Tony preview: 'Death Becomes Her' delights in excess

NEW YORK — Turning the effects-heavy film “Death Becomes Her” into a Broadway musical sounds impossible but there, up on the stage of the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, is more of everything — from lavish costumes to “how’d they do that?” effects.

It’s a marvel of enterprise, even though the show seems bloated when it plays out in front of you.

Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard take the roles played by Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn in the film. They’re two age-conscious friends who want to push their sell-by dates as far as possible. When a plastic surgeon (Christopher Sieber) comes between them, the gloves come off and soon they’re at each other’s pliable throats.

What man can’t accomplish, however, potions can. So, each takes a visit to a mysterious chemist (Michelle Williams) who promises them eternal youth — at a price.

Director Christopher Gattelli stuffs this with a lot of distractions. Big showy numbers (Hilty’s Madeline, after all, is a Broadway star), expensive set pieces and scenery-chewing sidekicks make you forget this is really a simple story about friendship gone bad.

Hilty and Simard are like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, clawing to keep the other from getting an advantage. They toss off Marco Pennette’s smart one-liners with ease and don’t hesitate to infuse the battle with a little “Golden Girls” love.

Much, though, needs to be said about the songs that require every vocal chord each woman possesses. These are “full-out” numbers that must take a toll. The show doesn’t need them, but they’re there, adding to the bigger, bigger, bigger total.

When Simard’s Helen transforms from mousey spouse to best-selling writer, the change is, um, noticeable. She’s playing tit-for-tat, so to speak, and looking for a way to write some wrongs.

Funny as he is, Sieber doesn’t get the attention his character (played by Bruce Willis in the film) deserves. He’s the consolation prize when the shovels start flying.

Most interesting are the visual effects. Madeline takes an awful spill down her mansion’s steps (thank you, Warren Yang) and winds up in pieces on the floor. It’s a fascinating bit that’s matched by a gunshot through Helen’s mid-section. It doesn’t take David Copperfield to figure out how it’s done, but it didn’t really need to be. There’s enough in the verbal sparring to make “Death Becomes Her” every bit as effective as its origins story.

Want a big splashy show? This is it in spades.

The Tony Awards air Sunday night on CBS.