Not more then 10 seconds into the show the crowd began a deafening cheer spurred on by Destiny’s Child’s Michelle Williams rising from beneath the stage in a sparkling dress and exhibiting perfect posture.
Had she then immediately descended from whence she came, it undoubtedly would have been accompanied by raucous laughter, which, as it turned out, was the theme of the night.
First, the mundane stuff. One song after another was extremely clever and Williams, Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard have got the powerful voices and impeccable style, to do them justice.
Enough of that. The show features one not-too-subtle double entendre after another, with great comedic timing by all, until it climaxes with Simard, suffering from a rather interesting gunshot injury, telling Hilty, not in the angry fashion that Charlton Heston once said “Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape’”, but rather in a straight-faced comedic moment, to, and I paraphrase for the censors, keep her hands to herself.
If the Tonys give out an award for best-costumed dance ensemble, Death Becomes Her should dance off with it. But it was the choreography and performance of a solo moment that was a show stopper as Hilty’s stunt dance double executed a slow motion, gymnastic, grotesque fall that was the best use of a staircase since the Nicholas Brothers.
Not to be forgotten also is the strong performance of Christopher Sieber, highlighted by a song and dance in his lab that included a cast of characters that was a combination of kitchen items from Beauty and the Beast and Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors.
The only thing that was missing in the show was Ponce de Leon lounging with a drink by a fountain at Viola Van Horn’s palace of a home.