original cast album in London); in an unusual move producers recorded and released a second cast album featuring these principals. The US regional theater premier took place at Masquerade Theatre in Houston, TX in May 1999. Directed and choreographed by Jim Williams, the show featured scenic and lighting design by Amy Ross and music direction by Brandon Matthews. The cast included Gina Nepoli-Holmes as Aurora, L. Jay Meyer as Molina, Pablo Bracho as Valentine, Monica Rial as Molina's Mother, Jacqui Williams as Marta, Tim Wroble as Gabriel, and Todd Porter as The Warden. A 1996 touring version featured Chita Rivera again along with Juan Chioran as Molina and Dorian Harewood as Valentin. It opened in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the Lola Membrives Theatre on May 2, 1995. It opened in São Paulo, Brasil, in 2000, with Cláudia Raia and Miguel Falabella in the main roles. Vortex Theatre Company revived it off Broadway in New York City in 2007. A reduced production with a cast of 7 opened at The Darlinghust Theatre in Sydney, Australia on 13 July 2010. Directed and choreographed by Stephen Colyer and music directed by Craig Renshaw, the cast included Alexis Fishman (Aurora/Marta), James Lee (Molina), Frank Hansen (Valentin), Jennifer White (Molina's Mother), Wayne McDaniel (The Warden), Jim Williams (Estabon/Gabriel), and Matt Young (Marcos/Aurelio). Response In his review of the Broadway production for The New York Times, Frank Rich wrote that the musical "does not meet all the high goals it borrows from Manuel Puig's novel. When it falls short, it pushes into pretentious overdrive (a "Morphine Tango", if you please) and turns the serious business of police-state torture into show-biz kitsch every bit as vacuous as the B-movie cliches parodied in its celluloid fantasies. Yet the production does succeed not only in giving Ms. Rivera a glittering spotlight but also in using the elaborate machinery of a big Broadway musical to tell the story of an uncloseted, unhomogenized, unexceptional gay man who arrives at his own heroic definition of masculinity." Awards and nominations Original London production Original Broadway production Popular culture references In 2020, an amateur production of the musical is the focus of "Chapter Seven: Kiss of the Spider Woman" episode of Katy Keene. The Katy Keene cast album of the musical was produced via WaterTower Music. References External links Working in the Theatre: Kiss of the Spider Woman, panel discussion featuring the creators of