based in NYC and has been writing pop-culture pieces and reviews since high school. Matt loves keeping up with trends, iconic pop-culture moments, and entertainment in the worlds of theatre, fashion, cinema, and television. She approaches her work with a conversationalist style and humor with an academic edge. To hear more from Matt, tune into her podcast “You Look, Good!” on all major platforms, or check out her other publications with Sage Cigarettes Magazine.
