{"id":128761,"date":"2024-11-22T10:39:54","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T03:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=128761"},"modified":"2024-11-22T10:39:54","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T03:39:54","slug":"review-in-death-becomes-her-spiking-the-fountain-of-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=128761","title":{"rendered":"Review: In \u2018Death Becomes Her,\u2019 Spiking the Fountain of Youth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Not since Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne themselves performed there in 1958, leaving a trail of scrapes and bite marks in their wake, has Broadway\u2019s Lunt-Fontanne Theater housed such <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/18\/theater\/death-becomes-her-broadway.html\" title=\"\">equal-billing dragons as the ones Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard<\/a> play in \u201cDeath Becomes Her.\u201d The musical, which opened on Thursday, stars the two comic treasures as lifelong frenemies for whom the \u201clifelong\u201d part is an understatement. Their animosity is eternal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That Hilty and Simard make it so jolly is a big relief and a big surprise. The 1992 Robert Zemeckis movie on which the show is based may be <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.filmfeels.co.uk\/articles\/the-curious-camp-allure-of-death-becomes-her\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a queer camp classic<\/a>, but its misogynistic ick factor is high. The leads \u2014 Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn \u2014 are shot leeringly yet unflatteringly, a queasy combo. The violence they do to each other is more vivid than the vanity at its root. What binds them, even in acrimony, goes largely unexplored. And, fatally, the film is not very funny.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For its first 30 minutes, the musical is nothing but. When introduced, Hilty\u2019s Madeline Ashford is a star of a certain age being hoisted by chorus boys in a creaky vehicle called \u201cMe! Me! Me!\u201d Its opening number, \u201cFor the Gaze,\u201d establishes her epochal narcissism while also winking, in its title pun, to the material\u2019s cult audience. The staging, by Christopher Gattelli, goes so breathtakingly over the top \u2014 costume changes, key changes, cameos by both Liza and Judy \u2014 that half the lyrics get lost in the laughs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Though best known for her vocal chops \u2014 fully exploited here in glossy songs by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey \u2014 Hilty is an inventive and beguiling comedian, putting a warm spin on even the meanest zingers. Indeed, one of the improvements in Marco Pennette&#8217;s book for the musical is that those zingers seem like love pinches, painful but titillating. They are often self-directed, too, and thus a kind of self-pleasure. When Simard\u2019s Helen Sharp tells Madeline she\u2019s stunning, the diva responds, with evident delight, \u201cWell, thanks to my hair, makeup and neck team.\u201d She also credits \u201cthat tapeworm diet.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Simard is simply brilliant. I say \u201csimply\u201d advisedly; it takes a lot of craft and homework to stand next to Hilty and not be outdone. Happily, her Helen is an astonishing creation of disappointment and disparagement: Dorothy Parker boiled down to a syrup, spitting takedowns like sour candies. \u201cLove her like a twin,\u201d she says of Madeline, in a voice of squeaky chalk. \u201cWho stole my nutrients in the womb.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-1336jj\">\n<div class=\"css-121kum4\">\n<div class=\"css-asuuk5\"><noscript><\/p>\n<div class=\"css-7axq9l\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"css-1b5b8u1\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/noscript><\/p>\n<div class=\"css-1dv1kvn\" id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<hr\/>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. 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