Broadway's Death Becomes Her gets a new star at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre January 16 as Betsy Wolfe joins the company as Madeline Ashton. Wolfe (& Juliet) succeeds original star Megan Hilty, who took her final bow in the musical January 11. Standby Dee Roscioli has been starring in the interim.
Wolfe joins a continuing cast that includes Jennifer Simard as Helen Sharp, Christopher Sieber as Ernest Menville, Michelle Williams as Violet Van Horn, Taurean Everett as Chagall, and Josh Lamon as Stefan. The company also includes Marija Abney, Sarita Colón, Kaleigh Cronin, Alexa De Barr, Natalie Charle Ellis, Michael Graceffa, Neil Haskell, Ximone Rose, Bethany Ann Tesarck, Mitch Tobin, Sir Brock Warren, Bud Weber, Ryan Worsing, Warren Yang, Kyle Brown, Kristine Covillo, Alex Hartman, Lakota Knuckle, McKinley Knuckle, Johanna Moise, Justin O’Brien, Amy Quanbeck, and Roscioli. Casting is by Tara Rubin Casting.
READ: Broadway's Death Becomes Her Is Unapologetically for the Gays—And That's Why It's a Hit
Death Becomes Her—featuring a book by Marco Pennette, adapted from the screenplay by Martin Donovan and David Koepp; and songs by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey—opened November 21, 2024, and received 10 Tony nominations, including Best Musical. The production won for Best Costume Design for Paul Tazewell. Tony winner Christopher Gattelli directs and choreographs.
The story, adapted from the 1992 film, follows two rivals who gain eternal youth via a magic potion with some dirty side effects.
The production features scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Paul Tazewell, lighting design by Justin Townsend, sound design by Peter Hylenski, hair and wig design by Charles J. LaPointe, makeup design by Joe Dulude II, fight direction by Cha Ramos, music supervision by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, music direction by Ben Cohn, orchestrations by Doug Besterman, and dance and incidental music arrangements by Sam Davis. Rachel Sterner is production stage manager.
The film, directed and co-produced by Robert Zemeckis, was noted for its relatively early use of CGI to achieve effects like star Meryl Streep's head turned completely backwards and a gaping hole going through her co-star Goldie Hawn. This musical version has been kicking around since at least 2017, when Kristin Chenoweth was attached to star, then with a separate creative team.
Universal Theatrical Group—overseen by Jimmy Horowitz and led by Lowe Cunningham—is producing.
Buy tickets to Death Becomes Her on Broadway here.
