Christine Ebersole stole the show in War Paint- Page 2

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 5/9/20 at 3:59pm

imeldasturn said: "BCfitasafiddle said: "Watching her in Grey Gardens right now. Astonishing still to this day."

Ben Brantley really got it when he said "watching this performance is the best argument I can think of for the survival of the American musical". To see a performance in a musical as good as Ebersole in Grey Gardens you need to travel back in time to Tyne Daly inGypsy or even Angela Lansbury in Sweeney Todd. No musical theatre performance in the past decade has reached the heights of Ebersole's."

Just finished watching. I don't even know what to say. I saw her do it on Broadway and obviously knew that I had witnessed history onstage. But watching it this afternoon on a different medium, I still had that feeling of awe and disbelief. That's the type of performance that is a benchmark. My GOD, what she did in that show is ridiculous. I love seeing Ms. Ebersole perform and can't wait to again one day.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 5/9/20 at 4:53pm

Kad said: "Broadway Flash said: "They couldn't really act opposite each other since the characters never met in real life unless the writers went fictional which they weren't going for. I personally loved the show, but Christine was the standout. She had the better opening number and by far the better 11 o'clock number."

Yes, but dramatic liberties are taken with fictionalized history all the time. Because, frankly, real life is often not dramatically compelling or coherent."

Exactly. If they could manufacture an entirely fictional first act for Grey Gardens (there is little evidence Little Edie Beale even met Joe Kennedy, and she was certainly never hours away from announcing her engagement to him) then I'm sure they could have found a way in the writing to justify getting the two of them together for more than just those final moments of the show.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 5/9/20 at 5:00pm

lMarlothom said: "#Justice4AWomansFace"

I love you for this!! I much preferred "A Woman's Face" and the title song "War Paint," which were replaced on Broadway. 

I had the chance to see War Paint twice, once in Chicago, and once on Broadway. I LOVED it! Is it a perfect musical? No. Is the score fantastic? Yes!! 

I think with the writing team and the stars attached, everyone had a different expectation of what they wanted the show to be, and no one wanted to appreciate it for what it was. The whole gimmick of the show was that they weren't going to meet until the very end. 

I was able to enjoy it for what it is a was-a campy pathos-filled showcase for two of our finest singing actors in Musical Theatre. 

Sometimes I wish we could have seen what Donna Murphy would have done with Arden (she played the role in readings and workshops). 

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 5/9/20 at 5:04pm

The score must have been significantly different when Murphy was attached to the project tho, Pink was clearly written with Ebersole's gorgeous soprano in mind

[gypsy101]

Posted: 5/9/20 at 5:24pm

i saw the show in Chicago and was very sad to hear they cut the opening number A Woman's Face, it was one of my favorite things in the score. the show overall was kind of dull but of course it was a joy to see Christine and Patti on the stage so it wasn't too much to suffer through.

[PianoMann]

Posted: 5/9/20 at 6:31pm

I much prefer LuPone's role to Ebersole's. "Back on Top" is a far superior opening number to "Behind the Red Door." While I agree that "Pink" is a better constructed song than "Forever Beautiful," Patti's performance of the latter makes the two 11 o'clock numbers even for me, and I agree that "Pink" was / is overhyped. I do not begrudge their decision to keep the two characters separated and I think they do great work bringing them "together" on "It I'd Been a Man" and "Face to Face." Not a brilliant musical, but seeing LuPone and Ebersole together in one show made it more than worthwhile. I also agree that Rubinstein is the funnier and more entertaining character.

[binau]

Posted: 5/9/20 at 6:56pm

I wish they could also replace the opening number. That how to succeed narration and the cheesy camp dramatic music doesn’t work for me. However, it always saddens me to hear such indifference towards the musical as a whole here. There might be an occasional clunky lyric and a few throwaway songs but also a few really nice moments.

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 5/9/20 at 7:30pm

The two women wanted nothing to do with each other. I get wanting to see Christine and Patti play opposite each other, but it seems like it would have been a stretch for something like this, especially when the characters wouldn’t even say each other’s name. IMO.

[PutonyourWarPaint]

Posted: 5/9/20 at 11:11pm

Of course I seem biased because of my avatar and screen name LOL. But I really did love this show. It can be broken down and picked apart but for me, it's there.

I am however curious as to what that rehearsal process must have been like since they were in previews and opened in spring of 2017, fresh on the 45th President's first couple months in office. Obviously Patti is not shy about her political feelings. I'm just curious what that must have been like for the others in the cast. I don't pretend to KNOW Christine's thoughts, but considering how polarizing everything was ESPECIALLY at that time in 2017 and her alt-right sympathies....Just curious how that played out? Never asked til now ...

[darreyl102]

Posted: 5/10/20 at 12:06am

Broadway Flash said: "The two women wanted nothing to do with each other. I get wanting to see Christine and Patti play opposite each other, but it seems like it would have been a stretch for something like this, especially when the characters wouldn’t even say each other’s name. IMO. "

As far as I know, Rubenstein and Arden never even actually met in real life. So we were lucky this musical took artistic licensing and allowed them to meet At All. And when they did, it was both a hysterical and exciting climax. It wouldn't have worked if they had met earlier on.

the point being that these two had spent so much time as rivals and refused to see each other, and then at the end it turned out that they both really understood each other and perhaps could have even been friends. Kinda like Bette and Joan in "Feud'

Updated On: 5/10/20 at 12:06 AM

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 5/10/20 at 1:39am

I loved this show, and wish it had come to Broadway in a less crowded season.

Patti was fabulous, but Ebersole’s “Pink” was theatrical perfection.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 5/10/20 at 2:10am

IMO no comparison.  Patti Lupone gave a master class in musical theatre.  Her acting was out of the ball park, her singing great as always.  IMO she was the one who deserved the Tony that season, not Bette (who I normally love, but who I felt was phoning it in the night I saw her).

I guess I don't entirely get Ebersole.  To me, Lupone will one day be a true theatre legend for the ages; Ebersole just doesn't belong in that category and, while I thought she was very good, there has always been a blandness in her performances, since way back in the Camelot revival with Richard Burton.  I will admit that  I only liked the second act of Grey Gardens, clearly her career high-point.

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 5/10/20 at 4:28am

I'll say too that everyone here hyped "Pink" so much that when I finally saw it I didn't understand the praise. It wasn't the showstopper I was expecting.

I think it’s a great number on its own, but the book didn’t adequately set it up. I remember seeing the show after having already heard the album and about halfway through the number, I thought, “Why am I not as captivated by this?”

 

[binau]

Posted: 5/10/20 at 5:36am

PutonyourWarPaint said: "Of course I seem biased because of my avatar and screen name LOL. But I really did love this show. It can be broken down and picked apart but for me, it's there.

I am however curious as to what that rehearsal process must have been like since they were in previews and opened in spring of 2017, fresh onthe 45th President's first couplemonths in office. Obviously Patti is not shy about her political feelings. I'm just curious what that must have been like for the others in the cast.I don't pretend to KNOW Christine's thoughts, but considering how polarizing everything was ESPECIALLY at that time in 2017 and her alt-right sympathies....Just curious how that played out? Never asked til now ..."

I wonder the same thing. Patti being Patti I suspect that Ebersole just didn’t talk about it with Patti. And when they had a press conference once and someone brought up a question about politics Ebersole jokingly declined to answer and gave it to Patti. 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 5/10/20 at 6:57am

Ebersole's character had the bigger arc. She loses her husband and her business and gets humiliated by the society ladies. Her interaction with Dorian Lee makes her feel personally betrayed by the Revlon campaign.

LuPone's character is more confident in who she is. Her biggest humiliations happen off stage or before the show began. She's the Velma to Ebersole's Roxie. On stage she loses her gay crush, who she never had a chance with to begin with.

Keeping them apart left most of the agency to the leading men. They drive the first act and get the worst song in the second. ("Dinosaurs. Roar. Caw." ) The Revlons make a promising antagonist in act two, but vanish after their song.

I thought "If I Were a Man" and "Face to Face" were lugubrious. I kept waiting for the women to have a brassy duet ala "Bosom Buddies" or "Little Me." The closest we got was "Oh That's Rich" and that was, again, driven by the leading men.

Updated On: 5/10/20 at 06:57 AM

[binau]

Posted: 5/10/20 at 7:12am

I barely even remember any 'leading men' in this show. Talk about playing second, or 11th fiddle!

[RunnyBabbit]

Posted: 5/10/20 at 8:01am

I went to the show just to see Christine Ebersole.  I've never really enjoyed Patti's voice or her acting, so she was just an "oh I'll just deal with her" to me going in.  But I ended up liking her performance in War Paint.  I remember coming out of the show and telling my mom how much I liked Patti in the part.

I do think Christine had the better numbers and that gave her the advantage.  Of all the songs in the show, Pink is the only one I still listen to.

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 5/10/20 at 9:03am

"I barely even remember any 'leading men' in this show. Talk about playing second, or 11th fiddle!"

That was the material's fault more than the actors. John Dossett and Douglas Sills had 3 songs and a lot of stage time but the material worked over-time to make them parallel characters. This kept either from developing interesting personalities.

You can write decent leading men in a female star vehicle. You may remember Herbie in Gypsy or Horace in Dolly but you won't remember much about Tommy & Harry in War Paint.

Updated On: 5/10/20 at 09:03 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 5/10/20 at 9:06am

I kind of wonder what the show would be like had the writing team contained a woman, or if it’d been directed by a woman.

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 5/10/20 at 11:24am

I guess I don't entirely get Ebersole. To me, Lupone will one day be a true theatre legend for the ages; Ebersole just doesn't belong in that category and, while I thought she was very good, there has always been a blandness in her performances, since way back in the Camelot revival with Richard Burton. I will admit that I only liked the second act of Grey Gardens, clearly her career high-point."

I think Ebersole will forever live on as a Broadway legend.

[Damiensta]

Posted: 5/10/20 at 1:04pm

They were equally good for me except for the part that I couldn’t understand most of what Lupone sang with that accent.

[Marlothom]

Posted: 5/10/20 at 1:16pm

I will say, I was captivated by this show when I saw it at the Goodman, up close.  When I saw it on Broadway, from the Mezz, it did not have the same impact.  While the ladies never met, I think the writing team could have been more creative - for example, during Face to Face where they both imagine (and walk in to) each other's world - more of that.   

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/11/20 at 6:42pm

Marlothom said: "I will say, I was captivated by this show when I saw it at the Goodman, up close. When I saw it on Broadway, from the Mezz, it did not have the same impact. While the ladies never met, I think the writing team could have been more creative - for example, during Face to Face where they both imagine (and walk in to) each other's world - more of that. "
 

I agree. Saw it twice at the Goodman. Loved it in the smaller space  I hated the song changes for Broadway. I think this should have been a Playwrights Horizon show  it would have a been a huge hit for a smaller theatre. I encouraged many people to see it and they hated it. None of them could understand a word Patti sang. That’s a problem. Ebersole’s instrument is glorious. Liquid crystal. Great diction as well. I loved Patti in Chicago but I was close. 

 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 5/11/20 at 9:14pm

War Paint was meh but i thought Patti LuPone raised it to another level. The night I saw it the theater was half empty, towards end of the run, and I thought her vocals were simply out of this world. Her character was better written, I thought, in terms of laugh lines and punch (that scene where she describes being refused ownership in her co-op comes to mind), whereas Ebersole's was overall a bit bland. (Yes, Pink was performed flawlessly). 

But I think the biggest difference is that as great as Ebersole was, I can see any number of actresses stepping into that role. I can't imagine anyone else being able to sing and snark the way Patti did here.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 5/11/20 at 10:29pm

JDonaghy4 said: "War Paint was meh but i thought Patti LuPone raised it to another level. The night I saw it the theater was half empty, towards end of the run, and I thought her vocals were simply out of this world. Her character was better written, I thought, in terms of laugh lines and punch (that scene where she describes being refused ownership in her co-op comes to mind), whereas Ebersole's was overall a bit bland. (Yes, Pink was performed flawlessly).

But I think the biggest difference is that as great as Ebersole was, I can see any number of actresses stepping into that role. I can't imagine anyone else being able to sing and snark the way Patti did here."

That is it, exactly.  There is only one Lupone, there are many Ebersoles, many completely unknown.