Goldie Hawn gave the cast of Death Becomes Her a night they’re sure to remember forever.
On Friday, Feb. 21, the Oscar-winning actress, 79, paid a visit to the hit new Broadway musical, which adapts the Robert Zemeckis’ Oscar-winning 1992 dark comedy she starred in opposite Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis and Isabella Rossellini.
Photographer Jenny Anderson snapped pictures of Hawn backstage after the performance. The shutterbug snapped Hawn as she posed alongside Tony nominee Jennifer Simard — who plays Helen Sharp, the role Hawn immortalized on screen — and Tony nominee Megan Hilty, who is starring as Sharp’s frenemy Madeline Ashton (originated in the film by Streep).
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A source on the scene tells PEOPLE that Hawn was singing the praises of the performers, including Tony nominee Christopher Sieber and Grammy winner Michelle Williams. She also spent a considerable time speaking with director Christopher Gattelli, and Death Becomes Her‘s composers Julia Mattison and Noel Carey.
“She was definitely gushing about the show, but it wasn’t just her saying ‘I loved it, great job!’ Her reactions to the show were really insightful and thoughtful,” the insider says. “She was talking to them about the themes of the show, the adaptation of the source material and the changes the team made when adapting it. She was talking about the spectacle of it, complimenting the design, the lush costumes and the illusions. She was really generous.”
Hawn attended the performance with her partner of 42 years, Kurt Russell, and their son, Thunderbolts* star Wyatt Russell, 38.
Turns out, having Kurt, 73, in the house proved to be the perfect opportunity to ask the couple about the musical’s reference to Overboard, the 1987 comedy they starred in together.
“Someone asked Goldie and Kurt if they caught the ‘Overboard’ reference in ‘For the Gaze’ at the top of the show, and they did catch it!” the source says. “They said it was very funny.”
“Goldie was happy as could be,” a second source, who sat near Hawn in the audience tells PEOPLE. “Her distinct laugh could be heard throughout the whole show, and she was always one of the first people to applaud when the musical number finished. You could tell she was living for every moment.”
Hawn isn’t the first Death Becomes Her star to attend the musical. Back in January, Rossellini attended and posed backstage with Williams, who plays Viola Van Horn on stage — the character based on Rossellini’s Lisle Von Rhuman in the film.
“They were so cute together,” a source told PEOPLE at the time. “Michelle came out all shy and Isabella just embraced her with such warmth and kindness. They both gushed over each other and then everyone sort of let them have a private little moment alone. You could see the conversation meant a lot to both of them.”
Rossellini, 72, already secretly cameos in the musical. Theatergoers will hear the Oscar-nominee’s voice saying the pre-show announcement that welcomes the audience to the show and reminds them to silence their cellphones.
Death Becomes Her opened in November 2024 to rave reviews. Its one of the offerings of the 2024-2025 season that’s eligible for the coveted best new musical trophy at the 2025 Tony Awards. Nominations for the show, theater’s highest honor at the “T” in EGOT, are announced May 1.
Since opening, the cast has performed on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. A selection of songs from its upcoming original cast album have also been released on all streaming platforms.
Tickets to Death Becomes Her are now on sale.
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