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“A MAJOR MUSICAL. RICH, EPIC AND ENGROSSING. A CELEBRATION OF BROADWAY CRAFTSMANSHIP.” -The Washington Post
Two-time Tony Award-winning legends Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole join forces to portray the trailblazing cosmetic icons who built empires in a business world ruled by men.
From the creators of Grey Gardens and the director of Rent and Next to Normal, WAR PAINT tells the remarkable story of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden—fierce rivals who defined 20th Century beauty. In creating an industry, they reinvented themselves and revolutionized how the world saw women.
Fun to watch the two leading ladies. Score is not very memorable and the staging gets repetitious. Costumes and set are lavish and quite beautiful. The two ladies and the design team need a better book and score
The show was a good showcase for both Patti Lupone and Christine Ebersole. The book moved the show forward, but there wasn't a lot going on, other than the court scene. Sometimes it was difficult to understand Patti Lupone due to the thick accent she applied to the role.
This show was disappointing. The music was blah. Christine Ebersol didn't bring anything to the role. Could have done so much more creatively with makeup and spa services themes. Patti Lupone was incredible as always.
I love both of these actresses and have seen them in other shows. Just seeing them is worth the ticket price. These two talented women "make" this show a winner. Their different and unique energies embody and bring to life the main characters. Seeing them sing together is quite a treat. I highly recommend it.
This musical was sensational! The singing, the costumes, the staging--all magnificent!
Excellent. Tour de force w Lapone & Ebersole. Good script. Covered a long time span in a concise way
The songs, with the exception of "Pink", were not memorable and unfortunately, it was very difficult to understand most of Patti LuPone's dialogue and lyrics due to her character's accent. That greatly hampered our enjoyment of the show. If you want to take the time, trouble, and cost, going into the city to see a show, I'd pick something else to see.
What joy! This show tugged at my heart strings! It brought back wonderful memories, while telling the story of 2 powerful women by 2 powerful women. Brought me to tears: the singing, the clothes, the hats, the crema, and the Struggle. I love this musical all the way around!
Solid show with amazing performances by the two leading ladies. Patti Lupone, in particular, was hilarious with her Helena Rubenstein accent. And her voice is still epic.
Ebersole and Lupone can seemingly do no wrong (well, maybe Patti should have fled from Women on the Verge..."), but they deserve a much better book and a far superior, much more exhilarating score. If you have zero interest in the history of make-up in the U.S., it makes the show harder to be enthusiastic. After tryouts in Chicago and previews in NYC, can't the direct realize that Patti Lupone speaks incredibly distinctly with her Polish accent, but barely a word can be heard understood when she sings (this was pointed out during the Chicago run and has not improved).
If you are old enough to remember Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden cosmetics, and Charlie Revson, too, and are female, you will like this. Great costumes, interesting sets, forgettable music and two powerhouse stars.
you can't miss this perfomance The ladies are outstanding
Kudos to both Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole. Their performances brought Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden to life. Their singing voices are beyond compare and they did incredibly well in giving life to some non-descript, unmelodic songs. That is my one serious complaint about the show. It was supposed to entertain as a musical and I thought the music or score was really poor. It was especially hard to understand a word when Ms. Lupone was singing some of her opening songs with a heavy Yiddish accent and I use the word "songs" lightly. There were excellent performances from other members in the cast and I loved looking at the fashions, but Ms. LuPone and Ms. Ebersole ARE the show and I wouldn't recommend it if it weren't totally worthwhile to watch these two stars shine!
Although I enjoyed War Paint in general, I found it a much more serious and darker show than expected. A show about battling divas in the cosmetics industry would lead itself, for me, to more light-hearted material than we were given. It's hard to take this topic as seriously as it was presented. I would just have liked more fun in this show.... from the music to the story line. But the performances by the two leads were AMAZING. What voices!!!!!! Pitch perfect with gusto! The music itself was fine, but forgettable.
The story was interesting and the stars were very good. The show was only ok. It was lacking a spark.
The NY Times review was generous. The show is totally boring. Patti Lupone trying hard to have an Eastern European accent makes her speech garbled and unintelligible. I believe that she is miscast. Christine Ebersole was excellent but that did not alleviate the boredom from the show. There is no choregraphy to speak of. I could not endure more and left at intermission. I have never done that before.
I thought Lapone was amazing, Ebersole fair, the show overall disappointing.
I went because I wanted to see and hear Patti Lupone sing. Her voice was amazing but because she sang with a very heavy accent you could not understand what she was saying. It was very frustrating. Christine Ebersole was outstanding. So many other great Broadway plays to see so pass on War Paint
Of course War Paint cannot go wrong with Patti Lupone and Christine Ebersole at the helm! The two are a powerful combo on stage as the stories of Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden are told from the era stretching from the 1930's thru the mid-1960's. The cosmetics are only a backdrop to the real story - the rise of two powerful visionaries who defied the male-dominated world of business in New York City to create two of the most well-known brands. Both actresses are amazing, each bringing their own talent, style, wit, singing voices to the characters they bring to life. The acting is tremendous as are the sets. However, don't expect this show to be the haunting spellbinder musically that other Broadway musicals have... the music is somewhat Broadway formulaic with melodies that are pleasant enough - but by no means stick with you for the hours, days, weeks, months, and even years to come like other shows. A lot of the music just average, but it doesn't stop the show from being great. Patti Lupone herself sees to that with her thick Eastern European accent in the character of Madame Rubenstein. I recommend this show to any lover of a great story, especially one that shows in real time the power of the human spirit and its ability to really make any dream come alive.
After the playwright and composer/lyricist's previous work, I expected more than this average show. The cast is wonderful and deserves a better vehicle. The draw is Patti Lupone and Christine Ebersohl but you could see them in concert for the same price. They are outstanding with what they are given. The one major drawback is Patti Lupone's accent. When she sings I could only understand every third word. On the whole I would recommend the show to fans of Patti and Christine but not to others. The show has merit but ... meh.
