Diego Luna and Jennifer Lopez in ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ (photo: Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions)

The new film “Kiss of the Spider Woman” has a complicated history. First, let’s be clear which version to which we’re referring. It’s based on the famed 1976 novel by the gay Argentinian writer Manuel Puig, which was made into a 1985 film starring William Hurt, Raul Julia, and Sonja Bragg. Nominated for four Oscars, the straight Hurt won Best Actor, the first time an actor was awarded for a gay role.

However, this adaptation is not a remake of the film. In 1992/1993 it was transformed into a Broadway musical with music by John Kander and Fred Ebb, the gay duo of “Cabaret” and “Chicago,” based on a book by the late gay playwright Terence McNally, starring the late incomparable Chita Rivera

See Full Page