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Chicago Puts on its War Paint

More than 80 members and friends of the Dramatists Guild gathered in June at the Goodman Theatre for a special event with Dramatists Guild President Doug Wright, DG Council member Michael Korie, and DG member Scott Frankel. Michael Kerker ASCAP’s Vice President of Musical Theatre, moderated a conversation with the authors about the creation of their new musical, War Paint, which stars Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole in the story of the famous rivalry between cosmetics industry magnates Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden. 

The authors previously collaborated on the musical Grey Gardens, and as Frankel said, “We had long been looking for a project to reunite us, because it was a very happy experience.” Doug Wright brought the team the idea, having read a non-fiction book about the dueling beauty industry titans. As Wright said, “Having written about two formidable women in Grey Gardens, these women were as formidable but dressed a heck of a lot better. It seemed like a perfect project.” Korie said, “Both of the women came from immigrant backgrounds, and were about reinventing themselves into icons of style.” “They were at a Henry Ford level,” added Frankel, “They were C.E.O.’s of companies that bore their names at a time when there were no women in those kind of executive managerial positions.” 

War Paint is the most recent high profile new musical to premiere in Chicago. Our city has long been a proving ground for new plays, with area theatres premiering notable new works that go on to successful productions all over the country. Now the same can be said for new musicals. The Producers, The Addams Family, and Kinky Boots all tried out in Chicago before their Broadway runs. Chicago Shakespeare Theatre premiered Paul Gordon’s Sense and Sensibility, now playing at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire produced two original musicals, Hero and October Sky, that have gone on to significant regional productions. 

Last season executive director Walter Stearns of The Mercury Theatre offered a handsome production of the original musical The Man who Murdered Sherlock Holmes, with a book by John Reeger, and music and lyrics by the late Julie Shannon and Michael Mahler. This season the Underscore Theatre Company’s production of Haymarket: The Anarchist’s Songbook by Alex Higgin-Houser and David Kornfeld played to capacity audiences. 

New musical development opportunities also continue to multiply. Both the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace and the Paramount Theatre in Aurora have hired associates to identify original musicals that would be a good match with their audiences. This season the American Music Theatre Project at Northwestern University will offer David Bell, Buddy Farmer and Michael Mahler’s Rockne: There’s Something in the Game, Ryan Cunningham and Joshua Salzman’s Michael Collins, and Adam Gwon and Michele Lowe’s The Proxy Marriage. The FWD Theatre Project continues to present readings of new musicals, and a full roster of new musicals debuts at this year’s Chicago Music Theatre Festival.

War Paint event

ccoons@dramatistsguild.com