War Paint NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (1,329)
See it if If you are a fan of either star or just Broadway in general. It's a musical for grown-ups with grown-up sensibilities.
Don't see it if You don't like belting divas center stage wailing for the gods
See it if You want to see masterful writing for interesting characters and two great diva performances
Don't see it if You want to come in humming the tunes
See it if you enjoy a good book-musical with two star-power leading ladies
Don't see it if musicals just aren't you're thing
See it if You enjoy great singing and women's history
Don't see it if You do not want to see women dominate the stage and storyline
See it if you worship at the altar of either diva. Both icons slay & leave it all on the stage. Beautifully staged/choreographed w/great era costumes.
Don't see it if OMG just see the freaking show before it freaking closes! Book IS weak (although very relevant at times), but the show is very entertaining! Read more
See it if you think you know fashion history
Don't see it if you want some action
See it if you want to see the phenomenal two leading ladies belting their hearts out; - don't miss this opportunity to see them
Don't see it if you want fast-paced action at every turn, but again, DON'T MISS THIS CAST.
See it if You want to see 2 double Tony winners do what they do best, gorgeous sets and costumes, inventive staging, a gripping and interesting story
Don't see it if You are not Lupone or Ebersol fans, don't want a challenging and different story, expect a traditional musical, are not a fan of beauty
Critic Reviews (72)
"Doug Wright's book sticks fairly closely to the contours of his subjects' lives, but, in trying to avoid creating a camp catfight, he has come up with a parallel plot structure that proves more confining than a lady's corset...Nevertheless, 'War Paint' will be irresistible to many -- for good reason -- thanks to the casting of LuPone and Ebersole...A lot of very fine work -- by some very gifted people -- has gone into 'War Paint,' but it adds up to little more than a skirmish."
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"Not terrible, per se, but it's so scintillatingly boring that you'll spend more of the two-and-a-half-hour evening fight off an encroaching coma...Both performers unlock the steely and sympathetic sides of the women they're playing, so that the strength and the hurt are seldom far removed from each other...Their stories are worth telling and worth listening to, but not in the tedious form 'War Paint' so soullessly delivers them."
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"Ironically, for a musical about two great titans of the cosmetics industry, Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden, 'War Paint' is rarely more than skin deep. Doug Wright’s book delivers surprisingly superficial portraits of these two fierce rivals...The show ultimately isn’t all that enlightening...'War Paint' is redeemed by its packaging, specifically the powerhouse team of Tony Award winners Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole. Audiences will be mesmerized by these great stars."
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"LuPone and Ebersole, giving performances of such resplendent force, wit and vivacity that the evening gleams like a freshly applied coat of nail polish...Enhanced by a sumptuous production directed by Greif...A nagging flaw in the show’s conception: the central narrative is largely undramatic, at times even superficial...When you have the opportunity to watch actors of this caliber, it’s easy to overlook many a superficial flaw, sit back and simply bask."
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"A show with one musical theater legend is rare these days but with both Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole you are offered two of the great ladies of the American musical on the same stage at the top of their form. Sophisticated, chic and elegant, 'War Paint' is an absorbing and magnificent story of two remarkable women who climbed their way to the top of their profession only to find that there were still things they could not accomplish."
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"Ebersole and LuPone do manage to rise above the less than ideal material. They inhabit their characters fully and sing so beautifully that unmemorable music seems better than it is...The show overall does have a good deal to recommend it: Director Michael Greif does his utmost to unify the side by side stories...And choreographer Christopher Gattelli takes advantage of the ensemble's versatility to create some lively production numbers."
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"Extraordinary performers with extraordinary presence and voices...LuPone fulfills every aspect of the bitter and driven Rubinstein...She also has an overflowing share of laugh lines...What’s compelling is the character-driven plot giving insight into the lives of two unusual women who created empires at a time when it was unfashionable and unacceptable – the chosen twosome are unparalleled in talent and star power. They are more than electrified under Michael Greif’s direction."
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“We witness the extraordinary talents of Ebersole and Lupone. To hear them sing is to listen to the heavens break open and put down pure gold. Never mind that the music itself is not up to the grace of the voices that deliver it. These two women, like the giants they portray, keep their eye on the target every second they are onstage…What we don’t get, and why the writers did not take this risk is a mystery, is the two women squaring off face-to-face, war paint to war paint.”
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