Are you ready for this closeup? Two-time Tony winners Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole will headline War Paint, a new musical about beauty titans Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. The show features a score by Grey Gardens team Scott Frankel and Michael Korie and a book by Doug Wright. Performances will begin on June 28, 2016. Michael Greif, who directed Ebersole in Grey Gardens, will helm the world premiere production.
LuPone recently returned to the New York stage in Shows for Days off-Broadway. Her numerous Broadway credits include Tony-winning turns in Evita and Gypsy, as well as Sweeney Todd, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Master Class and Anything Goes.
Ebersole won Tonys for her performance as Edith Beale and Little Edie in Grey Gardens and for her role in the 2001 revival of 42nd Street. Her additional credits include Blithe Spirit, Steel Magnolias, Dinner at Eight and The Best Man.
The show follows Rubinstein (LuPone) and Arden (Ebersole) as they sacrifice everything to become innovators in the fashion and beauty industry. As America’s first major female entrepreneurs, their determination sparked a relentless rivalry that pushed both to persevere in a world dominated by men.