Jennifer Lopez is set to star in “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” an upcoming adaptation of the 1993 Terrence McNally Broadway musical directed by “Dreamgirls” filmmaker Bill Condon, according to media reports.
Set in 1981, the musical follows Luis, a gay hairdresser who is imprisoned for eight years for allegedly corrupting a minor, and who forms an unlikely bond with a Marxist cellmate. As an escape from his imprisonment, he weaves fantasies of a silver screen starlet named Aurora, who will be played by Lopez, who appears in imaginary movies such as one in which she plays a spider woman with a deadly kiss.
The Broadway musical “Kiss of the Spider Woman” was adapted from a novel by Manuel Puig that was also made into a 1985 feature film that earned William Hurt an Oscar for his performance as Luis. The Broadway musical won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
Condon’s history of movie musicals is prolific. Along with writing and directing “Dreamgirls,” Condon wrote the screenplay adaptation for the Best Picture Oscar winner “Chicago,” directed Disney’s remake of “Beauty and the Beast,” and co-wrote the screenplay for “The Greatest Showman.” His non-musical work includes films like “Gods and Monsters” and the two-part “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.”
Lopez’s signing was first reported by Variety.