“Everything I do is for the view,” enthuses Megan Hilty in her first number from the new adaptation of film and musical Death suits herwhich opened tonight at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater on Broadway. Of course, it’s obviously a clever and not-so-subtle use of homophones as a thank you to the audience that is most responsible for giving the original 1992 film cult classic status – a status that undoubtedly also led the fabulously sequined path from the Canvas has leveled stage. (Witness a 2017 Vanity Fair Article titled “The Glorious Queer Afterlife of Death is with her,“Which may or may not explain the onstage appearances of Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland and assless pants during Hilton’s tune.)

The fact that the new Broadway show forgoes the overly cheesy opening of Meryl Streep’s “Me” – that’s the movie only Musical number, by the way – and replaced it with the even number campier For the Gaze tells you everything you need to know about the new production and its mission to get bigger and edgier. It’s a mission that usually succeeds.

The basic structure is the same. Hilty plays Madeline Ashton (Streep in the film), an aging (in Hollywood years) actress who is quickly approaching “has-been” status and embroiled in a lifelong feud with feuding author Helen Sharp (played here by Jennifer Simard and in the film Goldie Hawn). Helen suffers a nervous breakdown and then vows revenge after Madeline steals and marries Helen’s fiancé Ernest (Christopher Sieber, taking over the role from Bruce Willis). To make matters worse, age-phobic Madeline and revenge-seeking Helen have both taken a fountain of youth potion to stay young forever, but it’s a potion that brings with it some, shall we say, complications… especially after what otherwise should be life-ending events.

Within this structure, Marco Pennette’s script makes several changes to the story, including Ernest’s employment, the person who pushed Madeline down the stairs, and a redesigned ending. (Helen’s post-collapse fat suit is also thankfully missing.) The big question theatergoers might ask upon entering the Lunt-Fontanne, of course, is how the production can possibly recreate Madeline’s head being turned backwards, or Helen having one fires a huge shotgun blast. big hole in her chest – especially without the use of copious amounts of CGI. We don’t want to spoil the surprise, but suffice it to say that director Christopher Gattelli relies on cheesy solutions here too.

Like the movie, a lot of it Death suits her Musical rests on the shoulders of its stars. Hilty is a comedic force to be reckoned with in both singing and speech. He cranks the self-absorption to 11, hilariously delivering every line as an over-the-top two-time Oscar loser looking to star in something called ” Dogstronaut could. As Helen, Simard balances Hilton’s energy with some well-placed quirks of her own, particularly when she catalogs her own obsessions in the somewhat demented solo “Madeline.”

Of course, the couple has a big, show-stopping duet in the form of – SPOILER ALERT! – “Alive Forever,” but the two are even more effective when turned down and playing off each other on the smirking “Tell Me, Ernest” — which serves as the climax to a series of songs from Julia Mattison and Noel Carey that aim to be that way cramming in lots of jokes like hooks. (Considering I could only remember a handful of tunes after that, that could serve as both a compliment and a complaint.)

Sieber is a good character as Ernest, playing more of a straight man than Willis’ goofier, drunker portrayal in the film and generally taking a back seat to the two feuding women. His only solo, “Till Death,” seems a bit perfunctory, but is at least supported by a lively (hint, hint) set design from Derek McLane.

The only big hit and miss comes in Michelle Williams’ role as Viola Van Horn – the mysterious and enigmatic dispenser of the magic potion that sends Madeline and Helen on their eternal journey. The role played in the film by the mostly naked Isabella Rossellini has been jazzed up for the stage. In fact, Viola gets both opening songs And the last line of the show. But while Williams’ pipes are well known from her time opposite Beyoncé in Destiny’s Child, the singer gives a strangely stiff and charisma-free performance, which proves problematic when the character she portrays is the most charismatic and The most seductive presence is said to be of all. Even Viola’s epic opening wardrobe by costume designer Paul Tazewell and a beautiful purple glow that bathes the stage by lighting designer Justin Townsend can only do so much.

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If that’s what you were looking for Death To add a little social commentary with a feel-good message about female empowerment to tone down the original’s plot of two women fighting over a man, look elsewhere. The beauty and aging double standards between the sexes are at least viewed with a wink: “Men can walk around like scrotums, and that’s fine!” Hilty’s Madeline complains at one point – but more common are lines that make the character’s obsession with youth laughable denounce: “You’re going full Sunset Boulevard,“ observes Madeline’s assistant Stefan (Josh Lamon). (For everyone who also wants to be full Sunset Blvdthe musical happens to be playing two blocks away.)

The momentum during the two-hour, 30-minute running time also wanes somewhat in the second act – perhaps gently reminding the audience that not everything does, in fact, last, or should, last forever – but eventually recovers with a welcome reimagined ending. The new conclusion may lack the film’s side (and arm, leg and head) split gag, but it offers a touching and incredibly funny farewell to our tragic love triangle of doom. Madeline and Helen may have faked their deaths, but we will undoubtedly see them again. For the only thing more eternal than these rowdy women is the intellectual property that produced them. Grade: B