WAR PAINT Previews- Page 6

[TheSassySam]

Posted: 3/8/17 at 5:32pm

Have they changed the final scene? That was my favorite part in Chicago. 

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/8/17 at 5:33pm

Scotty, I did not know their whole story umtil the show came about. It is about way more than makeup. The women were titans in their day but were still trying to be manipulated because of their gender. It also explores how their stubborn personalities stopped their businesses from moving forward as things were changing around them in the industry. It is a very interesting story. 

[BwayGeek2]

Posted: 3/8/17 at 8:09pm

They haven't changed the ending as far as I could tell.

I also happen to really like the score. It's nostalgic and fits the themes of the show well. It's not Grey Gardens but has some standouts, in my opinion - Face to Face, Pink, Forever Beautiful. Now You Know is amazing too.  I get missing A Woman's Face from Chicago but I think the new opening works better.  And Patti and Christine sound like a million bucks.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 3/8/17 at 11:56pm

Just got out of the evening performance - this is one of my favorite new musicals in a few years. A book as and score crafted on character, not forcing a tired plot on these two titans. 

LuPone & Ebersole are the perfect pair. I didn't see the Goodman production but I loved that they both got an opening number, it felt like the fair way to go. Each perfectly crafted to their individual strengths. LuPone has never sounded better. I was blown away by the sheer force behind her vocals. The show ran 2:45 tonight but it felt like 90 minutes. I could've watched it for hours.

The musical highlights are "Face to Face" and "Pink". The design is impeccable. My only real complaint is on occasion the staging of the numbers became quite repetitive and basic. I mean, how many times was he going to have LuPone and Ebersole crisscross each other??

I'm not sure how the critics will take this. Could be a critical darling a la GREY GARDENS or a lukewarm reception. I hope it's the former.

Updated On: 3/9/17 at 11:56 PM

[blm2323]

Posted: 3/9/17 at 1:07am

IdinaBellFoster said: "Just got out of the evening performance - this is one of my favorite new musicals in a few years. A book as and score crafted on character, not forcing a tired plot on these two titans. 

LuPone & Ebersole are the perfect pair. I didn't see the Goodman production but I loved that they both got an opening number, it felt like the fair way to go. Each perfectly crafted to their individual strengths. LuPone has never sounded better. I was blown away by the sheer force behind her vocals. The show ran 2:45 tonight but it felt like 90 minutes. I could've watched it for hours.

The musical highlights are "Face to Face" and "Pink". The design is impeccable. My only real complaint is on occasion the staging of the numbers became quite repetitive and basic. I mean, how many times was he going to have LuPone and Ebersole crisscross each other??

I'm not sure how the critics will take this. Could be a critical darling a la GREY GARDENS or a lukewarm reception. I hope it's the latter. 

 

"

You hope it gets a lukewarm reception? ????

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/9/17 at 1:30am

I was going to ask the same thing.

[SweetLips]

Posted: 3/9/17 at 2:03am

Reading with interest,as I do, a few contributors have mentioned Revlon in the plot, and then I see on the song list a song called Fire and Ice.

This was the name of the first product that Revlon produced---a nail polish, then a lipstick. That brilliant red colour can still be bought today--and of course now the fragrance.

Is this song about Revlon, the ladies' personalities, or just a coincidence?

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/9/17 at 2:14am

It is about the nail polish. The creatof of of Revlon pitches it to Arden and she turns him away. The production number happens during the part of the show about tv advertising and new less expensive cosmetics. It goes on too long in my opinion but is an important part of the story.

[SweetLips]

Posted: 3/9/17 at 3:01am

Thanks uncageg.

I think I mentioned somewhere when this show was announced--the rivalry between Charles Revson[Revlon] and Estee Lauder was VERY bitter and would make for a great play--him the lower class Jew against high society [Jew?] with Revson desperate to be accepted into a different class of people.

I never met Revson but did meet the Lauder family--they were really treated like American Royalty[and acted like they were too].

A fascinating read about Revlon is actually called Fire and Ice.

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/9/17 at 3:39am

I think the song title was taken from the book title.

See the show!

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 3/9/17 at 4:03am

My mistake - I hope it gets raves. 

[SweetLips]

Posted: 3/9/17 at 4:45am

uncageg said: "I think the song title was taken from the book title.

See the show!

Would absolutely love to but don't think it would ever come to Australia--or me over to you again.

I have seen a wonderful production of Grey Gardens here so maybe the Melbourne or Sydney Theatre Company might present it to a majority subscriber audience--and we certainly have the talent to do it.

 

 

 

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 3/9/17 at 7:23pm

A real shame if they cut A Woman's Face. I thought it was a brilliant opener to the show and celebrated both leads simultaneously. I hope if they record this they keep it as a bonus track. 

Also a damn shame they kept that lousy Dinosaurs song. What a stinker. 

Patti and Christine are both exceptional. They have a lot of incredible competition this year and we will see if the material they are given puts them in the running for any awards. 

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/9/17 at 8:17pm

How has rush been?

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/9/17 at 9:33pm

Ijay...read through thd thread. Rush has been mentioned.

Posted: 3/11/17 at 12:22am

There are lots of things to admire about the new Broadway musical War Paint, but the show as a whole is not one of them.  The creative team is made up of seasoned pros with lots of experience, but they just cannot make a musical about two women who never actually met work. The two female cosmetic pioneers are an interesting idea to musicalize in theory, but there is just no real conflict in this static adaptation by Wright/Frankel/Korie.  The phrase, "There's no there, there." comes to mind.

More interesting to me, is why Wright/Frankel/Korie chose this "feud" as the one to write a show about because well, there isn't much of one. Something like the the television show FEUD that Ryan Murphy has created about Davis/Crawford would have made much more sense, there's real conflict there, those women have a real history.

Wright's book isn't helping. His straightforward narrative (moment to moment perspective) leads to the two cosmetic giants stuck in their own offices speculating about what they've heard the other one is scheming to get ahead in the make up world for more than 50 percent of the show.  It is uninteresting and banal. More interesting than the feud is a look into the struggles of what a powerful women went through in the first part of the 20th century before the women's movement of the 60's and 70's. The second act also goes into how the ladies companies fall from popularity because of their own inability to adapt to the changes in the beauty world (also more interesting than the non feud between the ladies). If the book had a fresher perspective, I think it would change the show dramatically for the better. I will say this, Doug has not forgotten to add comedy along the way. There are lots of decent one liners throughout from both characters.

The score by Frankel/Korie is an issue. Frankel is a talented writer, no doubt. However, he doesn't seem too interested in creating melodies that the audience can walk away with. He fares much better in the ballad department than in uptempo/comedy/character ones. A song called Dinosaurs for Dosset and Sills is hard to watch because as veteran leading men they deserve much better. Frankel misses an opportunity to use a more of the glamorous orchestral sounds from the era. The group numbers, made up of mainly women (of varying ages which is great to see) fall flat, are not appealing, and don't really help propel the story forward.  This score is more like a character study of the people of this time and less about letting a story unfold. I will say that each woman is given an eleven o'clock number at the end of the show and they are both riveting (Pink, Forever Beautiful)!  When these gentleman get a song right it is stunning in sound and message. Korie, known as one of the musical theaters smartest lyricists, could simplify his verses here. They are over complicated and he gets lost in beauty references. Plus  the ideas they've chosen to musicalize just aren't that interesting.

The set by Korins is simple, and elegant but not terribly interesting or theatrical. You're transported to a upscale department store via outer walls with grand molding and paneling of the era that could also be an office, a new york apartment, a fancy restaurant. Parts of the paneling/molding move to reveal shelves that contain keepsakes fitting to each woman's personality when you are at their home/office. Other times they reveal rows and rows of perfume bottles to give you the essence of being part of their beauty empires. Furniture units travel on tracks to specific spots on the stage...if feels Broadway, too literal, not theater. The lighting by Posner shades the clear glass perfume bottles in deep blues for Rubinstein and Arden's signature pink. The effect turns fuchsia when they are combined, it's lovely...besides that the lighting feels unresolved, they are still working on it...the accents aren't quite right yet, the lighting buttons aren't working, the projections are not fluid...if you go to it in previews you might see the similar issues. It also feels uninspired.

The costumes by Zuber are are grand and period specific, but seem to lack her usual impeccable taste. Something about them feels tacky. Thats a word I wouldn't typically associate with Zuber. The choreography by Gattelli is obligatory at best. It's not necessarily his fault, because it's not a dance show per say and it's just such a literal telling he couldn't get too expressive with the movement. But it's basically compiled of chorus girls posing, not too interesting. The direction by Greif feels sloppy, the staging is unexciting, the stage pictures and point of views/tableaus aren't specific or detail oriented. There isn't a lot of underline vision here.  It's unclear what the theme of the night is which is a problem.

The cast is the saving grace here. They are wonderful. At this moment, I can't think of a better role for Lupone/Ebersole. They are spitting images of the actual ladies and exude their opposite characters with confidence, making lots of delicious character choices here. Lupone's Rubinstein is passionate and no nonsense with a sardonic wit...she nails every one-liner. Ebersole's Arden is all outer grace and inner determination.  She balances them with expertise. I don't think I've ever heard them sound better. They are both in full command of their instruments here (Patty with her chest voice of steal and Ebersole with her gorgeous lyric soprano).. It's unfortunate that most of the material is just not that exciting, because these women are riveting. Their eleven o'clock numbers are the moments of great musical theater here. Ebersole's song PINK is my favorite moment on Broadway this season so far, seconded by Lupone's Forever beautiful. Lupone's character has better material throughout.

A tacked on ending where the two legends are accidentally double booked as guest speakers at the same symposium about their lives in beauty (the first time they meet in the show) feels cheap and I suspect will be cut or revised right up until the opening night. The show runs over two and half hours and could use a large trim.In the end, I think they would have been better off doing the show about one of the women. Elizabeth Arden seems to be the more well known name...had they just focused on her, maybe they would have something. As it stands, I think this is the flop of the season. That being said, I hope these ladies are on Broadway many more times in  future seasons.

 
 

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/11/17 at 12:29pm

I had no problem with the way the feud was handled between them. And there was a big feud between them. It doesn't have to be some shouting match. There can be a feud between two people who have never met. I actually thought it was a bit clever how they used the restaurant as a place where they got information about each other but never noticed the other was there. Going in, if anyone has done their research, we know they never met. The ending that I saw on the first preview night felt as if it was new, just put together. Not sure if it is the same ending as in Chicago. I am sure that has been mentioned in this thread. But with a bit of work I think it is fine and loved the lipstick moment. It was just a bit confusing as to how they both ended up there. Were they both invited or was one called in when the other couldn't make it and then they both ended up at the event? I think it should be made very clear that one cancels the day before the event (Was it Rubenstein who cancels?) and Arden is called to replace here. Rubenstein should find this out and decide to show which would put them in the room together. JMO

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 3/11/17 at 12:44pm

Not sure if they've made changes, but when I saw it on Wednesday they announcer states that Arden was the original intended guest. Arden cancels, they invite Rubenstein in her place, and the announcer finds out onstage that Arden does intend on coming.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 3/11/17 at 12:44pm

I don't know if its still in the show, but there WAS a line about how they ended up in the same place. I'm pretty sure Elizabeth was asked first and she canceled so they asked Helena to do it and then as the lady in charge of the even is talking to the guests, she gets a note card saying that Elizabeth actually came. I don't know if this moment is still in the show though. 

It's so strange how this is dividing people. I love this show so much. I think it was WhizzerMarvin who said it, but I think the score is lovely and sophisticated. Lots of standout songs. I don't care for Dinosaurs and Stepping Out though.  

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/11/17 at 1:15pm

Yes. It is in the show. I just forgot who was asked first. My thought was that maybe Arden could have cancelled a day be fore, or so, and Rubenstein accepted. Somehow Arden finds out and decides to attend causing the two of them to be there together. It just seemed a bit thrown together the way they did it and not thought out. I remember thinking "Well that all happened pretty fast" as it gave me the impression that Arden somehow found out that Rubenstein would be stepping in for her and was not happy about that. This all seemed to take place in a very short time.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 3/11/17 at 1:33pm

Thank you for your review, standing ovation.  You brought up an interesting thought.  I actually wish that this team were musicalizing the Davis/Crawford Feud.  Lupone and Ebersole would have been brilliant in those roles.

I feel like there just isn't too much of a story here to musicalize, but it is thrilling to hear these two sing a new score on Broadway again.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 3/11/17 at 1:44pm

broadwayboy223 said: "I don't know if its still in the show, but there WAS a line about how they ended up in the same place. I'm pretty sure Elizabeth was asked first and she canceled so they asked Helena to do it and then as the lady in charge of the even is talking to the guests, she gets a note card saying that Elizabeth actually came. I don't know if this moment is still in the show though. 

It's so strange how this is dividing people. I love this show so much. I think it was WhizzerMarvin who said it, but I think the score is lovely and sophisticated. Lots of standout songs. I don't care for Dinosaurs and Stepping Out though.  

 

 

 

"

 Those two songs really need to go. I suspect they will not cut them because that will leave the supporting men with little to do, but they are truly terrible songs. The divided opinion on the show doesn't really surprise me. I understand why some people are responding to it, but I just can't get over what I consider to be really sub par and uninspired direction and writing. To me this feels like a circa 1965 out of town flop vehicle written for Barbara Cook and Kaye Ballard.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 3/11/17 at 5:55pm

I don't dislike "Dinosaurs" as much as some of you folks; I get why the numbers is where it is, a short silly breather, and a few of the lyrics get a chuckle out of me. But if the goal was to give Douglas Sills and John Dossett more to do, there are probably more character-driven opportunities. Just as the leading ladies struggle against what is expected of their gender in this time, so do these two men. Sills' character is in the closet and Dossett's character feels almost cuckolded by his wife's authority. Maybe these things aren't explored with more earnestness because the show doesn't need any more slow solos. But I was especially interested in Sills' character, and his life mostly just gets some coy mentions in the book. Perhaps all this is outside of where the team wants to focus the story at this juncture, but I think all of the principal characters are out of their time in some way. And I think that could be given more weight, because it's the most interesting thing about the story to me. 

[PianoMann]

Posted: 3/11/17 at 10:32pm

I caught the matinee performance of War Paint today and thoroughly enjoyed it! I agree with some of the criticism others have posted about, namely the plodding nature of the book that takes us somewhat rotely takes us through the narrative beats, but I think the score and certainly the performances compensate for its shortcomings.

As everyone has said, the main attraction is seeing Patti and Christine on stage together and neither of them disappoint. I remember being surprised reading the Chicago try-out thread where people said Christine had the meatier role and I felt the exact opposite today. While Christine certainly plays her standout moments well, I felt like Patti overshadowed her at every turn, especially since the construction of the show all but forces us to compare them by their constant juxtaposition. Regardless, I love that both women get their own entrances and 11 o'clock numbers (both of which I loved). Their two show-stopping duets are the highlight of the show, though, and I think both "If I'd Been a Man" and "Face to Face" have hummable melodies; I certainly left the theater with them buzzing in my head.

Aside from the two leads, I agree that Dossett and Sills' roles need to be deepened (to piggyback on Scarywarhol's suggestion) or significantly reduced. I didn't particularly care for the seemingly endless "Step on Out," although I didn't mind "Dinosaurs" as much as others here. Sure, it's a somewhat crude expression of the outdated mindsets of Helena and Elizabeth toward the close of the show, but both men have just experienced falls from grace and they're getting sloshed at the bar, so it felt fitting given the book scene.

I'm not sure how this will fare at the Tony Awards. In a lesser year, like some in recent memory, I'd easily see this getting into Musical, two Lead Actress slots, Score, Book, etc. but it's far too competitive a season for this to coast in. If they get only one actress nominated, I think it will be Patti. The audience simply ate up her larger-than-life performance, from her pitch-perfect delivery of the laugh lines to her glorious singing. Otherwise, maybe Catherine Zuber gets a nomination for her elaborate costumes and that's potentially all?

As for my rush report: My friend got to the box office at 7:30 this morning and was first in line, with the next two people coming just a few minutes later. By 10:00, it looked like there were a good 30 people queued up. We got Left Orchestra Row D seats, which were marked partial view but were very much worth the $40 price. We missed Ebersole's entrance because of the view (and, incidentally Patti's, too, because of how some of the ensemble members are positioned), but otherwise I didn't feel like I missed anything significant.

I will absolutely make a return visit to see the show! Even if the show remains frozen from this performance on, I think it's worth seeing at least once for this legendary pairing of legendary actresses.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/12/17 at 10:44am

If GREY GARDENS and FAR FROM HEAVEN are any indication, Frankel and Korie aren't interested in action, story or plot so much as mood and theme. Not a problem if you like their scores (which I do: I can't wait to hear WAR PAINT).

***

Historical note: Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots never met in person, yet I've lost count of the number of plays, operas, films and even one musical play I've seen that were written about their "relationship". (Most playwrights follow Schiller and invent a meeting in the middle of the story.) The authors of WAR PAINT could have done the same, but it doesn't sound like that was the sort of show they wanted to create.