A new version of the classic “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” which has been a movie and a successful musical over the past 20-plus years, is tentatively slated to come to Broadway some time in the next several months.
Argentinian writer Manuel Puig gave us the story of two men in 1976 sharing a cell in the Villa Devoto prison in Buenos Aires. They are Molina and Valentin, one a homosexual imprisoned for “gross indecency,” the other imprisoned for his politics. But Molina is a “plant,” placed there to gain information about Valentin’s Marxist leanings and involvement in his Marxist group. Nightly, he regales Valentin with tales of a character in a low-grade movie, a panther woman.
According to Playbill, the new version will be directed by stage veteran Peter DuBois, who recently directed the Off-Broadway production “Jack Goes Boating.” The play will be produced by Darren Bagert, who has produced a version of “Sweeney Todd,” among other credits.
Puig adapted his novel as a play, and an English translation of his play was created by Allan Baker. That version was produced on the London stage in 1985 and again in 2007. The venue for NYC has not yet been determined but it is the Baker translation that will be used.
The original novel by Puig has had other transformations including “The Kiss Of The Spider Woman: The Musical” which played successfully on Broadway in 1994. Movie-goers may be familiar with the 1985 version starring Raul Julia and William Hurt.
