War Paint NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (1,329)
See it if you would like to hear flawless singing and learn about two important women.
Don't see it if you don't like traditional musicals.
See it if you want the pure joy of seeing two great ladies of Broadway - P.Lupone & C. Ebersole. Bravura performances!!
Don't see it if You are not interested in seeing a good, old fashioned Broadway musical.
See it if You love musical theater.
Don't see it if You are not a fan of Patti LaPone.
See it if You want to see two of our best Broadway performers in the same musical; the star power of Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole is important
Don't see it if You need tunes you can hum, divas don't do anything for you Read more
See it if you want to be dazzled by a super polished show filled with incredible and moving performances.
Don't see it if you can't appreciate the stories of strong and under appreciated women.
See it if You like a good musical with many great stars. Patti Lupone and her accent was fantastic. Christine Ebersole also great. Very well done.
Don't see it if You are not into musicals
See it if You want to be in the room with icons: Patti & Christine are worth the price of admission alone. Smart, feminist, charming.
Don't see it if The book is a bit uneven and some predictable events make it feel clunky at times.
See it if you enjoy watching two legendary divas take the stage and sing their hearts out. Costumes, staging and supporting roles were great, too.
Don't see it if you don't like to hear divas sing. Read more
Critic Reviews (72)
"You will be charged, thrilled and fascinated by two divas dishing it out with every trick in their careers of sharp, dagger-edged perfection as they command and hold the stage...There are songs galore but few of them will live in your heart after the final curtain. Blander than I expected and oddly lacking in rhapsodic melodies...The tunes in 'War Paint' do inspire you to go away humming. This does not, I must add, detract from the mega-watt voltage from the two divas onstage."
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"Two Broadway stars more thrillingly suited to embodying this historic rivalry would be hard to come up with...It’s an edifying musical rather than an exciting one, certainly worth any theatergoer’s time...Greif has overseen with great sophistication the staging and styling...The musical’s worthiest achievements: making room on a stage, to a degree virtually never seen, for star turns by two sublime female veterans of the musical theater."
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"Very classy and elegant new Broadway musical...Deceptively complex direction of Michael Greif...The show ultimately demurs when it comes to holding the great titans of makeup, and the men who surrounded them, to moral account. And that is what might just have made 'War Paint' a truly great musical, instead of a highly entertaining and provocative one...A tad too admiring of its subjects for its own good."
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"Ebersole and LuPone are nothing short of flawless...Add a heaping pile of beauty, glamour and lush costumes to the mix, and you have yourself a juicy — albeit highly elegant — drama...The music is strong but not particularly memorable...But the lyrics are impactful...While Act 2 slows a tad the show is overall well-paced, due in part to the quippy one-liners that could easily be on the packaging of a compact...'War Paint' isn’t perfect, but it’s a thing of beauty for sure."
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"The musical is built around an unwieldy and repetitive Ping-Pong structure of shifting back and forth between the two characters...However, 'War Paint' still has a lot going for it, including self-empowered protagonists, high-powered performances, well-crafted period-style songs, the classy aura of old-school New York and the smooth direction of Michael Greif."
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“The two never actually met…What that means is a split-screen musical…Such pervasive parallelism, I’m afraid, saps the work of narrative or dramatic tension. Still, the score is a Gershwin and Irving Berlin-style pastiche of the first order, and the magnificent stars are in great voice, so you can ignore the dramatic void for a remarkably long time. Great stars, witty songs, chic design: ‘War Paint’ has an impressive façade. Just not much of a stunner under the makeup.”
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"A less-than-engaging musical book report...Unfortunately, Wright has not refined these raw ingredients into the finished product of a compelling drama. The fact that Arden and Rubinstein never actually met face-to-face is a problem he never really solves, sapping the story of much-needed drama...That's too bad because we get the sense that our two lead actresses are combat-ready...Michael Greif directs a visually stunning but dramatically lumbering production."
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“An important story that's certainly worthy of a first class treatment, and director Michael Greif's polished and professional production delivers...Ebersole radiates charming elegance…LuPone brings her gutsy brashness to Rubinstein…Each is granted an 11 o'clock number that showcases them royally…‘War Paint’ is gorgeously packaged, but doesn't quite accomplish its noble task. While the two enterprising women are honored, the material doesn't seep into the pores.”
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