Kiss of The Spider Woman

[EaboveMiddleC]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 6:36pm

Hi. I have two questions about this show. 1. When Vanessa Williams took over for Chita Rivera did they higher the keys and cut the choreography. 2. Is there a nude scene in it for one of the male leads, I was just cast as the Spider Women and was wondering. Thank You

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 6:39pm

Don't know about the keys but the only nudity I recall is one of the convicts mooning the guards.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 8:49pm

Vanessa has a lot of training as a dancer....i doubt they would cut any choreography for her. In the movie "Dance with Me" with latin singer/dancer Chayanne....even though he is a dancer, he simply couldn't keep up with Vanessa in the dancing scenes...and she had to do the ballroom dancing scenes with a profesional dancer.

[anfwesternboy]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 9:08pm

Actually, they lowered the keys for Vanessa.

Listen to her recording of the show. Not only did she sing the score at lower keys, but she also butchered all of the songs, lol.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 9:19pm

Personally, I prefer Vanessa's recording of the role much more than Chita's. Williams' rendition of the title song is AMAZING. "But you cannot ESAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaape..."

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 11:26pm

me too!

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 11:26pm

me too!

[Overthewall]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 11:38pm

I absolutely love this show, (IE the name <--), and Chita was amazing in the role but I much rather prefer Vanessa Williams portrayal, she seemed more intune with the character. I love her version of "Where You Are". The cast she was involved with (Brian Stokes Mitchell and Howard McGillin) was in my opinion highly superior to the original. But that is just my two cents!!!

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 11:39pm

Are you people crazy? Williams could never belt a song the way Chita Rivera does, maybe she has a prettier voice, but Rivera has just a certain strength and beauty in her vocals that proves why she is one of the most renowned leading ladies on Broadway. It's like saying that Williams' rendition of the Witch of Into the Woods is better than Bernadette Peters.

[anfwesternboy]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 11:50pm

Okay, I'm listening to Vanessa's version of the title song again, and can't be more irritated by her version.

Strange vocal inflections, a thin voice, and her last note is totally flat with the most bizarre growl at the end.

Simply awful!

Chita's version by far beats Vanessa's by a mile.

[Overthewall]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 11:51pm

It's a very different interpretation, that's is what is so interesting about it. True Chita can belt the hell out of a song, but Vanessa has a very different way to manipulate the audience into feeling a different way.
The role of the Witch in ITW is a very different role, and she tried a different, softer Witch than Bernadette. If they hadn't changed the show so much it could have worked but at least she didn't try to be an exact replica of Bernadette or Chita.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 12:40am

Williams does have kind of a weird voice, and I can see why some people may not have liked her in "Kiss." Despite the fact that I loved her as the Spider Woman, I thought her voice was very poorly suited for the Witch in the "Into the Woods" revival. She's not a "legit" singer (evidently), although she does have a great jazz voice.

[LostLeander]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 12:54am

Vanessa has very nice vocals. I'm SURE she lacked Chita's stage presence live.
However, I do feel Howard and Brian are much more powerful singers than Brent and Anthony. Acting wise.. I don't know.
All 3 won Tony's, no?

I do prefer the new recording's vocals though.
Expect I like a couple of Chita's renditions better.

[ElphieZ]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 1:47am

Chita, all the way. Legend.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 2:27am

Well...i think it depends...some people liked Chita better...some others Vanessa...i personally prefer Vanessa, who in 1994 was one of the biggest names in the pop music biz and brought a lot of attention to the show, and to Broadway in general....director Harold Prince said that the ticket sales went up a 20% when Vanessa took over the role and he said she was a delight to direct. Anyways...i must say that Vanessa is gorgeous and made movies in Hollywood, had # 1 singles in the US and she is a household name...she is famous worldwide...i know everyone is going to argue with me.. Chita is big on Broadway...but i went to see the movie "Chicago" with 10 friends of mine...and not a single one of them knew who Chita was...and i told them she was the original Velma on the stage version. So anyhow...i am saying i liked Vanessa better....but thats just my point of view...i dont think one was better than the other one, they are just different. i do think Vanessa is way more famous and attracted a lot of people who wouldnt have seen this amazing show if she wouldnt have been in it. Still KOTSW is my favorite musical and it would be great with any of them, because the star of the show is the outstanding novel by Manuel Puig.

Updated On: 8/12/05 at 02:27 AM

[jacco]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 4:15am

I can't believe that people are actually saying that Vanessa Williams was better than Chita! I remember being quite excited seeing Miss Williams (she was a star on the music scene then....) and she looked absolutely STUNNING. But the memories I had of Miss Rivera in the London production......poor Miss williams never even got close. I agree about the leading men around her though.

[Sant]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 12:47pm

Well (unfortunately!!) I've never seen this show so I can't say anything about stage presence or dancing the role. But as much as I think Chita is an amazing actor&dancer&singer I have to say that I have both cd's and I prefer the Vanessa Williams recording to Chita's. I think Vanessa's voice is much more colorful and versatile.

But Chita is CHITA, I would have loved to see her do this role on stage.

[Enjolras77]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 12:51pm

Even though I do enjoy Howard McGillin's performance as Molina, I still have to go with Brent Carver's interpretation. Something about it moves me more emotionally. I do prefer Stokes to Anthony Crivello though.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 12:57pm

Enjolras -- agreed. McGillin's voice is to legit sounding for the score comes off with less true emotion than Brent. Also, I think the higher keys used for McGillin don't do the songs justice.

BTW -- the keys were HIGHER for Vanessa, not lower.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 1:24pm

Did anyone see Maria Conchita Alonso in the part? I've always been a fan of her film work...was she good?

[magruder]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 1:41pm

Chita was a star presence and was both glamorous and scary. Vanessa looked good, sang well, but I otherwise found her a complete blank. I felt none of the chills as I did with Chita. I also found Brent Carver preferable to Howard McGillin. McGillin is still so leading man handsome, with that spectacular voice, that through no fault of his own, he seemed too strong a presence to be believable as Molina. I kept thinking, trim the hair, throw him in a suit and McGillin could have been playing the warden. Carver was a more tragic presence, and you believed he did the thing he does out of love for Valentin. Brian Stokes Mitchell, on the other hand, was far more dynamic than Anthony Crivello, and turned his songs into showstoppers.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 1:50pm

Borstalboy...people on here said Maria Conchita Alonso was terrible as the spider woman.

[Yorkie1276]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 1:53pm

I didn't care for Stokes Mitchell as Valentin. His singing was great, as usual, but that faker than fake accent drove my up a wall.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 1:59pm

I think Vanessa with the rest of the original cast would have been great. I really LOVED Chita in the role, but I just felt like the role was meant for someone younger than Chita. She was FAB and probably was responsible (star power) for the show ever being seen on broadway. However, I think she was miscast.

**awaits the bashing**

[Yorkie1276]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 2:03pm

Did anybody here see Carol Lawrence as The Spider Woman?