Death Becomes Her last night....
Posted by: vladimir 09:32 am EDT 10/30/24

The Good:

- Jennifer Simard is pretty damn near perfect. I don't think anyone currently has as much of a grasp on comic timing and line delivery as she does. (Close your eyes, and you hear Kate McKinnon.)
- The book is 90% there—very clever. The laughs-per-minute are in overdrive.
- Megan Hilty is also 90% there. Vocally, she’s unstoppable, but she's missing an edge I’m sure she'll acquire with time. Both women's big reveal (post-potion) felt unremarkable, likely due to makeup limitations and time constraints.
- McLane’s set design is remarkable (as usual)—original, consistently moving, and rather seamless.
- Townsend’s lighting design is dramatic and campy, adding much to the overall feel.
- Tazewell’s costume design is sumptuous and damn near perfect.

The Bad:

- Michelle Williams as Viola Van Horn is stunning and has a good vocal range. However, she’s dead behind the eyes and has zero charisma. It’s a strange casting choice, especially since they beefed up the role by 200% for this production.
- Christopher Sieber is game, funny, and looks/sounds great. Unfortunately, they saddled him with two rather shite songs (one involving him alone on stage, having a breakdown while swirling in circles with spray paint). Poor guy.
- The oversexed, bizarrely costumed ensemble performs marginal choreography and mostly dresses the set. There’s a missed opportunity here for them all to appear as famous 'dead celebrities' in the final scenes (if you know, you know).

Overall:
Score: B
Lyrics: B+
Book: A-

As a huge fan of the film, I had to let go of the comparisons right from the jump—and I’m glad I did. The musical is its own carnival, and a joyful, hilarious one at that.
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