When you have a star-vehicle on Broadway, you need the material to make it work. That's the thing with the new musical War Paint. Despite the wonderful talents of its two prestigious, Tony-winning stars, Patti Lupone and Christine Ebersole, this biographical musical on the lives of beauty icons Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden, feels ambitious and needed to flesh out more.
Taking place in the New York fashion world between the 1930's and the 1960's, the show focus itself on the rivalry of cosmetic queens Rubinstein (Lupone) and Arden (Ebersole). Even through they avoid meeting with each other during the course of the show until the end, they try to outdo each other by stealing each one's product and even stealing each other's right-hand man (Rubinstein hires Arden's cheating husband, while Arden steals Rubinstein's former assistant). But soon in the mid-1950's, they both soon become overlooked by consumers thanks to new beauty brands like "Revlon" and "Estee Lauder" and they even refuse to advertise their products on television unlike the other brand names. Arden and Rubinstein finally meet face to face at the show's climax reflecting on how much they changed many women's ways to look beautiful.
There are some funny wisecracks in Doug Wright's book, but I wished that the material should have developed more on what determined Helena and Liz to have a career in beauty and how their work reflected women throughout the years. Scott Frankel and Michael Korie's 40's-50's period-set score is one of those pieces of music that your head won't remember a lot the day or the week after you see it.
But I gotta give to credit to director Michael Greif (of Rent and Dear Evan Hansen fame) for making a show that is elegantly designed to the nines, thanks to Catherine Zuber's sparkling costumes and David Korins' wonderfully crafted sets. Expect these two elements to be nominated for the Tonys this year.
While I thought that Ebersole gave a respectable portrayal as Arden, I found Lupone's interpretation of Rubinstein to be a bit cartoonish. Neverless, when the two share the stage together alone singing their duets, the show itself catches its fire. They are both nicely supported by their two men, John Dossett (playing Arden's significant other, Tommy Lewis) and Douglas Sills (as Rubinstein's business partner, Harry Fleming).
At the performance I attended, there were so many women in the audience, apparently fans of the show's two big stars. I think that many fans of both the Lupone camp and the Ebersole camp will both get their money worth here. But for others, at best, this feels more like a promised-yet-shallow production that should have worked on its wrinkles.
The Buzz on War Paint:
Rating: **(So-So)
Bottom Line: Both admirers of Lupone and Ebersole will be satisfied here. Others will find it an ambitious but forgettable musical at best.
Recommended Best for: Ages 12 and up. Not much objectable material here beside a scene of adult situation in the first act.
Playing at: The Nederlander Theatre on 208 West 41st Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues). Scheduled for an open-ended run. For tickets, go to ticketmaster.com or call 877-250-2929.
Comments
Post a Comment