Kiss of the Spider Woman

Loved it! I think it was one of the best musicals of the 90s. Not everyone liked/grasped what they were doing though. Maybe the concept that Aurora appeared whenever Molina couldn't handle or do something could have been made more clear earlier in the show. The elimination of a parallel movie plot for Aurora from the Purchase version was a good idea. I think people expected her to comment on the action like the Emcee in CABARET. Some people thought it was a musical with people singing and dancing on their way to execution. The prisoners were singing and dancing only in the mind of Molina who used the movie musicals that he grew up with to transform prison into a world he could endure. The moment where the new prisoners become Aurora's backup dancers in Where You Are was stunning. I saw the original cast and the tour with Rivera, Juan Chorian and John Dossett. Both casts were great. Chita was brilliant and I don't know that she has ever been better.

This show looks interesting but I never did see it. My friends told me what it was about and it sounds cool.

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If the idea of the story appeals to you, be sure to rent the 1985 (non-musical) movie with William Hurt and Raul Julia that served as the source material. (RIP, Raul)

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Updated On: 9/17/03 at 03:36 PM

Is there a recording of this show with Vanessa Williams?

well for one thing it has chita! lol, how can you go wrong! it was dark, moody and surreal. leave it to kander and ebb to take on the wierd stuff!

The original cast was great. Chita was great. I didn't like Vanessa as much. The role requires an excellent dancer, and Williams is not that.

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K, this is a little off topic, but I was watching the Nanny before, and it was the episode where Fran is designing cotumes for a Broadway benefit (featuring Our Town), and when they had one of the outdoor theater shots there was a big marqee for Kiss of a Spider Woman.
That show is worth watching throughout it's seasons just for all of the marqees they show going back to the early/mid 90's until I guess it was 1999 or 2000. It brings back memories.

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Would have loved to see the original show @ Purchase & than compare it to the final Broadway version to see the differences

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While I agree the production was bloated at times, I appreciated the show much more in person than on CD, simply because the songs come off much better when fully motivated and the characters come to life far more completely in the book.

I went in with little in the way of expectations, I'd heard the music and thought it was fine and was just going for something to do and really ended up enjoying the show. It's not perfect but I don't think many shows are but I think the good far outweighs the bad.

I would like to see a simpler production too, though.

(And anyone complaining about those new fangled rock and roll shows being so loud clearly never heard the horns at the end of 'Gimme Love' at the end of Act 1. Now THAT was loud!)

It has one of the best musical theatre scripts out there.