Betsy Wolfe Is Having the “Time Of Her Life” in Death Becomes Her

Madeline Ashton knows she’s a star. After all, if there’s any doubt of the rather indisputable fact of her dazzling celebrity, just ask the leading lady of the (fictional) Broadway musical Me! Me! Me! herself.

“She definitely thinks she’s an icon. I mean, she’s a two-time Oscar nominee,” muses Betsy Wolfe, who’s just started playing Madeline in the real-life Broadway smash Death Becomes Her.

The Tony nominee, whose long resume includes shows like JOY: A New True Musical, & Juliet, Falsettos, Bullets Over Broadway, Waitress, The Last Five Years and 110 in the Shade, took over the role of Death Becomes Her’s resident diva following original star Megan Hilty’s exit from the musical in January 2026.

Since then, Wolfe has been savoring every moment in Madeline’s gloriously self-important heels, performing songs like “For The Gaze,” “Tell Me, Ernest” and “Alive Forever” eight times a week at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.

As the first actor to take over a leading role in the musical since its premiere on Broadway in November 2024, the Visalia, California native finds herself in a unique position known in theater industry shorthand as “replacing.”

 

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Being a successful replacement on Broadway involves many elements — often learning the show in rehearsals with stage management, integrating yourself into the well-oiled machine on stage and still making the role your own. It’s something a character like Madeline Ashton would likely never deign to do in her own acclaimed career, but it’s an opportunity Wolfe finds particularly thrilling.

“This is my second time,” Wolfe tells Ticketmaster. “The only other time I replaced was in Waitress when I took over for Sara Bareilles, the writer of the show. Which was its own unique, amazing, incredible challenge all in itself.”

As the newest face at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, Wolfe joins Jennifer Simard as Madeline’s best frenemy, Helen Sharp; Christopher Sieber as Ernest Menville, the plastic surgeon caught between the two women; and Michelle Williams as the mysterious Viola Van Horn.

“They’re such geniuses,” Wolfe raves of her new castmates, adding, “This company is stacked in every way. Our ensemble, everyone supports everyone in the most incredible way in this show.”

Below, she opens up to Ticketmaster about playing an “unhinged” Madeline, her unsung secrets to replacing on Broadway, the surprising connection she shares with co-star Jennifer Simard and more.

Congratulations on joining Death Becomes Her! How’s it been so far?

I’m having the time of my life. I feel like I can’t shout it from the rooftops [enough] how much I love this show. How much I loved this show before I joined it, and then how much my love has just grown for it since doing it, like every single night.

How does it feel stepping into the role of such a renowned Broadway diva?

Oh boy! Well if you think about it too hard, it all seems a little preposterous at times. [Laughs] However, we all, at some point, feel like we’re imposters. And even Madeline very much has her reality checks come into play now and then. Especially towards the end of the show. But it’s some of the most fun I’ve ever had on stage. And some of it is because it’s so preposterous and I just get to play someone that I’m clearly not in many ways… and then yet, also probably am like, sadly. I relate so well in certain ways. It’s a joy from start to finish.

 

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Regardless of how well-known a character may be, everyone has a different take on them when they step into the role — and I’d assume that’s even true for the one-and-only Madeline Ashton. How would you describe your version of Madeline?

Eccentric. Unhinged. Umm… relentless, ruthless. Insecure, super secure. [Laughs] To me, it’s the opposition that makes it so funny, is that at times she’s just so beyond her years, and yet at [other] times, she just does not get it — you know, what is going on around her.

But I really approached it from the standpoint of the script. And there is truth in there and her truth is what makes it funny. You don’t have to play funny. Her reality is that she really believes everything that is happening to her. And so it’s just my interpretation of whatever that is, and that only can be unique to me. That’s what’s so beautiful about this — it’ll always be so unique to whoever’s doing the role… they’ve just given me the keys to this amazing sports car and just let me do it my way. And that just feels so empowering and so amazing.

Were you a fan of the original movie?

I haven’t watched it in so long, but of course! These are the icons — it doesn’t get any better than Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn. Just the idea that this movie even existed and was made, and that someone said, “I have a feeling this could be an incredible musical…” And then they just enhanced it. It’s so theatrical-ized in a way that just is perfect for a stage. Sometimes those things don’t always translate; this one clearly works, and it works really well. I think they were really thoughtful about what they used and what they didn’t, and I know it took a lot of trial and error. But the product now… I mean, the musical stands on its own. It’s an homage but it also is its own thing. It’s so special.

After Viola Van Horn’s prologue, the show really kicks off with “For the Gaze,” this huge, show-stopping production number for Madeline. Without giving away too many spoilers for people who haven’t seen the show yet, what is going through your head every night when you’re performing that marathon of a song?

Oh my god, that number is just… at first, it was just to get through it, and now, I love it. It’s a challenge every night to have everything go right, and then to embrace the things that don’t. Like the other day, my Liza [Minnelli] wig kept coming forward, and so I just adjusted it once, the audience laughed, and I was like, “Well, that was kinda fun…” So then every couple seconds, I was adjusting the wig back and it was some of the funniest laughter that I’ve heard in that section! Because I think what the audience also loves is watching something that they know they’re only gonna see that one time. And because there’s so many elements [in the song], things naturally will shift and look different from one night to the next. So I think embracing that moment and whatever is happening in that moment is actually the most fun.

It’s quite the opening number, right? Like you said, the show opens with a very different tone [with “If You Want Perfection”], and it really sets up this idea of what the story is going to be about in a certain way. But then “For the Gaze” comes out, and you understand visually what you’re in for, you understand the comedy, you understand so much more about the show. You can let [the audience] breathe a little bit and go, “Oh my gosh, we are in for a wild ride.”

And, taking the words from Madeline herself, you do option up on certain matinees?

I option up on every show. [Grins] There’s not even certain matinees that get optioned up, no! Vocally this show just sits in my pocket. I love this score. So. Much. Our brilliant writers are absolute geniuses, Noel [Carey] and Julia [Mattison]. I mean, truly. The show is a gift. It’s so in my wheelhouse, and yet there are still new challenges and fun things. I absolutely love singing the score every night.

Do you have another favorite song to perform in the show?

I love “Tell Me, Ernest,” just because it’s so much fun to play with Chris [Sieber] and Jenn [Simard]. We’ve found unique things that are only ours, and I think that’s the gift of getting to join a show with such comedic geniuses who are so incredible and secure in their own talents. That they just trusted that I was gonna come in and bring what I was bringing, but it also feels like we’re back in a rehearsal room and we’re just playing every night. I think that that’s really special for an audience to see, too, even after a show [has] been running for a long time. It feels so fresh.

Early in the show Madeline really has everything going for her: She’s a Broadway star, she steals her best friend’s fiancé. But you mentioned some of those reality checks that sort of burst her bubble. What’s that turning point in Madeline’s story?

Well, I don’t have to try hard to feel like I understand the character the second I put on that shorter wig and I feel a little bit older. I know that that screen says “10 Years Later” for the audience, and I can just mentally also go into my head. It is not hard to understand what Madeline might be going through as we all get older. We have this reference for what it was, or what we think it was, and hanging onto things or feelings. That is, to me, what is such a gift about this show: while I absolutely love the beginning, I really find so much joy in the middle to the end — the meat of it. The messy Madeline. When Madeline’s life starts to fall apart a little bit, I just find that so thrilling.

The relationship between Madeline and Helen is obviously the key to the entire show. How did you go about establishing that chemistry and dynamic with Jennifer Simard?

Oh my god, it was instant. I wish I could tell you that we had to forge some kind of thing. We had worked together one time, and then oddly enough, we both did a show called The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. [Back in 2005], my whole company was going to Broadway. I chose to do a new show called 110 in the Shade with my hometown hero, Audra McDonald. So I told my representation, “I’m leaving this show, and I am forgoing my first principal contract on Broadway because I want to be in the ensemble of 110 in the Shade working with [music director] Paul Gemignani, [director] Lonny Price, Audra McDonald.” I wanted to be [in] an original company, I was gonna get to do a cast recording, I mean, this was my dream.

So I left the show and they replaced me with Jenn Simard [as narrator/spelling bee moderator Rona Lisa Peretti]. And it was Jenn Simard’s Broadway debut! So we have always had this incredible shared history of this show. And also knowing that [as] Rona Lisa, yes you have to sing really well, but you have a lot of improv responsibilities at the beginning of the show. So I always know that anyone who actually has played Rona, you have funny bones in your body. So Jenn and I have admired each other throughout the years, but never gotten to work with each other. And then the ease at which, the second we got into a room… it’s one of the things I get commented on most, like, “Oh my god, you guys look like you’re having so much fun.” And the reality is we are. Maybe too much fun.

Spelling Bee is one of my all-time favorite musicals. I actually just did a story with Lilli Cooper, who’s playing Rona Lisa in the new Off-Broadway revival. Have you and Jennifer seen the show yet?

It’s a genius show and it’s having a moment. Don’t worry, we’re gonna go together soon. [Winks]

Replacing in a role seems to be very much its own type of singular experience that maybe doesn’t get talked about as much as, say, originating a role or making your Broadway debut. What are some of the biggest opportunities and challenges when it comes to that process?

I would say that the biggest challenges are keeping yourself open and vulnerable the first couple of weeks and month[s]. Because you can do as much discovery as you can in a rehearsal room, but until you’re onstage each night, essentially, your first month or so is when you’re in rehearsal with the actual actors that you’re doing it with. So I think the key to doing it is actually having an idea of what you think it is, but then also being really vulnerable and malleable and open. Just having the ability to try different things onstage, in front of 1,500 people, and using that time as an actor’s favorite time, which actually is the rehearsal room.

I interviewed Michelle Williams back in 2024 right before the show opened and she told me that, to her, the show is ultimately about friendship and forgiveness. I wanted to ask you the same question: Underneath all the magic potions and attempted murders and living forever, what is your personal takeaway from Death Becomes Her?

I think that where I am in my life, I want to almost freeze time. I have a kid right now, she’s almost six years old. And for me, I see these women [Madeline and Helen] obviously thinking about the past. Or thinking about the future and worrying so much about the time that they’re not in. And then the end is a reflection of, “Oh wow, we have to live through every single moment now. And we have to be present.” And so, for me, it’s just loving where you are. Loving what stage you’re in. And knowing that life is going to be incredible at times, messy at times, but really, truly finding the joy in the present moments. Controlling what you can control and then letting the rest kind of brush off of you.

There’s a lot that we cannot control right now in this world. It is a really nice escape to go to the theater right now for two and a half hours. And just laugh and enjoy and maybe make people go, “You know what? We can do this. Let’s enjoy this moment.”

Grab Death Becomes Her tickets via Ticketmaster.