Zakary Thomas Morton and Maria Isabel Photo by Molly Jay Photography

Besides Valentin and Molina, there is a third major character in the story, a fabled film actress called Aurora, whose films rabid fan Molina recounts over and over in his mind to escape his gruesome reality. He adores revisiting the strong, glamorous women Aurora portrays–all but one, the Spider Woman who lures men into her clutches and kills them with her kiss. That one frightens Molina.

Since its publication, Kiss of the Spider Woman had been wending its way through various art forms. Puig wrote a play based on his novel in 1983; an English translation by Allan Baker had its London premier starring Mark Rylance and Simon Callow in 1985. 1985 also saw the release of a film version starring Raul Julia, William Hurt, and Sonia Braga. Hurt won the Best Actor Oscar as Molina, and the film was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, Best Director (Héctor Babenco), and Best Adapted Screenplay.

From there, a stage musical might have seemed not so great a leap. The task was undertaken by a quartet of extraordinary talents: composer John Kander, lyricist Fred Ebb, playwright Terrence McNally, and legendary director Harold Prince, who helmed its original production. Not only did it open on Broadway in 1993, starring Chita Rivera, Brent Carver and Anthony Crivello, but it won that year's Tony Award for Best Musical, as well as Best Book, Best Score, Best Costumes, and for each of its three stars, and ran for 904 performances. In spite of the accolades, since then the show has not reappeared with much frequency in terms of revivals or regional productions, though just this fall, a film adaptation of the musical brought the show back to our attention.

Because it shows up so rarely, I suspect there are many readers who, like me, have never had the opportunity to see the stage musical–I regrettably missed the national tour that played at the Ordway in 1996. You may, like me, be completely familiar with its score, laden with great Kander and Ebb songs–not quite Cabaret or Chicago great, but still great. I am grateful to Teatro del Pueblo for creating an opportunity to see the show, especially how those songs meld with a fiercely intense book, and how the musical gaiety of some of the songs meant to be "big numbers" from Aurora's movies work in the context of such a somber narrative.

McNally's book works extremely well. The majority of the book scenes are between Molina and Valentin, and some between Molina and the prison warden who sets Molina up to spy on his radical cellmate in exchange for an early release to be with his ailing mother. There are also the taunts flung by the prison guards at both Valentin and Molina–though Molina has learned, from years of living as a homosexual in a society that glorifies machismo, to deflect their taunts, even if the price is humiliation. Throughout, the dialogue feels authentic, especially in building the central relationship between Valentin and Molina. Songs that are embedded in these places work well, with standouts such as "Dressing Them Up/I Draw the Line," "Dear One," "Gabriel's Letter/My First Woman," and "Anything for Him." There is also a powerful anthem, "The Day After That," to express the belief that liberty and equality will ultimately prevail.

However, the songs that are presented in full floor-show manner that are meant to be taken from Aurora's movies are jarring. Rather than provide dialogue for Aurora that allows her to reflect on Molina and Valentin's situation, the show pops right into production numbers that don't add much more than glitz. There are two songs for Aurora–"I Do Miracles," which offers healing by force of love and compassion, and the title song, in which Aurora, fully transformed into the Spider Woman, conveys the futility of resisting her deadly kiss. But those would-be showstopper numbers fall flat.

It may be that with a blazing talent like Chita Rivera, or Vanessa Williams who scored big making her Broadway debut as Rivera's replacement, those numbers are exciting enough to make up for their abrupt arrival and ill fit. Unfortunately, Teatro del Pueblo's production is unable to deliver that level of excitement. Lelis Brito has devised choreography that is pleasing enough, but the ensemble as a whole, and Maria Isabel at the center of these numbers as Aurora, don't have the zest for these numbers to do for us what they do for Molina, which is to whisk us away from our lives, if only for a moment.

That said, Teatro del Pueblo's Kiss of the Spider Woman is a moving, deeply felt, and inventively staged production. Justiniano's direction of books scenes draws us to the two lead characters, building their relationship with conviction, while allowing that each remains flawed. He also makes terrific use of Jacelyn Stewart's inventive set, with the realistic prison cell front and center, backed by a weblike grating that contains the other prisoners, and a perch on one side that transforms into the Spider Woman's lair, abetted by Bill Larsen's effective lighting design. Caroline Amaral Zaltron's costumes serve the production well, sparkling for the production numbers, sobering for the prison scenes, and enticing for the Spider Woman.

Zakary Thomas Morton is phenomenal as Molina, delivering a range of emotions from the giddy "Dressing Them Up" to the wistful "She's a Woman" to the adoring "Mama, It's Me," the impassioned, surrealistic finale. Sylvestrey P'Orantes provides powerful contrast as Valentin, disgusted by his cellmate's rantings and gradually showing how a man can begin to accept, and then to appreciate, what he once abhorred. P'Orantes brings a beautiful, strong voice to the role, especially stirring pining for his girlfriend "Marta," and leading the choral "The Day After That."

Maria Isabel makes her strongest impression when she is intimately engaged with Molina and Valentin, as in "I Do Miracles" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman." She is wonderful single-handedly (with Molina's expressive narration) playing out the melodramatic "Russian Movie/Good Times," foreshadowing what lies ahead for the two cellmates. In these moments, her capacity to deliver vital emotional content and her strong voice strengthen the production.

In other roles, Raquel Ponce gives a moving portrayal as Molina's mother, earnestly singing the tender "You Could Never Shame Me," Justin Cervantes is suitably forceful as the Warden, and Robert P. Banks impresses as Molina's unrequited crush, Gabriel, with an earnest delivery of "Gabriel's Letter." I felt less authenticity from the connection between Valentin and Marta, played by Ninchai Nok-Chiclana.

In choral numbers, the ensemble sounds especially robust, and the music sounds great as delivered by an onstage five-member band able to perform on a wide variety of instrument, led by music director (and extraordinary percussionist) Caitlin Halmrast Lucic.

Thanks to Teatro del Pueblo's ambitions and artistry, Kiss of the Spider Woman has made a rare appearance, and it is well worth seeing, especially for anyone who has not had the opportunity to see how this well-travelled property plays out as a work of musical theatre. Having now seen it, I have no doubt that its Tony Awards and other accolades were deserved.

Kiss of the Spider Woman, a production of Teatro del Pueblo, runs through November 23, 2025, at the Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Avenue South, Minneapolis MN. For tickets and information, please visit www.teatrodelpueblo.org.

Book: Terrance McNally, based on the novel by Manuel Puig; Music: John Kander; Lyrics: Fred Ebb; Director: Alberto Justiniano; Music Director: Caitlin Halmrast Lucic; Choreographer: Lelis Brito; Scenic Design: Jacelyn Stewart; Costume Design: Caroline Amaral Zaltron Lighting Design: Bill Larsen; Sound Design: Mik Finnegan; Properties Designer: Renée Gonzalez; Assistant Costume Designer: Nat Koch; Technical Director: Austin Stiers; Stage Manager: Carney Gray.

Cast: Robert P. Banks (Gabriel/ensemble), Justin Cervantes (Warden), Sheila Colmenares (Fuentes/ensemble), Maria Isabel (Spider Woman/Aurora), Eric Lee (Emilio/ensemble), Umar Malik (Esteban), Zakary Thomas Morton (Molina), Ninchai Nok-Chiclana (Marta/ensemble), Samuel Osborne-Huerta (Marcos/Amnesty International Observer), Silvestrey P'Orantes (Valentin), Raquel Ponce (Mother/ensemble), Leo Rossmiller (Carlos/ensemble), Quinn Wambeke (Aurelio/Emilio/Ensemble)