During the summer of 2016, Kathryn and I saw the Doug Wright / Scott Frankel / Michael Korie musical "War Paint," which was performing its World Premiere at the Albert Theatre of the Goodman Theatre Center in Chicago, IL. The musical starred Patti LuPone as Helena Rubinstein and Christine Ebersole as Elizabeth Arden--and featured Douglas Sills as Harry Fleming and John Dossett as Tommy Lewis. The scenic designer was David Korins. Before Kathryn and I saw the show (she texted me "War Paint" lyrics sung to the tune of "When You're Good to Mamma" from "Chicago." "Ask any of the members in my crew... if you're gonna paint something... Always paint it blue..." I forget the next line but it ended with "... Because the system works... the system called... P-A-I-N-T......"
Anyway, Kathryn and I liked the show, but she didn't like the song "Donosaurs" in Act Two. Other than that, it really wasn't a bad show. I liked the song "Forever Beautiful," because Patti Lupone sang her heart out in that song. It's hard to remember the rest of the show. Apparently the musical was inspired by both "War Paint" by Lindy Woorhead and "The Powder & the Glory" by Ann Carol Grossman and Arnie Reisman. When "War Paint" opened on Broadway in 2017, it ran for 236 performances and 13 previews.
One of the unique aspects of this show is that Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein don't interact on stage together until the end of the musical. I remember one scene at a restaurant they are seated at booths adjacent to eachother but don't exchange a single word with one another. Yet they go so far as to sabotage eachother's businesses and product. I also remember that I saw this show the evening before making a trip to New York to visit my mom, who got me the tickets to "War Paint" as a gift while she still lived in the Chicago area. This was the only musical I've seen at Goodman Theatre (so far).
When the cast was taking their bows, it Douglas Sills looked right up at the row where Kathryn and I were sitting (in the front row of the mezzanine). I know he wasn't looking directly at us. If he was, he was probably thinking that Kathryn must have loved the "Donosaurs" song. I'm sure he was just acknowledging the audience in the mezzanine. At the time, I wondered if he was looking at us though. I also felt a narcissistic certainty that the world revolved around me, with occasional planetary objects bumping Kathryn upside the head.
This show was a lot better than other World Premieres or Pre-Broadway Engagements I've seen in Chicago. I've seen three World 🌎 Premiere Productions at the Goodman Theatre, including "War Paint." The other shows I saw were "How to Catch Creation" and "Twilight Bowl." Those two shows were not musicals. While they were more cutting-edge and probably all-around better shows than "War Paint," they didn't have two Broadway legends in the leading roles. But I'm glad to have seen all three World Premiere Productions at the Goodman Theatre.
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