War Paint NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (1,329)
See it if You enjoy a good musical. See it if you're a Patti LuPone fan.
Don't see it if You only like serious, intellectual plays.
See it if You are sick and tired of garbage: this is good work and if you listen you will fall in love with the score and the struggles of two icons.
Don't see it if You are lazy (as some main stream critics seemed to be when they reviewed this show). This is for the true theatre lover with an open mind. Read more
See it if Watching two divas of Braoadway sing their faces off for an evening would keep you smiling for 24 hours!
Don't see it if You are easily bored. There is not too much of a story and the staging is pretty simple, but none of that bothered. Read more
See it if you can appreciate that epic wars can be fought off the battlefield...in lipstick and heels, furs and smiles. If you love a smart script.
Don't see it if you need non-stop spectacle and a minimum of dialogue in your musicals. This show condenses the lifetimes of two great warrior women.
See it if you like Patti LuPone, Christine Ebersole, are interested in the story of Elizabeth Arden & Helena Rubenstein, enjoy musicals
Don't see it if you don't like strong women characters, don't like musicals.
See it if Great performances
Don't see it if Classic musical theater
See it if The costumes were beautiful, but the main drags are Patti lupone and Christine Ebersole, who makes the lame subject matter very interesting.
Don't see it if Cosmetics do not interest you.
See it if You want to see fantastic acting and singing coupled with strong female characters and a pro-women message
Don't see it if You don't know a bit on the backstory
Critic Reviews (72)
"Both of these stars are winning a different type of theatrical war than the one being chronicled in this touching big-number filled musical…‘War Paint’ fails to rise above the pedestrian, doing justice to this interesting story, but unable to rise the whole piece as high as some of the notes being sung…Every moment sounds lovely and we are totally engaged, but the songs don’t vary enough from each other overall…Just try to defy these two Tony winning stars their stupendous power."
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"No, they can’t make it a great musical. But LuPone and Ebersole give star turns of equal weight. Most impressively, though they are portraying life-long rivals, these are bravura performances that don’t clash; they blend...Yet, for all its appeal, 'War Paint' does not surmount some logistical problems that are likely to make some of the scenes heavy-going to all but ardent students of the beauty industry that the two women helped create."
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"If you're looking for an absorbing musical, with an actual plot and interesting characters interacting in interesting ways, you've come to the wrong place...It mostly is dull as dirt...I think I'd rather go to a concert performance in which LuPone and Ebersole take turns performing numbers from throughout their careers."
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"How rare it is to see two great female performances in one season, much less one musical. The 'War Paint' book is also a marvel...Director Michael Greif not only juggles with aplomb these four lead characters and a featured one, but the Depression, World War II, the advent of TV, and the counterculture. It’s quite a story, and one well told...These songwriters are good at the reflective...If only they could be a little brassier now and then."
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“Tremendously satisfying…Wright offers a fascinating history of 20th century fashion and make-up as well as an insightful character study, directed with speed and style by Michael Greif…The score is sharp, funny, and intricate, employing the musical vocabulary of its various eras to convey rapid changes and emotional depths…LuPone and Ebersole command the stage separately but equally…John Dossett and Douglas Sills offer sturdy support as their right-hand men.”
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"The music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie work best when sung by the stars, and director Michael Greif has worked hard to keep up a pace in a show that seems over-extended...However, there is no getting away from the fact that watching LuPone and Ebersole is the main reason for seeing 'War Paint,' and the stars who reign do not disappoint, even in a show with a strained book and less than glorious music."
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"Rest assured, though, that 'War Paint’s' pretty packaging delivers on its core promise: knockout turns by Lupone and Ebersole...Though Arden and Rubenstein are fascinating figures, and their achievements ripe for exploration, the musical often gets bogged down in historical incidents that seem trivial. This is perhaps why the rich but less-than-resonant score by Scott Frankel and Michael Korie often feels like it’s trying to conjure up drama rather than express it."
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“Much is accurate and rather interesting…While Doug Wright’s book is grounded, clever, and illuminating, music by Scott Frankel is bland and repetitive, lyrics by Michael Korie range from congested to cliché…Christine Ebersole’s Elizabeth Arden is palpably formidable. The actress doles out glimpses of vulnerability that make them all the more effective…Ebersole is in superb voice…Patti Lupone’s vibrancy is equally forbidding, but her brush stroke is so wide, we see a cartoon.”
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