Classic novels don’t make for good movies. And classic movies don’t make for good stage musicals, “Some Like It Hot” being the most recent example.
When something is great, it works because the material fits the chosen medium perfectly. Wrench it from that platform, and failure is sure to follow. Second- or third-rate material in one medium, however, can be improved by transferring it to another. Case in point is the new musical “Death Becomes Her,” which opened Thursday at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
The premise of a youth potion that promises eternal life, if you don’t mind being dead, is a clever play on the vampire legend.