The new stage musical adaptation of 'Death Becomes Her' is making its world premiere at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre. It will arrive on Broadway in the fall.
Production previews will start on Oct. 23 and open on Nov. 21 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
The cast will once again be led by Tony nominees Meghan Hilty and Jennifer Simard as Madeline Ashton and Helen Sharp, respectively.
They portray fierce rivals who discover a magic pill they ingest to gain eternal youth, which turns out to have some painful side effects.
Grammy winner Michelle Williams ('Destiny's Child', 'Chicago') and Tony nominee Christopher Sieber ('Spamalot', 'Company') will also reprise their roles as Ernest Menville and Viola Van Horn, respectively.
Additional casting will be soon announced.
'Death Becomes Her,' a Tony Award-winning musical directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, has an original score composed by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey and a book by Marco Pennette.
The Chicago production will officially open on May 19 and run until June 2 for a limited engagement.
Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn starred in the original film 'Death Becomes Her,' directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Martin Donovan and David Koepp. The movie pioneered CGI to create special effects, including a hole in Hawn's stomach and a full 360-degree spin of Streep's head.
A playbill was shown in the movie's opening scene. Since Tony winner Kristen Chenoweth was announced as the lead actress, the musical adaptation has been in development since at least 2017.
The musical's press release said, "Madeline Ashton is the most beautiful actress (just ask her) ever to grace the stage and screen. Helen Sharp is the long-suffering author (just ask her) who lives in her shadow."
"They have always been the best of frenemies until Madeline steals Helen's fiancé away. As Helen plots revenge and Madeline clings to her rapidly fading star, their world is suddenly turned upside down by Viola Van Horn, a mysterious woman with a secret that's to die for," it added.
