Slow Death: A Review of "Death Becomes Her" at Broadway in Chicago (2024)

by Dennis Polkow

RECOMMENDED

In the climax of the first act of “Death Becomes Her,” Helen (Jennifer Simard) has broken into the mansion of her lifetime rival Madeline Ashton (Megan Hilty). It is a dark, stormy night as Helen plots murder with her ex, now Madeline’s current husband, Ernest (Christopher Sieber).

Lighting is crackling, the music is ominous and Helen is singing up a storm of an aria describing the demise that should be enacted. Ernest is seduced in a magnificently macabre duet when suddenly Madeline appears, and duet becomes trio with a shift of emphasis on the rivalry between the two diabolical divas confronting one another vocally and dramatically. Things get physical as the tension and music intensify. Disembodied special effects become embedded in this duel of death which closes out Act I.

Had the rest of the evening been as effective as that meticulously crafted scene, “Death Becomes Her”—which had its pre-Broadway world premiere Sunday night at the Cadillac Palace Theatre—would be an amazing experience.

As is, what precedes this is an hour of what comes off like an unrelated series of vaudeville-like vignettes that, instead of being wedded to the action, slow it down.

Yes, Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child is in the cast as Viola van Horn, the youth potion pusher. In the movie, it’s merely a plot device but in the stage musical, the tonic and its attributes get nothing less than the opening number, before we even meet—let alone care about—the characters in need of it. And in case you missed it the first time, there’s another elixir song when Madeline meets Viola and gets her own dose. Every character and scenario seems to have a song. They are well-crafted and luxuriously orchestrated by Broadway standards, but are by and large standstill moments. Instead of enhancing the action, they actually interrupt it.

But the largest element weighing down “Death Becomes Her” is a series of relentless and stale one-liners that are not character-driven. Anyone and everyone seeks to milk a cheap laugh.

What is so frustrating is that it is obvious that the elements and talent are in place and that the potential is there for this to become a really killer show. Maybe by Broadway.

“Death Becomes Her” runs through June 2 at Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 West Randolph. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30pm (with a Wednesday and Saturday matinee at 2pm) and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are available at broadwayinchicago.org.

Related Stories

• Transformation and Transfiguration: A Review of The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing at Chicago Opera Theater British mathematician Alan Turing, who is the father of computer science, was primarily publicly remembered for being convicted of “gross indecency” for hom*osexual acts and was subject to chemical castration as a condition of his probation. From its opening notes, the music is compelling and perfectly captures the ambiguity of the worlds Turing was caught up in, almost a dramatic…
• Death of the Inventor: A Review of "I Build Giants" by The Plagiarists A soft sci-fi parable about whether it's possible to responsibly bring something new into the world.
• Pre-Mortem: How to Make a Musical of "Death Becomes Her" Chris Herzberger has been working on the launch of the pre-Broadway world premiere of the musical of “Death Becomes Her,” currently underway in previews at the Cadillac Palace with a May 19 opening.
• Death by a Thousand Pecks: A Review of “co*ck” at Open Space Arts Open Space Arts presents a very intimate and visceral production of the British hit “co*ck.”
• Luck of the Irish: Sean Flannery Has Lived Through Ten Near-Death Experiences And Still Manages To Laugh Flannery will be one of six comics taking the stage for the “Shamrock Shenanigans” show at the Den Theatre, as part of a lineup of Irish comics detailing their unique life experiences as part of a weekend that celebrates St. Patrick’s Day.
• All In Good Fun: A Review of "Aztec Human Sacrifice: A Musical about Love, Death, and the End of the World" at City Lit Parental sacrifice figures large in this original musical.