Hit movies are turned into Broadway musicals regularly. Some are great (The Outsiders). Some are mildly entertaining (Back to the Future) and some are less so. Death Becomes Her, despite this week announcing its upcoming fall opening in New York, is not quite ready for the big time.
The Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis film was a major hit and won an Academy Award for special effects. That imagery is what I remembered from the film. Surprisingly some of that silly fun is captured here, most notably in a slow motion staircase tumble. Unfortunately there are long stretches of boring in between.
Marco Pennette’s book seems to follow the movie plot and does have some terrifically bitchy zingers. Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard, two proven stage actresses, take up the mantel of the warring over-the-hill actress and her meek writer frenemy. They compete for the love of plastic surgeon Ernest Menville (Christopher Sieber, another top tier musical comedy specialist). Shenanigans ensue as the rivals battle each other until the show ends with a very flat tire. In truth it was like watching a slow leak.
I cannot say that the score of this show is particularly memorable although Mr. Sieber clearly has the best number. The staging of his big moment is whimsical and enchanting so it stands out. In general, however, the show plods along under Christopher Gattelli’s lukewarm staging. Zany is promised but seldom achieved. You can see the strain.
It certainly does not help that the two leads wear costumes that absolutely swallow them whole. Paul Tazewell obviously designed them to be outsized. Unfortunately you can see the effort it takes to move in them. This satiric black comedy needs to be screamingly over-the-top to work. Here the jokes land sometimes and the songs even less frequently.
Why did this show need a musical version? Perhaps the Side Show 11:00 number homage sung by the two women side by side? I have seen both of these women kill on stage; Ms. Hilty stopping the show cold in Gentleman Prefer Blondes and Ms. Simard chewing the scenery most recently in Once Upon A One More Time. They give it their all but the core is a bit flimsy and perhaps too concerned with storytelling rather than buffoonery.
The biggest shortfall, however, is the character of Viola Van Horn played by Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child fame. This is the character who promises eternal life via a magic potion. There is absolutely no character created so any campy fun is completely extinguished by a performance which faces the audience blankly and sings as if in concert. The discomfort of her being carried overhead by ensemble members was noticeable. Why is this in the choreography?
There are moments here and there to enjoy. Some ballroom dances look good but do they make sense? Death Becomes Her may be suffering from only one person directing and choreographing the production. If this material is going places, some rewrites and rethinks are advisable. These three actors have the chops. Give them even more bloody revenge (and vicious tongue lashings) to sink their teeth into. There might then be a show which savages our all too recognizable world of distorted Botox faces and garish chipmunk cheeks. We certainly can – and want to – laugh at that.
Death Becomes Her is playing in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theatre through June 2, 2024. Broadway previews are scheduled to begin October 23rd.
theaterreviewsfrommyseat/theoutsiders