Playwright: Doug Wright (book), Scott Frankel (music), Michael Korie (lyrics). At: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St. Tickets: 312-443-3800; GoodmanTheatre.org/WarPaint; $44-$182. Runs through: Aug. 21
War Paint is an elegant and lavish show, with a lush, jazz-inflected score, gorgeous looks (especially Catherine Zuber’s slightly-exaggerated 1930s-1960s costumes, gown heaven with matching massive jewelry) and star performances. War Paint demonstrates again that Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole are superb singing actors fully dedicated to their roles, thoughtful yet ardent. Still, War Paint is missing something.
What it lacks is character development. From the opening moments set in 1937 New York City, its twin protagonists are fully formed, mature and near the summit of their ferociously competitive careers. Both Helena Rubenstein (LuPone) and Elizabeth Arden (Ebersole) were sixtyish and presiding over multimillion-dollar cosmetics empires, having established themselves internationally by 1915. Focusing almost exclusively on their professional rivalry, War Paint never shows how the two women invented themselves (both were foreign-born and twice-married) or what obstacles they had to overcome.
In real life they intentionally never met although living within close proximity. In War Paint they meet once in old age at the end of the show, a funny and tender scene beautifully directed by Michael Grief with an exquisite unhurried pace. They comprehend that each one is the only person who fully understands the other. Like Blanche and Baby Jane, they might have been friends. Instead they have gone tit-for-tat as business titans for two-plus hours without either one making a life-changing personal choice. The audience can’t take an emotional journey if the characters don’t take one. Arden and Rubenstein have powerful duets in Act I, “If I’d Been a Man” and “Face to Face,” but they concern their professional lives not their personal ones.
As noted above, LuPone and Ebersole are extraordinary as women who are powerful, controlling and never lose their cool. They play larger-than-life characters but their performances are deft and specific, never oversized. Musically they are wonderfully paired, not only in the duets already mentioned but in back-to-back solos at the close of the show, “Pink” for Ebersole/Arden and “Forever Beautiful” for LuPone/Rubenstein. Still, fans expecting each to cut loose number in a really big number will be disappointed. Like the characters themselves, the score sometimes is intense but it’s always carefully modulated without musical explosions. LuPone and Ebersole receive strong and charming support from Douglas Sills and John Dossett as marketing gurus who start with one beauty queen but switch allegiance. Dossett’s character also is Arden’s first husband, their divorce providing impetus for the switcheroo, which really happened.
In its approach to story, character and music War Paint has great integrity, even though it’s still missing something essential. It condenses and alters biographical facts, but not beyond the permissible. The issue isn’t what War Paint changes but what it leaves out.