DEATH BECOMES HER Reviews — Page 2

New York Theatre Guide

'Death Becomes Her' review — cult-favorite movie gets a fabulous musical facelift



https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/reviews/death-becomes-her-broadway-review

Just goes to show how subjective it all is. DTLI and BroadwayWorld both thought Green's review was mixed like I did, but DTLI has the NY Post review as mixed, while BW and I both thought it was positive.

MemorableUserName said: "Green in NYT is mixed. Positive on the stars, not the show

Review: In ‘Death Becomes Her,’ Spiking the Fountain of Youth

Hilarious star turns from Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard make the mostly unfunny 1992 film into an intermittently memorable Broadway musical.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/theater/death-becomes-her-review-hilty-simard.html

"Especially after the inventive first scenes, the show is a bit like that too: It keeps going despite being disconnected. At some point, even though I knew it well, I lost the thread of the story and found myself waiting for the musical numbers. Even then, the more-is-more physical production eventually started to cloy (purple sets by Derek McLane, saturated lighting by Justin Townsend, congested sound by Peter Hylenski), and a feeling of overfamiliarity set in as each new sororal torture was hymned.

Still, Hilty and Simard are tireless, forever pulling vocal drama and line-reading surprises out of their Swarovski-encrusted imaginations. You do not think too often, and probably not as much as you should, about the unfortunate tradition of catfights in Broadway musicals. (Listen to“Bosom Buddies” from “Mame”and“There’s Always a Woman” from “Anyone Can Whistle.”) In any case, by the finale — a smart wrap-up equivocally called “The End” — the spicy enmity between Madeline and Helen has long since cooked down to companionate carping. Tending their empty graves, they finally have a common enemy: their own immortality.""

Gift link

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/theater/death-becomes-her-review-hilty-simard.html?unlocked_article_code=1.b04.phsW.50MZng-fg5ik

Not that surprising. Gypsy has sucked up all the air/discussion since Thursday. There was already less discussion of the reviews Thursday night than there often is since everyone was focused on that.

At my AMC screening of Wicked on Thursday, Death Becomes Her had the final trailer before the film started. Likely a studio mandate or an addition to the DCP, but I've never seen this for a Broadway show before. The power of Universal.

DaveyG said: "MemorableUserName said: "Not that surprising. Gypsy has sucked up all the air/discussion since Thursday. There was already less discussion of the reviews Thursday night than there often is since everyone was focused on that."

Add the Wicked movie press/marketing avalanche and there's really no oxygen left.

Death Becomes Her still has pretty soft sales for a very expensive show. It will be interesting to watch."

I believe it was in the top 10 of Broadway grosses last week pre opening so I wouldn’t call that soft sales before reviews.

DaveyG said: "itsahopi said: "DaveyG said: "MemorableUserName said: "Not that surprising. Gypsy has sucked up all the air/discussion since Thursday. There was already less discussion of the reviews Thursday night than there often is since everyone was focused on that."

Add the Wicked movie press/marketing avalanche and there's really no oxygen left.

Death Becomes Her still has pretty soft sales for a very expensive show. It will be interesting to watch."

I believe it was in the top 10 of Broadway grosses last week pre opening so I wouldn’t call that soft sales before reviews."

I was talking about future sales, not pre-opening. Look at Thanksgiving weekend and Christmas weekend. Those performances should be the easiest to fill and they're not even remotely close."

Got it. I guess we can reconvene after the grosses for both those weeks are posted.

Hollywood Reporter: Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland Support Michelle Williams at ‘Death Becomes Her’ Opening Night on Broadway

TheatreFan4 said: "Ximone Rose debuted as Viola today."

She was fabulous! I would have never known this her first time in the role.

What a surprise! I didn’t know what to expect from Death Becomes Her, but it turned out to be a laugh-out-loud good time. The chemistry between the two leads was fantastic—so much playful banter and hilarious moments. Honestly, I enjoyed it more than the movie. It was a riot, and I appreciated how much fun it was to just sit back and enjoy the show. If you’re looking for a lighthearted, fun night at the theater, this is definitely worth seeing.

Went back tonight and, now having seen McDonald and Scherzinger, Hilty's and Simard's performances really struck me as being far superior. It's a shame comedy is undervalued compared to drama, because what they are both doing on that stage is truly impressive. So fresh. So funny. So alive. So multi-faceted. (And both are doing a better job at fully embodying the characters than Scherzinger is.) I wish either of them would take the Tony.

MemorableUserName said: "Went back tonight and, nowhaving seen McDonald and Scherzinger, Hilty's and Simard's performances really struck me as being far superior. It's a shame comedy is undervalued compared to drama, because what they are both doing on that stage is truly impressive. So fresh. So funny. So alive. So multi-faceted. (And both are doing a better job at fully embodying the characters than Scherzinger is.) I wish either of them would take the Tony."



So in general I like very VERY much agree with you (especially with film and television) but I feel like the theatre community pretty constantly awards and adores comedic performances with the same level of respect as dramatic ones