Death Becomes Her Is Big, Dumb, Gorgeous, and Getting Better

Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard bring camp and craft to this glitzy adaptation that’s more fun the second time around.

Let me just say this up front: Death Becomes Her is not a great musical. But it just might be a great time.

When I first saw the show back in November, I liked it fine enough. But didn’t love it. Jennifer Simard? Fantastic. Megan Hilty? Strong, but still settling in. The score? Hit and miss. But when the cast recording dropped in April and I revisited some of the numbers, I found myself appreciating the intricacy of the orchestrations and the cleverness of the lyrics a lot more. It made me want to give it a second go.

So I did…on the night the Tony nominations came out, no less. And I had a much better time. The vibe in the theater was electric, the cast was dialed in, and it became clear that Death Becomes Her has leveled up. It’s not tighter (still a few songs I’d cut), but it’s crisper and more confident. And confidence matters with a show like this.

As Helen Sharp, the wallflower turned voluptuous sexpot, Jennifer Simard remains a musical theatre assassin. Her voice reaches stratospheric heights while her comedic instincts can turn even the most insignificant on stage moments into gold. Megan Hilty, as Simard’s ultimate frenemy Madeline Ashton, has grown exponentially in the role. In November, she was doing solid work, but wasn’t quite matching Simard’s brazen kookiness. Over the course of the run, however, Hilty has gotten looser, weirder, more fearless onstage.

I still found Simard to be the stronger of the two, but that’s no slight to Hilty. She’s been doing the work and allowing for new possibilities in her performance. Not only is that a mentality that should be applauded (too many actors freeze their performance and never shift), but it has produced fantastic results on stage.

As Ernest Menville, the perpetual sad sack, pawn, and cuckold, Christopher Sieber still has the weakest material in the show. Death Becomes Her, after all, has always been about the women. But Sieber, a gifted comedian and Broadway pro, has taken being Simard and HIlty’s straight man and found laughs of his own. Sieber’s big song in Act 2, “The Plan,” was an obvious skip for the audience back in November. As of now, he’s meticulously steered the number into a fan favorite. Even Michelle Williams got a few chuckles the night I went. Progress!

Still, there are issues. Some songs that land beautifully on the album fall flat onstage due to staging or clarity. Simard’s “Let’s Run Away Together” is iconic in headphones but can be hard to follow live. The show isn’t as tight as it should be, and for something this campy, a tighter ship might actually let it be sillier. Right now it’s a bit padded for a musical about immortal narcissists.

But let’s be real: you’re not going to Death Becomes Her for restraint. You’re going for glam, for bawdy laughs, for high-concept lowbrow fun. It’s a musical that knows exactly what it is, and lately, it’s been executing that mission a lot better.

Will Tony voters take it seriously? Probably not. But audiences might. And if you're the kind of person who thinks high-camp deserves high praise, Death Becomes Her may just become your new obsession.

For the full breakdown on glam, camp, and divas rising from the grave (with high notes to match):

🎧 Check out the full review from my first time seeing the show - and skip to the end if you do!