Kiss of the Spider Woman

The story of Kiss of the Spider Woman

Kiss of the Spider Woman is set in a prison cell in an unnamed South American country during the 1970s, where two very different men are forced to share a cell. Molina is a window dresser imprisoned for a relationship with a young man, who escapes the grim reality around him by narrating the plots of glamorous movies he loved. Valentin is a hardened political revolutionary, jailed for his activism, who at first has little patience for Molina's fantasies.

As the two men are drawn closer together, Molina's movie storytelling blurs with reality, conjuring a film star he calls the Spider Woman, a figure tied to both seduction and death. The show explores political oppression, sexuality, and the redemptive power of imagination and human connection under brutal circumstances.

The music and the makers

The score was written by composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb, the team behind Cabaret and Chicago, with a book by Terrence McNally adapting Manuel Puig's novel. The music mixes traditional Broadway songwriting with Latin dance rhythms and old Hollywood glamour, reflecting both the prison setting and Molina's cinematic fantasies.

Signature numbers include Dressing Them Up, Where You Are, and the title song Kiss of the Spider Woman, which use lush, theatrical staging to contrast the cell's bare reality with Molina's imagined film world. That layering of grim setting and glittering fantasy gives the score its distinctive emotional range.

Kiss of the Spider Woman on Broadway

Kiss of the Spider Woman opened on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre in May 1993, starring Chita Rivera as the Spider Woman and film star Aurora, Brent Carver as Molina, and Anthony Crivello as Valentin. All three leads were honored at that year's Tony Awards, and the production won the Tony Award for Best Musical.

The show has been revived internationally many times since its premiere, though it has not returned to Broadway. A new film adaptation starring Jennifer Lopez, Diego Luna, and Tonatiuh reached theaters in 2025. Kiss of the Spider Woman's willingness to pair a dark, political setting with old fashioned musical theatre glamour has made it one of the more distinctive works in the Kander and Ebb catalogue.

Kiss of the Spider Woman: frequently asked questions