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Hannah Evans

Exploring the Art Form

David Loud

10 April 2025

Kiss of the Spider Woman

​ In a world of constant corruption and political pandemonium, it often feels as if it is

impossible to make a difference as an average citizen. People have rallied for centuries across the

globe, yet somehow it seems that the human race will never be freed from injustice. However

helpless one may feel, there is one medium that has been constantly successful in changing

opinions in mass numbers. Political fiction is one of the most subtle, yet effective forms of

protest. Authors like George Orwell and Ray Bradbury wrote powerful novels that influenced

public opinion and provoked uncomfortable, yet necessary, conversation. Kiss of the Spider

Woman is one of the most compelling pieces of political fiction that does all of this in a heartfelt,

entertaining, and potent manner.

​ The story was created in 1976 by Argentine writer Manuel Puig. The novel, which was

banned in Argentina until 1983, shows the conversations between two cell mates in an Argentine

prison and the journey of their deep relationship. Molina is a queer window dresser who is

sensitive, self-deprecating, yet charming, serving eight years for the corruption of a minor.

Valentin is a devoted revolutionary who is stubborn, assertive, and unwaveringly loyal to his

cause. The style of the novel is eccentric due to its lack of a narrative tone; the majority of the

text is strictly dialogue between Molina and Valentin. It is written in a similar form to a script,

but instead of the character’s name indicated before each line, it is only a dash. The first time the

reader learns the names of the characters isn’t until about halfway through the first chapter when
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they call each other by name in the dialogue. The form of the novel also includes occasional

stream-of-consciousness writing, indicated by italics, as well as fictional government

documentation.

​ The novel opens abruptly, in the middle of a conversation where one cell mate, who we

later learn is Molina, describes in detail the opening shots of one of his favorite films. Valentin

occasionally interjects with his own questions, setting up the conversational tone that remains

throughout the rest of the novel. The reader is quickly enveloped in the film. It is a tragic love

story about an ordinary architect and a cursed woman who, when pursued sexually by a man,

transforms into a black panther and kills him. Snippets of conversation between Molina’s

description of the film reveal pieces of each character’s personality. And thus the novel continues

as the men are transformed by their flourishing relationship, with the help of Molina’s

fascination with the spectacle and romance of the movies.

​ Molina and Valentin portray an objective homosexual relationship that had rarely been

depicted in literature previously. Scattered throughout the novel, there are a series of footnotes

that include factual information on the psychoanalysis of homosexuality. These footnotes

typically appear during moments of honest conversation about Molina’s sexuality, or during

moments of quarrel between the two. The presence of these footnotes confirm Puig’s political

intention of genuine homosexual representation. In the novel Kander and Ebb, the author, James

Leve, further explores this point, saying, “Puig’s novel treats gender as performance and

deconstructs the binary definition of gender as constructed by machismo culture: the submissive

woman and the repressive male. Molina acts like a submissive woman because it is the only role

that society has made available to gay men.”

Puig’s narrative portrays the importance of human connection even under the most

extreme circumstances, while also emphasizing the power of fantasy and storytelling. For all of

these reasons, this material was destined for the stage where the enhanced expression of music

could further depict the passions, traumas, fears, and imaginations of the characters that Puig

made so many readers fall in love with. However, adapting such a powerful yet unconventional

300 page novel into a two and a half hour musical comes with its challenges.

In the mid 1980s, composer and lyricist duo John Kander and Fred Ebb decided to tackle

the project. They called in Broadway’s most critically acclaimed director of the time, Hal Prince.

In Kander and Ebb’s book (as told to Greg Lawrence), Colored Lights, Kander reveals their

motivations for the project, stating, “Immediately, we saw musical theatrical possibilities in it…

It was perfectly obvious to the three of us that not only do you have the exotic locale of a South

American prison, but you’re spending half the evening inside of somebody else’s fantasy, and if

that isn’t a clear message to do something musical, I don’t know what would be.” The team

began working directly with Puig, who was originally going to adapt the novel into the libretto,

but Puig and Ebb had differing opinions on how the story should be adapted. Puig believed that

the detailed film sequences were important to the audience's understanding of the relationship

between Molina and Valentin, however, it was important to ensure that the sequences did not

overshadow their story. But Ebb insisted that the style of the sequences were more important

than the content. After numerous failed drafts and new concepts, nothing Puig offered lived up to

the vision of Ebb, and in the late eighties, playwright Terrence McNally joined the team.

McNally got to work, and soon the team had a new concept that involved a brand new

film sequence that was inspired by Hollywood style Rita Hayworth films. In this sequence, the

main character, Aurora, is married to a powerful mafia leader when she finds that she has fallen
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in love with a poor sailor, who also happens to be the leader of the resistance movement. The

team believed having a fantasy that paralleled Molina and Valentin’s own stories would be the

most effective way to tell their stories.

Another change made in McNally’s concept was the invention of the role of the Spider

Woman. In the original novel, the Spider Woman is mentioned near the end of the story in an

intensely intimate moment between Molina and Valentin. It is Molina’s last day before being

pardoned, and he has asked Valentin for one thing before he departs: a kiss. The two had already

been together sexually prior to this, but to both of them, a kiss is far more intimate. Molina asks

if Valentin feels repulsed by this idea, and he responds, “Mmm . . . It must be a fear that you’ll

turn into a panther, like with the first movie you told me.” But in this moment, Valentin gives

Molina a new label: the Spider Woman who traps men in her web. This moment represents

Valentin’s transformation. He no longer pokes fun at Molina’s fantasies or sexuality, but he

celebrates them with a great adoration. However, Kander, Ebb, and McNally drew inspiration

from the first movie adaption created by Hector Babenco in 1985, where the Spider Woman is an

actual character in one of the film sequences, meant to be a symbol of Molina’s own imagined

version of himself, rather than Valentin’s. The new team had a similar approach, making the

Spider Woman a reappearing character from a film Molina has known and feared since

childhood.

Although Kander, Ebb, and McNally created a concept with the style and flair of a

successful Broadway show, it lacked the true emotional depth that Puig created in the novel. The

audience has less substance to fully grasp the intimacies and complexities of Molina and

Valentin’s relationship and more specifically, Valentin’s character. In the novel, Valentin may

come across as cold and distant at first, but as he warms up to Molina his selfless spirit and soft
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heart are revealed. Unfortunately in the musical, he comes across as one-dimensional. We only

see him soften a few times, mostly when he opens up about Marta, the girl he left for the

revolution. Later, during the number “Anything For Him,” Valentin’s intentions seem quite cruel.

The song takes place after Molina has announced that he has been pardoned and will be leaving

the following day. Just as in the novel, Valentin begs Molina to help the revolution by making a

phone call, promising he would be safe from harm. Unlike the novel, however, the lyrics

Valentin sings in “Anything For Him” suggest that the only reason he decided to pursue Molina

sexually was to persuade him to do as he asked. He sings: “If we touch before he goes he’ll make

that call. He’d do anything for me. Anything at all.” This paints Valentin as manipulative and

selfish, whereas the novel did the opposite.

However, Kander and Ebb’s musical brilliance in “The Day After That” compensates for

Valentin’s inaccurate portrayal in “Anything For Him.” In the song, Valentin describes his

childhood in poverty, inventing a background for his character that was never specified in the

novel. He also expresses his vision of a brighter world, one he is willing to sacrifice everything

for. The lyrics allow the audience to empathize with him and further understand his enduring

loyalty to the revolution. “The Day After That” is a pivotal moment in Valentin’s character

development and is an anthem of hope that remains relevant today.

The musical also avoided the portrayal of certain ethnic aspects that are present in Puig’s

novel. For example, as the team prepared to workshop the show at State University of New York

at Purchase, neither of the actors who played Molina or Valentin could pass as Latinx. James

Leve provides a possible explanation for this issue in Kander and Ebb: “[A] sympathetic story of

a developing friendship between a straight man and gay man set against the brutal forces of

machismo society was probably the only aspect of the original story that seemed tenable for the
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mostly North American Broadway market…McNally, Ebb, and Kander were not culturally

predisposed to treating the ethnic aspects of either Molina’s or Valentin’s sexual orientation.”

The team missed the mark on including the ethnic representations that are present in the

novel, however, they were able to portray homophobia in a complex and powerful manner. After

all, McNally is known for his representation of the LGBTQ+ community in his writing. The

depictions of homophobia in the script are much more targeted and vicious than in the novel,

intending to make audiences uncomfortable. By the standards of political fiction, this is a more

effective portrayal of homophobia because it is likely that audiences will be moved, forcing them

to empathize with the queer community both on stage and in their daily lives.

Kiss of the Spider Woman’s first workshop at the SUNY at Purchase was not as

successful as the team had hoped. While they were not expecting critics to be there (since it was

only a workshop), they had come regardless, unafraid of giving their harsh, yet honest, reviews.

So, McNally, Prince, Kander, and Ebb returned to the drawing board. Most reviews claimed that

the film sequence overpowered the story of Molina and Valentin (Puig’s exact concerns with

Ebb’s vision). So, instead of focusing on a sequence that forced audiences to follow another plot

line, they chose to invent the character of Aurora, a riveting Hollywood actress that is the source

of Molina’s movie fixation. Aurora spends the majority of the musical as the Spider Woman,

imagined as a symbol of guidance for Molina while additionally adding emphasis to certain

scenes. The team unanimously decided that they needed Broadway’s finest to portray Aurora’s

enthralling qualities. Clearly, they had no choice but to cast the one and only Chita Rivera.

Molina’s film fantasies were musicalized into show stopping numbers that served as transitional

moments that both lightened the intense plot and realized Molina’s fantastic imagination.
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The musicality of Kiss of the Spider Woman is perhaps the most successful aspect of the

show. The numbers drawn from Molina’s imagination are richly stylized, including genres such

as tango, jazz, and Old Hollywood. Songs like “Where You Are,” “Gimme Love,” and “Only in

the Movies” are complete with sultry melodies and lush orchestrations that reflect the glamour

and reverie of classic cinema.

Kander and Ebb were very careful when choosing what moments to enhance and

emphasize through song. For example, they cleverly chose to put more focus on Molina’s

background as a window dresser in his song, “Dressing Them Up.” This song allows the

audience to get a glimpse into the intricacies of Molina’s mind. An example of this is present in

the following lyrics, “Once, I asked for a Balenciaga scarf to stuff in a mannequin’s purse. They

told me, ‘No one on earth will see,” I answered, ‘No one on earth but me!’” This shows how

detail-oriented Molina is, which honors Puig’s original portrayal of the character. In the novel,

Molina’s descriptions of the films always include detailed descriptions of the clothing and

appearance of the characters, especially the women. This proves how “Dressing Them Up,”

successfully captures the essence of Molina’s personality in a charming and entertaining fashion.

After many hours of revising and rehearsing (and a West End run), Kiss of the Spider

Woman finally opened on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theater on May 3, 1993. It was an

acclaimed success all around. The cast included Brent Carver as Molina, Anthony Crivello as

Valentin, and of course, Chita Rivera as Aurora. The musical was nominated for eleven Tony

Awards and won seven, including Best Musical, Best Actor, Actress, and Featured Actor, Best

Book and Score, and Best Costume Design. Critics acknowledged the musical’s flaws, but

mostly raved about the power and “defiant theatricality,” as put by David Richards in the 1993

New York Times review.

In adapting Kiss of the Spider Woman from novel to musical, Kander, Ebb, McNally, and

Prince took on the ambitious task of transforming Puig’s complex and emotional political fiction

into a moving piece of theatre. Puig did not live to see the final musical adaptation as he died of

a heart attack in 1990. Nevertheless, he would be proud to know that the heart of his novel is

preserved in a critically acclaimed work of art. While certain aspects were flattened in the

transition, such as the novel’s Latin American cultural specificity and portrayal of Valentin’s

emotional depth, the musical succeeded in reaching a broader audience through its compelling

score, moving storytelling, and political significance.

Works Cited

Kander, John, Fred Ebb, and Greg Lawrence. Colored Lights: Forty Years of Words and Music,

Showbiz, Collaboration, and All That Jazz. Faber & Faber C/O Vhps Holtzbrinck Publishing,

2003.

Kander, John, Fred Ebb, and Terrance McNally. Kiss of the Spider Woman. RCA Victor, 1992.

Leve, James. Kander and Ebb. Yale University Press, 2015.

Miller, Scott. “Inside the Spider Woman.” New Line Theatre, 2005,

www.newlinetheatre.com/spiderwomanchapter.html.

Puig, Manuel. Kiss of the Spider Woman. Seix Barral, 1976.

Richards, David. “Theater Review: ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman.’” The New York Times, The New

York Times, 16 May 1993, archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/specials/ragtime/kiss.html.