Jackie Burns and Kristen Beth Williams to Lead Death Becomes Her North American Tour

Jackie Burns and Kristen Beth Williams are officially doing it for the gaze—on the road. They will be stepping into the roles of Madeline Ashton and Helen Sharp, respectively, in the North American tour of Death Becomes Her. Beginning September 12 at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio, the tour will play through September 2027. Stops are planned in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, St. Louis, Charlotte and more. 

Burns played Elphaba in Wicked both on Broadway and on tour. Her additional Broadway credits include Hair and If/Then, in which she also starred on tour. Williams made her Broadway debut in Promises, Promises and has since appeared in Anything Goes, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Pippin, Hello, Dolly! and Paradise Square. She has toured with the companies of Irving Berlin's White Christmas, The 101 Dalmations Musical and A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder.

The cast will also feature Ken Marino (The Other Two) as Ernest Menville, Nasia Thomas (SIX) as Viola Van Horn, Louis A. Williams Jr (Romy & Michele's High School Reunion) as Chagall, Michael Buchanan (Cry-Baby) as Stefan and Gail Bennett (Mary Poppins) as a standby for Madeline Ashton and Helen Sharp.

The company will also include Calvin Cooper, Nick Cortazzo, Tiki Hopson, Karma Jenkins, Tyler Jimenez, Caroline Kane, Bryn Purvis, Jordan Vasquez and Candace Janin Washington. Ian Liberto, McKinley Knuckle, Alicia Albright and Savannah Cooper serve as swings.

“It has been such a joy bringing Death Becomes Her to life on stage and I’m beyond thrilled to be embraced as we have by Broadway audiences," said producer Lowe Cunningham in a statement. "On behalf of the entire creative team and company, we are so proud that we will be able to share this musical and entertain audiences with laughter across the country for years to come with this tour."

Directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, the Broadway production played its final performance on June 28. The musical's book is by Marco Pennette with a score by Noel Carey and Julia Mattison. It features scenic design by Tony winner Derek McLane, costume design by Tony winner Paul Tazewell, lighting design by Tony winner Justin Townsend, sound design by Tony winner Peter Hylenski, hair and wig design by Charles G. LaPointe and make-up design by Joe Dulude II. The music team includes orchestrations by Doug Besterman and music supervision and vocal arrangements by Mary-Mitchell Campbell. Dance and music arrangements are by Sam Davis.

Based on the 1992 Universal Pictures film written by David Koepp and Martin Donovan and directed by Robert Zemeckis, Death Becomes Her follows famed actress Madeline Ashton and her frenemy rivalry with Helen Sharp, the long-suffering author who lives in her shadow. Once Madeline steals Helen’s fiancé Ernest Menville, Helen plots revenge. When the mysterious Viola Van Horn turns their world upside down with a magical potion, the two suddenly assign new meaning to youth, beauty, life and death.

The show received 10 Tony Award nominations in 2025 with Tazewell winning for Best Costume Design.