“Death Becomes Her,” a stylishly macabre Broadway musical comedy about a love/hate triangle, has much the same plot, catty repartee, and even some of the same comically gruesome special effects as the 1992 Meryl Streep/Goldie Hawn/Bruce Willis movie on which it is based.  Although not as starry a draw as their cinematic predecessors, Megan Hilty,  Jennifer Simard and Christopher Sieber — all Broadway favorites — do a fine job in the principal roles, and there are several memorable supporting players. But if I’m being honest, one theater artist stood out for me: Paul Tazewell, the costume designer.

Tazewell, who has been designing costumes for Broadway for three decades — nominated for a Tony nine times, winning for Hamilton – has outdone himself with the fashion in “Death Becomes Her,” which changes from kitsch to classy,  sometimes on the same body within seconds. Call it kinetic couture: A glamorous showgirl suddenly turns into  Dorothy of Kansas; a gown suddenly matches the upholstery. There is much else that makes this musical worthwhile — the other designers, the stunts, the stars — but It’s Tazewell’s costumes that seemed most fully to express the tone of the show: over-the-top but simultaneously making fun of how over-the-top it is — and having fun doing so.

Exaggeration is the key in “Death Becomes Me,” and we see it early on. In the movie, the faded Broadway star Madeline Ashton (Streep) is performing in a show called “Songbird,” where we see bored audience members walking out. In the musical, Madeline (Megan Hilty) is performing a show that we see on the marquee is called “Me! Me! Me!” – and the musical number she’s performing with the entire company, “For The Gaze,” is hilarious for its excess but also entertaining in its extravagance. (I didn’t see anyone walking out.)

After that number, Madeline is visited backstage by Helen Sharp (Jennifer Simard), who brings along her fiancé, Dr. Ernest Menville (Christopher Siebert), a plastic surgeon.   Madeline and Helen have been friends and rivals for decades, unable to disguise their envy and resentment.(“I love Mad, love her like a twin,” Helen says,”who stole my nutrients in the womb.”) Helen has brought Ernest to show him off, and Madeline makes a play for him right away.

So tell me, Ernest 
what would you do to me?
aesthetically
a lift? a tuck?
a freeze? a suck? 
some filler in the chin? 

A couple of scenes later, Madeline has stolen Ernest from Helen, they’ve gotten married – Helen parachutes in to stop the wedding, to no avail. She is so upset that she’s institutionalized. She only gets better when she decides to kill Madeline. The plot turns supernatural, when both Helen and Madeline take a magic potion with the promise of eternal youth, which turns out to be not an antidote to decay but merely immortality. That makes it challenging for them to kill one another, but they try anyway.

The cartoon violence on stage closely parallels that from the movie, but with an impressive difference. Here, when Helen pushes Madeline down the grand staircase, Madeline uses a firearm to shoot a smoking hole in Helen’s midsection, and Helen knocks Madeline’s head offstage with a shovel, it’s all done without the movie’s (then-novel) CGI. Kudos to Tim Clothier and Rob Lake, credited with “Illusions,” and the uncredited acrobatic body doubles who executed these jaw-dropping stunts. The film won an Academy Award for best visual effects. There is no such category in the Tonys, but if there were, “Death Becomes Her” would be a shoo-in.

Julia Mattison and Noel Carey are making their Broadway songwriting debut, perhaps stronger with the lyrics than the melodies, but there are some catchy verses.

Here are four of the songs as they will sound on the cast album.

If you Want Perfection is led by Viola van Horn, portrayed by Michelle Williams (whose casting feels like a nod to  “Sunset Blvd.” two blocks away, which stars Nicole Scherzinger, a former member of the Pussycat Dolls. Williams, a former member of Destiny’s Child, affects a similar vampire-like chic.

The staccato choral refrain is particular catchy

If you want perfection
Take a sip and drink it in
Kill your old complexion
Welcome to your brand new skin!

Alive Forever

Madeleine and Helen realize they’re stuck with one another for eternity

I suppose it’s possible to read some cultural significance into the story of two women trying so hard to stay young; perhaps a critique of plastic surgery and the wellness industry in general; or maybe their mutually dependent animosity/admiration is secretly a commentary on female friendships in a misogynistic world.  But it’s hard to explore beneath the surface, when the surface is so silly. The closest that “Death Becomes You” gets to intellectual stimulation is in the cutting banter, but the parts of the brain thus stimulated are those that make us laugh despite ourselves

Madeline: I have an idea.
Helen: I’m all ears.
Madeline: And I begged you to have them pinned back years ago.

Death Becomes Her
Lunt-Fontanne Theater
Running time: Two hours and 30 minutes, including one intermission
Tickets: $70 – $296. digital lottery $40, rush $35
Book by Marco Pennette
Based on the Universal Pictures film written by Martin Donovan & David Koepp
Score by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey.
Directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli
Scenic Design by Derek McLane; Costume Design by Paul Tazewell; Lighting Design by Justin Townsend; Sound Design by Peter Hylenski; Hair and Wig Design by Charles LaPointe; Make-Up Design by Joe Dulude II
Musical Supervisor: Mary-Mitchell Campbell; Musical Coordinator: Kristy Norter; Conducted by Ben Cohn

Illusions by Tim Clothier; Initial Illusion Contributions: Rob Lake

Cast: Megan Hilty as Madeline Ashton, Jennifer Simard as Helen Sharp, Christopher Sieber as Ernest Menville, Michelle Williams as Viola Van Horn. Marija Abney, Lauren Celentano, Sarita Colon, Kaleigh Cronin, Natalie Charle Ellis, Taurean Everett as Chagall, Michael Graceffa, Neil Haskell, Kolton Krouse, Josh Lamon as Stefan, Sarah Meahl, Ximone Rose, Sir Brock Warren, Bud Weber, Ryan Worsing, Warren Yang, Kyle Brown, Lakota Knuckle, Johanna Moise, and Amy Quanbeck.