WAR PAINT Reviews

[LimelightMike]

Let's discuss!

[IdinaBellFoster]

I really loved the show. My second favorite musical of the season behind DEAR EVAN HANSEN.

Hoping the critics enjoy the material, in addition to the leading ladies.

[Miss Jezebel DuPree2]

I really am not sure about how this will be reviewed... I really wanted to like this show, however I could hardly understand any of the words to Ms. LuPone's songs.... between the accent and her shrieking...  The high point of the show was Ms. Ebersole's "Pink", beautiful song...  

The whole show felt rushed, too much material covered in 2.5 hrs...

Just my two cents!

 

[newintown]

I imagine the consensus will be good for the gals, bad for the show.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

The first reviews are in...http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Review-Roundup-Clash-of-the-Cosmetics--WAR-PAINT-Opens-on-Broadway--Updating-Live-20170406

[choitoy]

Glad to see the couple of reviews posted so far seem to be fairly favorable. I saw the show at a matinee last Sunday and was a little worried this show might be DOA going into it, but I was pleasantly surprised by the full looking balcony (fuller than the balcony for "Amelie" that I saw the Wednesday before), and I ended up enjoying the show a lot. I hope that this show does have some legs on it (so to speak).  I'm also happy with the plethora of Broadway Diva Royalty on stage right now in New York!

[ljay889]

Both of those reviews are pretty positive. 

The cast recording will be released in June. Ghostlight is recording it this month.

[Clyde15]

I would say amNY is more positive, but notes the underdevelopment of the book as an issue. NJ.com is definitely more mixed, noting the stars powerful performances but saying the script and music itself is not the greatest. I'm expecting to see the sort of reviews If/Then got, tonight. Tremendous respect for the leading ladies but calls out the weakness of the script and music. 

[ljay889]

This show is crafted far better than If/Then, which was bizarre and muddled, but had a nice score. 

[ljay889]

The Chicago Tribune is Mixed-to-Positive. Rave for the ladies.


But while there is enough substance in "War Paint" to make you feel like everyone involved here is fully aware of the complexity of what these characters represented, 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.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/broadway/sc-ent-0406-war-paint-broadway-review-20170406-column.html

[Clyde15]

I'm not saying they are easily comparable shows in there music and script. I'm just saying the reviews will spend a majority of the time raving the two stars but also making note that the show isn't the best. It's not a horrible show, but really the point is the star power of the two female leads. But when comparing the show to DEH, CFA, or Great Comet, it's a weaker show.

[ljay889]

NBC NY is pretty much a Rave.

Legendary talents Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole play rival cosmetics titans in a highly anticipated new musical that -- hear this, clearly -- is not a two-act cat fight between dueling so-called divas, but rather a smart portrayal of the obstacles faced by a pair of America's earliest female entrepreneurs.

“War Paint,” directed by Michael Greif (“Dear Evan Hansen&rdquo and now open at the Nederlander Theatre, benefits foremost from the remarkable symmetry between its leads.

A double star-vehicle like this is a Broadway rarity. “War Paint,” mostly, is bliss and makeup.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/the-scene/Review-LuPone-Ebersole-War-Paint-418539123.html

[ljay889]

Deadline is a Pan.

http://deadline.com/2017/04/war-paint-broadway-review-1202060335/

[IdinaBellFoster]

Wonderful review from NBC NY! 

[uncageg]

ljay889 said: "Deadline is a Pan.

http://deadline.com/2017/04/war-paint-broadway-review-1202060335/

 

??????This person must not have been paying attention. I understood every word Patti said.

 

[ljay889]

Variety is Mostly Positive, somewhat mixed on the book but calls it "smart and literate".

The world at large may look upon the mighty business empires built by beauty purveyors Madame Helena Rubinstein (on your knees to diva Patti LuPone) and Miss Elizabeth Arden (big bow to diva Christine Ebersole) as the lucrative rackets of two calculating businesswomen profiting from the body-image anxiety of their emotionally needy clients. In Doug Wright’s reverential book, however, the cosmetology queens become pioneering icons of female empowerment. In helmer Michael Greif’s worshipful production, they are also monumental clothes horses.

The “Grey Gardens” team is reunited and in good form here. The music feels right for both the individual characters and the progressive time frames. The lyrics suit the characters and serve the plot. And the book is smart and literate.

http://variety.com/2017/legit/reviews/war-paint-review-broadway-1202024897/

[ljay889]

The Wrap is mostly a Rave, but is slightly mixed on the score, actually preferring the book, but still commends the score.

The “War Paint” book is also a marvel. Taking a page from the classic drama “Mary Stuart,” Wright fabricates a scene where Arden and Rubinstein meet, although his writing owes less to Friedrich Schiller than it does Clare Booth Luce. While there are glimmers here of “The Women,” as well as “The Devil Wears Prada,” “War Paint” succeeds in finding its own thoughtful, often amusing, voice as it travels the shaky ground upon which women wield power.

When Frankel and Korie are good, they’re great. When the needed pizzazz escapes them, there’s always a Wright zinger waiting in the wings when the actors stop singing. LuPone and Ebersole know precisely how to throw every dagger he hands them, and still remain standing at the end.

http://www.thewrap.com/war-paint-broadway-review-patti-lupone-christine-ebersole-never-makeup/

 

[uncageg]

Matthew  Murray hated it, of course. Not even going to post the link.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Pleasantly surprised how this is going so far! Love the praise for the score. 

[ljay889]

The Hollywood Reporter is VERY Positive, but thinks "Dinosaurs" should be cut.

Some no doubt will find the show lacking in dramatic momentum or explosive conflicts. I found it thoroughly compelling and masterfully entertaining throughout. It's an intelligent, character-driven musical about two innovators motivated as much by their own exacting standards as by the spirit of fierce competition between them. And it's been given a suitably deluxe production co-piloted by two star turns for the ages.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/war-paint-theater-991870

[BentleyB]

I have to say I saw seven new musicals over the past 14 days and War Paint was by far the weakest.  It lacked any type of imagination, memorable songs, and LuPone sounded like Eliza Doolittle with a mouthful of marbles. It was three hours of my life I will never get back. 

[A Director]

The Matthew Murray review.

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/world/WarPaint2017.html

[uncageg]

The Hollywood Reporter gave them a nice pull quote in that last sentence.

[GreasedLightning]

I'm not even sure why we bother to post Murray's reviews here anymore. They're all negative, poorly written, boring and all we're doing is giving him more clicks. PASS. 

Overall, I admit I am surprised by these reviews... in a good way! Excited for the Times in a few minutes. 

PS - ljay, THANK YOU for giving some depth to the review links. 

[BroadwayConcierge]

GreasedLightning said: "PS - ljay, THANK YOU for giving some depth to the review links."

Retweet.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Brantley is in, and I believe is positive (reading quickly): https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/theater/review-war-paint-patti-lupone-christine-ebersole.html

Edit: Brantley raves about LuPone and Ebersole, but is a bit more restrained on the show itself.