| Chris Jones on DEATH BECOMES HER | |
| Posted by: Ballerina56 04:02 pm EDT 05/20/24 | |
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| "...This clever show was written by Marco Pennette and directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, and features music and lyrics from the very talented newcomer team of Julia Mattison and Noel Carey. It has some crowd-pleasing strengths, including a genuinely funny book, a swirling, retro, filmic score that features a knockout two- pronged 11 o’clock number for Hilty and Simard, and its best numbers put you in mind of Burt Bacharach and John Barry (no Ingrid Michaelson-like experiments here to confound future Tony Award nominators). There’s a lush physical production from set designer Derek McLane in an old school, drape-heavy “Producers”-like mode and a stellar cast. (Most unusually for this size of Broadway musical, there are just four designated principal roles, so the talented members of the ensemble surely earn their paychecks.) But there’s much work to be done overall if the show is to appeal to people who don’t have prior affection for the source. The main problem is that the love-hate relationship between the two stars is pivotal and you lose track of it somewhere toward the end of the first act. The thread takes far too long to re-engage, partly because the rules of the show keep changing when it comes to, say, the danger of the weaponry or the pain of the betrayals. The second problem is that while the material well serves Simard, Hilty’s starring role is underwritten. This justly admired actress wins over the audience in a matter of moments, but the book then makes it difficult for her to retain that crucial element of empathy on which this show relies. Hilty’s Madeline also needs a break or two, in this case from zinging one-liners, expertly delivered as they are, and more time to live and breathe with her adoring theater audience. That’s true of the show as a whole. Comedic strength and musical charm bookend the night, but the midriff needs surgery. And I don’t mean of the plastic variety." |
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| Link | Review: ‘Death Becomes Her’ has retro comedic charm but needs more emotional connection |
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