Betsy Wolfe comes alive in 'Death Becomes Her' on Broadway

The Tony Award-nominated actress has stepped into the high heels of Madeline Ashton, a character at once glamorous, vulnerable, and "unapologetically unhinged."

Summary

• Tony Award nominee stars as Madeline Ashton in Death Becomes Her on Broadway
• She discusses balancing the comedy and vulnerability of the role; her relationship with co-star Jennifer Simard; how she takes care of herself off stage; and playing a role originated by Meryl Streep and Megan Hilty

Betsy Wolfe first saw Death Becomes Her, the 1992 movie starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn, long before deciding to pursue a musical theatre career. It was before she appeared in eight Broadway musicals including Waitress and Falsettos, before she became a Tony Award nominee in 2023 for & Juliet, before Death Becomes Her became a Broadway musical in which Wolfe currently stars as Madeline Ashton. Now, the 43-year-old's stage career is more alive than ever.

Madeline, not so much. Wolfe succeeds Streep and Tony-nominated original Broadway cast member Megan Hilty as the past-her-prime — per Hollywood, anyway — actress who goes to supernatural, head-turning extremes for everlasting beauty. Where all three real-life women also differ from Madeline is a sense of self-assurance; Wolfe said Streep and Hilty inspired her not to imitate them, but have confidence in her unique take on the character.

"The only thing people want to see is [...] the best version of yourself, because that actually is the most interesting," Wolfe said. "That is my responsibility, to bring my version of this to life on stage every night — unapologetically unhinged in whatever way it looks like."

She both commits to that pursuit in Madeline's many go-for-broke solo showcases — like the quick-change-filled opener "For the Gaze" and the meltdown song "Falling Apart" — and has an invaluable partner in Tony nominee Jennifer Simard as Madeline's frenemy Helen Sharp. Death Becomes Her is a demanding show physically, emotionally, and comedically, but "it has been sheer joy from start to finish," Wolfe enthused.

Wolfe shared more with New York Theatre Guide about why she still feels like she's in rehearsals after two months (and that's a good thing), why she couldn't have played this role 10 years ago, and what makes her feel alive off stage.

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What's your first memory of seeing Death Becomes Her as an audience member?

When I saw the musical on opening night, I was just like, "This is the funniest thing I've ever seen. This is hysterical." I remembered moments, aspects, and tributes to the film, but there was so much new stuff too that was theatricalized and just made it so joyous for the stage.

We have geniuses that worked on our show. The fact that [director/choreographer] Chris Gattelli could see this from a film standpoint and then also envision what it could be like and just kept saying, "More, more, go, let's go," is just the best. Often, I don't think they get translated like that. It's really hard to take a beloved movie and turn it into a musical.

Between this and Waitress, you've got a great track record of movie-to-musical adaptations.

That's true. And those are the only two times I've ever come into a show after it's already started! I didn't even put that together.

Coming into a show while it's running requires learning your part quickly. How is your performance evolving the longer you play Madeline?

What I have loved — I probably didn't even understand it in Waitress when I was doing this years ago — is that, yes, you can rehearse all you want in a room with a couple people and prep for this, but until you're on stage with the actors you're going to be doing it with, and you have the lights and the costumes — it's like the audience is getting to witness actors back in their favorite spot, which is actually a rehearsal room, just playing.

I'm having the time of my life [...] for the past six weeks. Seven weeks? I don't even know how long I've been in the show now. I can't even believe it, it's already going by so fast.

Even Madeline's most unguarded moments, like "Falling Apart," are so heightened. How do you balance her comedy with her vulnerability?

It's absurd what's happening, it's absurd that she's got makeup coming down her face, but that is so real for her. She's falling apart in that number and realizing this life she thought she had, or what her future's going to be, is going to be different.

It's a comedic number in theory and, for sure, it is very funny, but it's funny because it's rooted in truth. You could do that song as a dramatic monologue, and guess what? It would totally work. It happens to be in this incredible campy musical, but [...] it's grounded in the reality of what she's realizing about herself. And honestly, from what I can gather, audience members also are going, "Oh my god, I understand this, too."

We've all had our "falling apart" moments, and she gets to do it on stage in front of everyone in real time, and it's very vulnerable. I relate to aspects of it; we all do. Look at me — I'm an actress that's going through a different part in her life, and that's what's so joyous and juicy about doing this now. I wouldn't have been able to do justice to this role 10 years ago.

Why is now the right time?

Well, I'm not a spring chicken anymore. I'm obviously still in my 20s. (laughs) I've been doing this a while. I'm a mom now. I have lived, I've seen a lot in this business, navigating [both] incredible success and then the moments where it seems like, "Am I going to be doing this again?"

Translating it to [Madeline's] level, she's a two-time Oscar nominee also feeling like, "Am I still relevant?" In that sense, we all have feelings of [...] "Have I done the best part of my life? Has that gone by?" And I can honestly say no, because I'm getting to do it right now, which is really cool. But I have to act like it on stage.

How do you take care of yourself off stage?

Betsy Wolfe is a happy person when she gets to be the kind of mom she wants to be. When I get all the time that I want with my daughter and make sure my daughter is taken care of, that makes me a better performer at night.

I also do P.T. [physical therapy] two times a week, and just basic care. Being in the show for eight weeks, you're realizing, "I do a lot of these neck movements. I'll make sure I get in a couple extra exercises that will help that."

I have had a lot of years of knowing what I need in order to make sure I can do this every night. And also, it's a lot of practice of being able to know, "What is the 110[%] version of the show? What is the 108[%] version?" I love the challenge of doing it. I have not missed a show yet!

What was your relationship with Jennifer Simard before doing this show together?

A couple years ago, we got to do this Broadway Barks event [with] Bernadette Peters, and afterwards, [we] took this photo — Bernadette Peters, myself, and Jenn. It happened to be on my camera, and Jenn reached out and was like, "Can you send that picture?"

On DM on Instagram, I remember she wrote something like, "Can you believe we get to do this for a living?" We hadn't even worked together yet. [...] I just remember thinking, "Gosh, yeah, we are really, really lucky. Hope I see you soon."

She leads with gratitude; she leads with kindness. There is no other way to describe it: She's a comedic genius doing a role people will talk about for years. This will be one of her defining roles that people remember her by. And so my goal was to not come in and change anything; my goal was to only enhance her brilliance.

Which of your past musical characters would be frenemies with Madeline?

Cathy from The Last Five Years, because Cathy was a little bit more of a struggling actress. I don't think Cathy was going to have two Oscar nominations. My guess is that Cathy's biggest insecurities would come out to play, and maybe they would rub up against each other. Cathy's very secure in other ways, but she definitely had some moments — but so does Madeline.

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This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.

Photo credit: Death Becomes Her on Broadway. (Photos by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman)
Bottom photo credit: Bernadette Peters, Jennifer Simard, Victoria Clark, and Betsy Wolfe at Broadway Barks. (Photo courtesy of Betsy Wolfe)