Donna DeMeo

**Donna DeMeo** is a recurring character in Season 3 of *Only Murders in the Building*. She is the producer of Oliver's play.

She is portrayed by Linda Emond.

## History

### Producing Death Rattle

Donna and her son, Cliff, signed on to produce Oliver's play *Death Rattle*. Donna was insistent that it would be Cliff's solo producing debut, but she would be working with him.

On opening night, Donna ordered custom cookies with rattles on them to celebrate the show. Cliff was nervous about the show doing well, so she gave him a pep talk and said the show would be a hit. When Ben Glenroy, the lead of the play, approached them, Donna told him he looked horrible. She advised him to go to his dressing room and be kind to himself in order to get right for the show. Secretly, she had gotten access to Maxine's review of the show, which singled out Ben as the weak link of the show, and decided to poison him with rat poison to sideline him, not wanting his weak performance to kill her son's producing debut. She sprinkled the poison on a cookie and left it in his dressing room, where he found and ate it.

When Ben Glenroy collapsed on stage during the opening night and was pronounced dead, Oliver sent everyone to his place for the party he'd planned, where Cliff and Donna told Oliver it would be the end of the play. Oliver tried to convince them otherwise, but they said Ben was already trending on Twitter and it was done. Everyone was shocked when Ben came into the party. He'd had his stomach pumped and insisted on leaving the hospital to come to the party and apologize to everyone about his behavior over the past few months. He specifically apologized to Donna and Cliff, though he couldn't remember Cliff's name, for his complaints about his dressing room. After Ben's big speech, Cliff said that word was out that Ben was back and he and Donna agreed that the show was back on. However, later that night, Ben was pushed into an open elevator shaft and fell to his death.

### Ben's Funeral

Donna and Cliff attended Ben's funeral together. Oliver called them later that night and said he'd had an idea to reimagine *Death Rattle* as a musical and they decided to hear him out.

### Death Rattle Dazzle

Oliver spent the night writing music for *Death Rattle Dazzle*. In the morning, he showed Cliff and Donna what little he had. Donna was unimpressed, but Cliff was on board. Donna told Oliver he needed a showstopper and he promised her a whole show of showstoppers. He asked for a few months and Donna agreed to give him three days.

When the time was up, Donna and Cliff returned. Oliver had Loretta perform *Look for the Light*, which he said held the heart of the show. Donna still wanted to walk away, but Cliff said she'd taught him not to give up on something he loved and he loved the musical.

When Charles left the show, Cliff, Donna, and Oliver held auditions to replace him. The auditions failed to find anyone suitable, so Cliff decided to call in his guy, Matthew Broderick, whom he'd met when they were sheltering together at a Ritz Carlton during Superstorm Sandy. They were all delighted when he easily mastered the song, though Oliver grew frustrated with his obsession with getting every single detail correct and ultimately fired him and re-hired Charles.

During the show's sitzprobe, Donna confronted Oliver about Maxine Spear, a critic, being there. He admitted he'd invited her because she was going to pan the original show and he wanted to show her the changes he'd made to make it better. Donna was upset to have both a critic and the cops at the sitzprobe. Donna later told Loretta they'd made a big swing to save the show and if it weren't for Cliff, she probably would have called it off.

### Loretta's Arraignment

Donna attended the arraignment for Loretta, who was planning to plead guilty to killing Ben. The arraignment was halted when Mabel, Oliver, and Charles ran in and told Loretta they knew who the real killer was and it was Dickie, whom she was lying to protect.

### Arrest

On opening night, Donna got a note on a bouquet of flowers telling her there was a new review in K.T.'s office. However, when she went to the office, she found Charles, Mabel, and Oliver and she quickly realized they were trying to get her to confess to poisoning Ben. She readily admitted to it, but denied pushing him into the elevator shaft until they showed her the blood-stained hankie Ben had pulled off his killer, which made her realize it was Cliff. Wanting to save her son, she confessed to pushing Ben, but asked if they could wait until after the show to call the cops. She told them she had stage four lung cancer to assure them she wasn't a flight risk. They agreed and she went and sat with Cliff. During the show, she told him about the confession and he got up and walked out. When she realized something was wrong with him, she left and found him in the room above the stage, dangling himself down and threatening to drop onto the stage during the show. Donna was able to stop him and pulled him to safety with Oliver and Charles's help. They went down to the stage together, where they all did the curtain call, then the police arrested Donna and Cliff.

## Relationships

She and her son are very close to the point where she kisses him on his face and lips.

## Notes and Trivia

* She breastfed her son until he was at least eight.
* She's won nine Tonys.
* She's produced 34 Broadway shows.

## Gallery

### Episode Stills

Photography by Patrick Harbron"The Show Must... (S03E01)."Grab Your Hankies" (S03E03)."Sitzprobe" (S03E08)."Thirty" (S03E09)."Opening Night" (S03E10)

## References

"The Show Must..." (2023). Season 3, episode 1.
"Thirty" (2023). Season 3, episode 9.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Opening Night" (2023). Season 3, episode 10.
"The Beat Goes On" (2023). Season 3, episode 2.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Grab Your Hankies" (2023). Season 3, episode 3.
6. ↑ "CoBro" (2023). Season 3, episode 7.
"Sitzprobe" (2023). Season 3, episode 8.