Ten years ago Uptown Players scored one of its major early successes with Kiss of the Spider Woman. The 1993 Tony Award-winning musical had won its original star, Chita Rivera, all the top New York awards, and Uptown's version brought its star, Linda Leonard, all of the Dallas equivalents.
Now Uptown is reviving its hit show with Leonard again playing the title role. The musical adaptation of the story by John Kander and Fred Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago) considerably expanded its scope and lightened its tone. The hard-hitting original told the story of a gay man imprisoned in Latin America who falls in love with a straight fellow prisoner who is a revolutionary. The gay prisoner fantasizes about a film star, which gives the story its name. In the musical, though, we actually see the movie production numbers he is dreaming about — starring the femme fatale who inhabits his imagination.
This time around, Bruce R. Coleman is directing the show. Mikey Abrams plays the gay prisoner, and John Campione (so good in Uptown's recent Songs for a New World) is the revolutionary. Other terrific local actors such as Bill Jenkins and Lois Sonnier Hart are also in the cast.
Aug. 2-18 at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd., Dallas. $30-$40. 214-219-2718. uptownplayers.org.
