Replacing on Broadway is always hard. There’s never enough rehearsal time, audience expectations can be constricting, and for some, the act of jumping into an already-moving production without any preview warmup can be daunting.

Not for Betsy Wolfe. The Tony nominee (previously on Broadway in & Juliet) has stepped into the perfectly polished pumps of Madeline Ashton in Death Becomes Her (replacing Megan Hilty) with a healthy dose of determination.

“Stepping into Madeleine Ashton is genuinely like being handed the keys to a very fabulous, very unhinged sports car and being told ‘go on, floor it’.” Wolfe laughs. “She's bold, she's glamorous, and she's deeply human. She doesn't apologize for any of it.”

The musical, based on the hit 1992 film, centers on two lifelong rivals friends, Madeline Ashton and Helen Sharp, who gain eternal youth via a magic potion with some nasty side effects. As Madeline, a larger-than-life Hollywood star who takes the potion in order to reclaim the golden years of her career, Wolfe is required to go wildly, recklessly, captivatingly big.

"The joy of Madeline is how wholly she requires you to be fully yourself. Not one person on that stage shrinks, but with Madeline, there's no smoothing out. That is why the comedy just explodes. You're watching this big, bold, glamorous, outrageous, unapologetic woman. But at the same time, you're watching an individual having the absolute time of their life, because nothing is so outrageously funny as the truth. Neither of these women are apologizing for anything, they're not asking for permission, they're not shrinking. And those roles are so exceptionally rare, especially for women of a certain age: to be asked to be this outrageous, brilliant, messy and hilarious, all at once, is the delight of a lifetime."

The role comes hot on the heels of a major turning point in Wolfe's career: & Juliet. Her performance as Anne in the tuneful Max Martin jukebox musical earned her a Tony nomination, her first after years of pushing for greater comedic flexibility within the ingenue roles her soprano voice naturally suited. 

Nearly 20 years have passed since her Broadway debut in 110 in the Shade, and with each production, she has carved more and more space for herself to be naturally playful. From Rosa Bud in The Mystery of Edwin Drood to Ellen in Bullets Over Broadway to Cordelia in Falsettos, Wolfe has worked hard to remain balanced between goofy and gorgeous.

Madeline Ashton may be decadently glamorous on the surface, but under the hood, Wolfe’s physical comedy engine has kicked into overdrive. “Every show is a marathon, and by the end, it physically feels like I’ve completed a race. That's one of the things that has been the most difficult part of stepping into the role: since I wasn't the one developing it, my body wasn't acclimated.” 

From onstage pratfalls to breakneck sprints from one quick change to another to getting her head chopped off to belting in harmony with Jennifer Simard, there isn’t a moment of downtime for Wolfe from the beginning of the show to the final curtain call. It’s something Hilty prepared her for.

“When the show began, Megan did a New York Times article about how much she physically had to do, and just what the show took from her body. I loved that she was so honest. People rarely get a real, true glimpse into how hard what we do is physically, to see through the glamor of showbiz. Megan was honest, that this role is a beast, and sure enough, she’s right, but she’s also right that what she's created is so special and so beautiful and so worth it.”

The role isn't only a physical beast: it is an emotional hurricane. Like Anne in & Juliet, Madeline also faces some deep relational truths. "This show doesn't shy away from exploring the beautiful parts about relationships and friendships, as well as the realities of what happens when they break down. Sometimes, even the highest quality of vehicles need servicing," Wolfe laughs. "You're watching that car crash through a very comedic lens in this show, in a preposterous situation where they spend the whole night trying to kill each other, but at the heart of it, these are two deeply connected friends spending the whole night trying to kill each other. With deep love also comes deep conflict, sometimes, and their immortality makes it possible to really play with the truth of what a long-term friendship can look like. Obviously, it is very heightened, but with all the time in the world, they have forever to figure it out."

Wolfe hasn't had that same opportunity; with only a few short rehearsal weeks to get into Madeline's skin, she has had to streamline her process down to find the essence of her performance in record time. “Stepping into a role is so different from originating, and it's been a really long time since I’ve been able to take on that kind of challenge. The last time I did this was in Waitress, pre-pandemic." 

But as Wolfe settles into the powerful spotlight of Madeline Ashton’s "gaze," she’s truly treasuring this opportunity to truly run off to the races. "It’s thrilling at this point in my life to say, ‘I don't get to do all my crazy prep work and then present it to you’. Instead, I have to find it in front of you, as we play along. And goodness, what a delicious role to play.”