Megan Hilty always knew Death Becomes Her would make a great musical — and now she’s headlining the show on Broadway.
The fan-favorite stage and screen actress is starring with Broadway scene-stealer Jennifer Simard in Universal Theatrical Group’s new stage adaptation of the 1992 movie comedy, which is now on Broadway after a well-received run in Chicago earlier this year. In a conversation with Hilty and Simard on “Stagecraft,” Variety‘s theater podcast, Hilty explained why she knew Death Becomes Her could be an exemplary a musical even before it actually became one.
“The camp and the general over-the-topness of everything just lends itself to breaking into song,” she said. “That can be a really difficult thing to justify when you’re making something that was originally not a musical into a musical, but you can watch this movie and go: ‘Yeah, it would make sense if they burst out into song. Nobody would question it.’ On top of it being just a cult classic that has a built-in audience that would love and adore it.”
Playing roles originally portrayed in the movie by Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn, Hilty and Simard play frenemies whose quest to stay youthful...READ MORE