How Death Becomes Her became a 'gay dream come true'

The age-old topic of women seeking eternal youth (at any cost) inspired the 1992 camp classic Death Becomes Her, starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn as friends turned eternal rivals. Over 30 years later, Robert Zemeckis’s satirical comedy about those women taking a rejuvenating potion has become a hit Broadway musical directed and choreographed by Tony winner Christopher Gattelli (South Pacific, Newsies) and starring Megan Hilty (Smash) and Jennifer Simard (Company, Hello, Dolly!). Gattelli joined the production a year and a half before its big opening in New York City in November, which followed an earlier acclaimed run in Chicago. Though the musical is a romp packed with laughs, its themes are more timely than ever.

The discourse over aging (and anti-aging) dominated 2024. In politics, President Biden stepped down as the Democratic nominee after being labeled “too old” — only for Donald Trump (just four years younger than Biden) to win the race. In tech, experts continued the ethical debate over artificial intelligence’s potential to extend — and even preserve — one’s life through digital servers. In film, Demi Moore’s The Substance has made waves as a thought-provoking and horrifying satire about Hollywood’s obsession with rejuvenation.

“As we were creating [the Death Becomes Her musical], we had a lot of conversations about ageism, and beauty, and what does that mean — especially to women, and especially being a male director coming into the project,” Gattelli says. “So we had a lot of wonderful conversations with the group to just get a beat on how everyone felt about it.”

“We really leaned into the age part, and not so much the physical part,” he adds. “When you take the potion, yes, it makes you beautiful…but it’s more about making you feel like the perfect version that you see of yourself. Not so much, like, ‘Oh, I have a 20-whatever-[inch] waist now.’ It’s not that. It’s about your youth and vitality.”

On scripted TV, series like And Just Like That…, The Morning Show, and Hacks are breaking new narrative ground for female characters beyond their 20s and 30s. On reality TV, Bravo’s The Real Housewives franchise is bigger than ever, RuPaul’s Drag Race granted queens another life in the competition through an immunity-potions twist in season 16, and ABC just aired its first season of The Golden Bachelorette. In the media, tabloids are perennially abuzz over millennial stars like Lindsay Lohan and Christina Aguilera appearing to age backward as they relaunch their careers.

But even in platforms and environments that resist the culture of catfights, aging anxiety still pulsates and mutates through new filters, skins, and lenses. That includes wicked stepmothers in fairy tales facing their magic mirrors, desperate Housewives on cable networks filming their confessional interviews, and verified influencers on social media live-streaming their status updates. Uniquely, Death Becomes Her stands as an antidote to Hollywood’s ongoing sexism in phasing out older women in casting. Spoiler alert: These women over 40 shine.

“I mean, this isn’t a show with a message because our two protagonists don’t learn anything at the end of the show,” Gattelli says. “But it is kind of flecked through that. There’s a line that goes, ‘All producers want today are asses that are high and tight. What about talent?’ In very subtle and human ways, we do acknowledge what’s going on.”

Looking back, it seems inevitable that such diva-led maximalist whimsy was destined for the Great White Way. But it took a star-studded team of actors and creatives to revive this story for the stage. The show features its own iconic cast starring Hilty as Madeline and Simard as Helen, the roles Streep and Hawn played respectively. Christopher Sieber stars as their long-suffering love interest, Ernest (Bruce Willis in the film), and Michelle Williams steps into Viola Van Horn, the mysterious character Isabella Rossellini embodied in the film under a different name. Together, they brew magic.

“Across the board, it’s their comedic timing,” Gattelli says about the cast. “I already knew Megan, Jen, and Chris, and they all just have funny bones. Creating an original musical, to have people with funny bones where you just can throw anything at them… we just spent the whole time laughing together. On top of that, they’re beautiful people and humans. And they can also sing for the gods. It’s just like number after number, after number, after number. It’s literally my gay dream come true.”

Michelle Williams, Megan Hilty and the Death Becomes Her cast MATTHEW MURPHY AND EVAN ZIMMERMAN

Williams, the singer of Destiny’s Child fame who now offers the elixir of youth as Viola, “is just a force,” he continues. “It was fun to watch her find her way back onstage in Chicago. Since she’s been back in New York, she is just amazing. That voice — it’s otherworldly, it’s just otherworldly.”

Hilty and Simard are Broadway legends with packed résumés, but Gattelli notes the musical offers the female leads opportunities to shine like never before. “I’m really proud that the show gives performers like Megan and Jen and Michelle these roles that they might not have had,” Gattelli says. “All three of them are making the meals out of it, and it’s wonderful to watch them have this moment. Not to give anything away, but there’s a song that Megan sings in the first act, specifically, with lyrics like, ‘I will not disappear. I’ll show them I’m still here.’ It ends up being funny, but along the way, there are these moments of truth.”

Death Becomes Her’s creative team includes the book by Marco Pennette (Mom, B Positive), music and lyrics by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey (Brooklyn Sound), scenic design by Derek McLane (Moulin Rouge! The Musical, 33 Variations), and costume design by Paul Tazewell, who routinely makes headlines for his fantastical work in the Wicked film. For the production’s creative side, Gattelli focused on “what we could bring onstage that the movie couldn’t do.”

“We really leaned into making it theatrical and not relying on the effects as much,” he explains. “I remember there was a point where it was like, ‘Oh…no, no, no. We’re onstage. Let’s use what we do as theater creators and artists to tell the story in the way that we know how to do it best.’” Gatelli adds that they tried illusions and tricks that didn’t make the final cut.

The movie and current Broadway sensation parody female competitiveness with violent glee through plotlines that turn frenemies into true friends…for life (literally). “I just remember it being hilarious,” Gattelli says of first seeing the film. “It was around that time when CGI was first coming out. I was in awe at how they were pulling it off — how Zemeckis was able to do that. And, of course, it becomes this iconic thing. The fact that she [Madeline] not only falls down the stairs, but then he makes the body get up. Or the fact that Goldie gets shot in the stomach and lands, but then she gets up. It was so genius, the way it was all utilized.”

Taurean Everett (center) and the Death Becomes Her cast MATTHEW MURPHY AND EVAN ZIMMERMAN

Death Becomes Her is the latest entry of popular movies like Mean Girls, Beetlejuice, and Back to the Future getting the musical treatment. Gattelli admits that he’s “done it, we’ve all done them,” but highlights that Death Becomes Her feels different.

“The movie starts off with Madeline Ashton performing in a Broadway theater. It automatically gives you permission. It’s so over-the-top anyway…what they’re doing to each other! Of course they’re going to sing and belt in each other’s faces. You want it,” Gatelli says. “When I watch the movie now, I’m waiting for them to start singing, because I want them to. You want that to come out of them. It’s just the natural progression of that.”

Gattelli passionately describes the musical as “nonstop hilarity” at a time when laughter and joy are necessary to counter divisive times. “I’ve watched it from the back of the house, and just to hear an audience laugh…I can’t tell you how many people are like, ‘This was exactly what I needed today. Thank you for this,’” Gatelli says.

“The camp factor alone…I mean, I don’t want to give too many surprises away, but Michelle starts the show and just brings down the house,” he adds. “The second song, ‘For the Gaze,’ it’s spelled G-A-Z-E, and we play into it. It’s basically a gay fantasia. The final line of that song is ‘We all know that this whole damn show is for the gaze.’ So we just keep throwing it out, and it’s always a really fun time.”

Don’t miss Death Becomes Her, now playing at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre in New York City. www.deathbecomesher.com

This article is part of the Out January/February issue, which hits newsstands February 4. Support queer media and subscribe — or download the issue through Apple News, Zinio, Nook, or PressReader starting January 23.