Jennifer Lopez to Star in KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN Film- Page 18

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 8/20/25 at 5:41pm

bruceway said: "The past three Best Supporting Actress winners have all been horrible so... I guess that means there's hope for JLo."

I personally haven't agreed with a Best Supporting Actress Oscar win since Yuh-jung Youn for Minari. In 2021, I would've voted for Kirsten Dunst over Ariana DeBose (although had Caitríona Balfe been nominated for Belfast, she easily would've been my winner). In 2022, I would've voted for Kerry Condon over Jamie Lee Curtis (although had Michelle Williams gone supporting for The Fabelmans instead of lead, she easily would've been my winner). In 2023, I would've voted for Danielle Brooks over Da'Vine Joy Randolph (I'm not the biggest Alexander Payne fan, so I found both her performance and The Holdovers overall to be pretty overrated). In 2024, I would've voted for Felicity Jones over Zoe Saldaña (although had Danielle Deadwyler been nominated for The Piano Lesson, she easily would've been my winner).

[BJR]

Posted: 8/20/25 at 6:47pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "Although it was all but confirmed that a revival directed by Andy Blankenbuehler starring Ariana DeBose was being workshopped, but got put on hold because of this film. Then again, I'd actually be interested in seeing what Jamie Lloyd would do with it."

First I heard that wasn’t going forward after the workshop. But I do know they are planning a Bway revival, hoping the movie helps to raise money. I don’t know if it’s the version workshopped or a different one though. 

[Ke3]

Posted: 8/20/25 at 7:29pm

I'm confused about the strategy of using the film to launch a stage revival. The reviews for JLo in this were pretty rapturous when it was shown. Obviously a wider audience could pop that bubble but if she is also well received by them, what star would want to play second string to that? We can talk about cancelled tours and tabloid scandals all we want but there are very few people they could even hope to nab for this that have JLo's name recognition and they have no hope of getting those select few to sign on if this does even moderately well. And without a star of some caliber (or someone who at least feels like a star) there is no Kiss of the Spider Woman.

[BJR]

Posted: 8/21/25 at 12:27pm

Ke3 said: "I'm confused about the strategy of using the film to launch a stage revival. The reviews for JLo in this were pretty rapturous when it was shown. Obviously a wider audience could pop that bubble but if she is also well received by them, what star would want to play second string to that? We can talk about cancelled tours and tabloid scandals all we want but there are very few people they could even hope to nab for this that have JLo's name recognition andthey have no hope of getting thoseselect few to sign on if this does even moderately well. And without a star of some caliber (or someone who at least feels like a star)there is no Kiss of the Spider Woman."

While I think you make a great point, it's going to depend on how the film performs, not to mention who they might get to be in a stage production. If JLo has a big success and the film does well, then a revival starring another big name (Nicole is a great example) could be met with excitement. "Oh Nicole in Spiderwoman - that movie JLo did? Oh that sounds interesting. Didn't Nicole just win a Tony? Let's go see it"

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 8/25/25 at 1:05pm

Jennifer Lopez to Receive Virtuoso Award at 2025 SCAD Savannah Film Festival

[joevitus]

Posted: 8/25/25 at 1:51pm

CarlosAlberto said: "Bwaygurl2 said: "CarlosAlberto said: "I had to laugh at the pull quote: “The best movie musical in years”.

Um, “Wicked” would like to have a word with you…"

Um, not everyone liked Wicked."

Triggered much? 



"

Et tu, Brute? 

[joevitus]

Posted: 8/25/25 at 1:54pm

binau said: "I loved the trailer. I pretty much hate all musical movies except a few (e.g. Wicked, Sweeney Todd, Chicago, bits of Dreamgirls) so I've kind of given up on the idea that they can ever really work."

Wait, are you talking about movies adapted from Broadway shows, or just movie musicals in general?

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 2:55pm

http://lnk.to/KOTSW-single

The title track from the KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN film soundtrack will be released next Friday!

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/30/25 at 9:22am

KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN - JENNIFER LOPEZ (From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

[KrupYou]

Posted: 8/30/25 at 12:14pm

I want this to br fantastic. 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 9/5/25 at 7:31am

 

[OhHiii]

Posted: 9/5/25 at 9:50am

She sounds great. Of course the internet trolls have already decided how this is going to go, but it’s a pretty great, emotive performance on the track. 

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 9/5/25 at 10:16am

Not a troll in anyway. It will grow on me. Having seen the incredible Chita do it years ago. This is quicker than the original, some of the phrasing is interesting. Let’s see how it works in the grand scheme of the film. 

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 9/5/25 at 10:30am

Wow, I found that to be thrilling.  The orchestrations are so cinematic, and it's a great performance.  I do wish it took its time a bit more so that it really builds to the end, but all-in-all, I love it.  

[nmartin]

Posted: 9/5/25 at 1:03pm

I saw the OBC twice and loved Chita and the show.

This Lopez recording is much better than I ever thought it would be!

I'm excited, for the first time, to see this movie!

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 9/6/25 at 11:27am

This version is "serviceable," and Jennifer acquits herself quite nicely in her delivery. The orchestration/arrangement on this is great. However, it's nowhere close to definitive—that would be Chita, but I did like this much better than Zegler's take on "Rainbow High."

[John Adams]

Posted: 9/6/25 at 3:48pm

huh.

I didn't care for this. Where in the world is this character from, and what accent is she employing?

In words that end in "-er", and the first syllable of "parlor", she sounds quasi-British (PAH-lor and flic-KAH). Also, isn't there an "r" in the word, "earth"? But each time she sings the word, "kiss", it comes out, "keeeees".

In her second verse, she sings a very hard "r" in the first syllable of, "curtains", but the words "dimmer" and "fire" comes out as, "dim-mah" and "fi-yah".

Dynamically, she's pretty much stuck in one zone, and I'm not sure why she slips in those exaggeratedly long "sssssssssssss-es". Is that supposed to add drama?

huh.

I guess I really hated this. (But the orchestra sounds great!)

[BJR]

Posted: 9/6/25 at 5:31pm

John Adams said: "huh.

I didn't care for this. Where in the world is this character from, and what accent is she employing?

In words that end in "-er", and the first syllable of "parlor", she sounds quasi-British (PAH-lor and flic-KAH). Also, isn't there an "r" in the word, "earth"? But each time she sings the word, "kiss", it comes out, "keeeees".

In her second verse, she sings a very hard "r" in the first syllable of, "curtains", but the words "dimmer" and "fire" comes out as, "dim-mah" and "fi-yah".
 

This seems to be similar to some of Vanessa Williams' choices. I think Williams made the choices seem more exaggerated, almost camp. But both seem to be adding an affectation for effect.

For the record, I was impressed by this. For a pop star, this is pretty solid.

Youtube: Vanessa Williams "Kiss of the Spider Woman"

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 9/6/25 at 6:26pm

John Adams said: "huh.

I didn't care for this. Where in the world is this character from, and what accent is she employing?

In words that end in "-er", and the first syllable of "parlor", she sounds quasi-British (PAH-lor and flic-KAH). Also, isn't there an "r" in the word, "earth"? But each time she sings the word, "kiss", it comes out, "keeeees".

In her second verse, she sings a very hard "r" in the first syllable of, "curtains", but the words "dimmer" and "fire" comes out as, "dim-mah" and "fi-yah".

Dynamically, she's pretty much stuck in one zone, and I'm not sure why she slips in those exaggeratedly long "sssssssssssss-es". Is that supposed to add drama?

huh.

I guess I really hated this. (But the orchestra sounds great!)"

LMAO! Your take on this is so hilarious that I had to go back and listen to it again (I’ve only listened to it one time) while reading your post and yeah, you pretty much nailed it. 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 12:24am

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "

Love the orchestrations but she sings it to pretty lacks edge and style it's how she sings everything nothing special to this version but how can anyone top CHITA!?

"

 

[John Adams]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 7:54am

BJR said: "For the record, I was impressed by this. For a pop star, this is pretty solid.""

Similar to Madonna in "Evita". Both are pop/contemporary artists (as opposed to musical theater). Both look AMAZING in the roles, but when they sing, they sound like pop/contemporary artists. 

BJR also said: "This seems to be similar to some of Vanessa Williams' choices"

I agree. J.Lo’s performance feels very “coached” to me, with a possibility that Williams’ performance was used as the model. I think that Williams' performance is the far and away the better interpretation, though.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

J.Lo's performance is very paint-by-number. Like someone told her, “Growl on this word”  or “Hit the word, ‘bathe’ harder”.

For example, when J.Lo extends that first “s” in the word, “miss”, you can literally count it out as: 1-2-3-4-5-OFF. The sound of the “s” just sits there, under the counts, going nowhere.

…and that happens every time. 

On the other hand, When Williams sings that same phrase, “…there’s no place on earth you’re likely to misssssss…”, she doesn’t just hang on to that “s” until the meter runs out. It moves. 

She inserts a tiny growl that morphs into the “s”, then quickly becomes almost an “sh” digraph. Finally, she allows all the air to completely deflate from her vocal balloon (...and you can literally hear it sinking). Williams sings the whole song with that kind of attention to character detail.

Held up against Williams' version, J.Lo's bland interpretation of "Spider Woman" sounds like a very unadorned knock-off of a designer original. 

 

Updated On: 9/7/25 at 07:54 AM

[John Adams]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 8:01am

CarlosAlberto said: "LMAO!"

you got it 

 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 9:05am

Where is this character from? As written, the character is a fantasy so she can use ANY accent she chooses. Heck, she can even play different ethnicities if she chooses. All of her moments in the musical are in Molina’s head. We never see the actress as herself, it’s always as a character in films she was in and that he is remembering. 

[John Adams]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 10:07am

BrodyFosse123 said: "Where is this character from? As written, the character is a fantasy so she can use ANY accent she chooses."

I completely agree with you. Why I lose interest in J.Lo's interpretation is because it feels like she's made a choice to use "(M)ANY accent(s)" that (for me) lack purpose in conveying the character.
 

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

In contrast, Vanessa Williams (who might be a model for J.Lo's interpretation) adopts a POV as both a Narrator (who tells the story of the Spider Woman), and also slips in vocal techniques in the telling that conjure the character of the Spider Woman. In other words, she's singing as both a Narrator and the Spider Woman. 

I can hear a vocal differentiation in Williams' performance where as Narrator, her diction is crisp, clean and she employs the vocal techniques of a trained singer (i.e., when she sings the word, moon, her /oo/ vowel is gorgeously lush, and she finishes the phrase with perfect diction on the word, dimmer). When she slips into the Spider Woman Woman, her vocals are more "slithery" and snake-like (i.e., when she sings, “…at the tide’s low end.” She hits the word “low” with a vocal technique that places the word in her nose, rather than lower in the mouth, so the word sounds more sinister. Williams' calculated use of legato also helps create a mood and tone for the character.

I don't find that J.Lo has the vocal training to match Williams. But, I find many instances in J.Lo's performance where her interpretation aligns closely with Williams' (and as both performances are linked in this thread, anyone can compare the two for themselves). 

As a result, I asked that initial question (with an attempt at some humor that CarlosAlberto picked up on).

Updated On: 9/7/25 at 10:07 AM

[SteveSanders]

Posted: 9/11/25 at 11:30am

Apologies if this is mentioned earlier in the thread, but a stage production is currently playing in DC in case anyone wants to see it:

Washington Post article about it

Kiss of the Spider Woman, through Sept. 28 at GALA Hispanic Theatre in Washington. Two hours with an intermission. galatheatre.org.