Video: Julia Mattison and Noel Carey Talk DEATH BECOMES HER Songwriting Process
The hit musical has received 10 Tony nominations, including Best Original Score.
By: Josh Sharpe May. 16, 2025
On Friday, Tony-nominated songwriters Julia Mattison and Noel Carey joined CBS Mornings to discuss their songs for the hit Broadway musical Death Becomes Her. The show, based on the film of the same name, has received 10 Tony nominations, including Best Original Score.
"It's honestly character first," said Carey, when asked the age-old question of whether the music or the lyrics come first during the writing process. "We both met as actors...and we like to jump into the characters and act them out and play and improvise and see where that takes us."
"We're in motion a lot of the time," added Mattison. "We kind of talk an idea to death before we start musicalizing it because we really want to make sure that there's a lot for the actor to play and the story moves forward with our music. We want to know how that character is different by the end of the song than how they were when they jump in." Watch the full interview with the songwriters now.
With 10 Tony Award nominations, Death Becomes Her is now playing through Sunday, April 5, 2026, at the Lunt-Fontanne. It is the most nominated show of the year, also receiving 12 Outer Critics’ Circle Award Nominations, 5 Drama Desk Award Nominations, 4 Drama Leage Award Nominations, and 2 Chita Rivera Award Nominations.
Madeline Ashton is the most beautiful actress (just ask her) ever to grace the stage and screen. Helen Sharp is the long-suffering author (just ask her) who lives in her shadow. They have always been the best of frenemies… until Madeline steals Helen’s fiancé away. As Helen plots revenge and Madeline clings to her rapidly fading star, their world is suddenly turned upside down by Viola Van Horn, a mysterious woman with a secret that’s to die for. After one sip of Viola’s magical potion, Madeline and Helen begin a new era of life (and death) with their youth and beauty restored…and a grudge to last eternity. Life’s a bitch and then you die. Or not!
Death Becomes Her features direction and choreography by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli, a book by Marco Pennette, and an original score by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey, and stars Tony Award nominees Megan Hilty (Madeline Ashton), Jennifer Simard (Helen Sharp), Christopher Sieber (Ernest Menville), and Grammy® Award winner Michelle Williams (Violet Van Horn) with Taurean Everett (Chagall) and Josh Lamon (Stefan). The cast also features Marija Abney, Lauren Celentano, Sarita Colon, Kaleigh Cronin, Natalie Charle Ellis, Michael Graceffa, Neil Haskell, Kolton Krouse, Sarah Meahl, Dee Roscioli, Ximone Rose, Sir Brock Warren, Bud Weber, Ryan Worsing, Warren Yang, Kyle Brown, Lakota Knuckle, Johanna Moise, Amy Quanbeck.
