Death came for Death Becomes Her on June 28. And for once, the show didn’t have a trick up its sleeve to cheat it. After over 650 performances, the Lunt-Fontanne went dark on one of the most maximalist musical comedies Broadway has produced in years—and one that failed to recoup its $31.5 million price tag. Even immortality has overhead.
I caught the closing performance, and the show was still firing on every cylinder. Marco Pennette’s biting book and Julia Mattison and Noel Carey’s score know exactly what kind of musical it wants to be. And when Betsy Wolfe took over for Megan Hilty as Madeline Ashton in January, the show didn’t skip a beat. A musical that survives a lead replacement without losing its pulse is a musical built to travel.
It wants better content.
Room to be this extra
The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre is one of Broadway’s most cavernous, with a deep house that can often feel like you’re sitting across the street. Derek McLane’s scenic design and Paul Tazewell‘s Tony-winning costumes never had that problem. This is a show built at the scale the theatre demands with all the bells and whistles that need real square footage to land. Most touring houses are bigger than their Broadway counterparts. For once, a production isn’t shrinking to fit the road. It’s finally getting stages roomy enough to match its ego.
The math killed this run, not the show. The original production capitalized on a familiar title audiences were familiar with. But the Broadway ecosystem is brutal. The national tour launches in September at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square, betting that recognition can do what good reviews and Tony nominations couldn’t.
Death Becomes Her isn’t dead. It’ll be reincarnated with a better budget and a bigger map. Drink up, America.
See Death Becomes Her on tour.
Have another minute?
Hot Sec – Spring 2026 in culture: the 5 stories you couldn’t keep scrolling past
Off-Broadway – ‘Music City’ screams Nashville until one performer just lives it
Comedy – In ‘Reality Detox,’ The Second City turns audience confessions into comedy gold
PR
respectfully, Betsy didn’t. Having seen the show 6x, including Jan 4th (Megan @ Jen’s final show together), July 18th and final on the 28th, it wasn’t a seamless “Megan who?” replacement. Megan’s exceptional talents are not easy shoes to fill. Betsy, while lovely, wasn’t the right fit for this important role. There is so much talent out there to bring their interpretation: Renee Elise, Pippa Soo, all versions of the “Lady of the Lake” from SPAMALOT (Hannah, Sara or Leslie)…people w significant talent in the lanes needed to Siempre Viva this show. We applauded like hell because we loved the collective spirit, talents, humor, joy and pure camp this musical embodied.
While the ruby slippers didn’t truly fit Betsy, there was SOOOO much love for this show that the rest of us couldn’t understand what the Tony and Grammy voters didn’t. Sadly, The Great White Way shines less brightly as of yesterday evening.
I hope Jen, Christopher, Taurean, Michelle, Ximone, Bethany, Warren, Josh, anyone playing the hilarious Private Security guards and the remaining cast all find fulfilling work soon…because there is nothing in the world like live theatre.
i DO love that they’re starting the tour in O-Hio. 🤣 #IYKYK
sending 🦄🥰🤗 from West Hollywood, CA
pardon any typos or brevity. sent from mobile phone