Jennifer Lopez: "Spider-Woman"

It seems fine to give a Kander/Ebb role to Jennifer Lopez: The part of Aurora doesn't require much beyond charisma and dancing skill, and J-Lo can deliver.

To me, "Spider-Woman" is really about Molina; I learned last week that, back in 2015, Alan Cumming was in talks to do the part, and this seems like a missed opportunity. Molina is caught in a triangle. He misses his mother, who is dying, but to see her, he may need to betray his crush, his fellow inmate, Valentin.

"Spider-Woman" becomes a deeply strange love story; Molina understands that a hospital visit may involve torture, so he spares Valentin from the ministrations of nurses. (A nurse could slip drugs into Valentin's system, causing Valentin to cough up political info he'd rather not disclose.) As he plays doctor, Molina shares his history and his hopes, and he makes a friend. Additionally, he risks his life by placing Marxist "plotting" calls, on Valentin's behalf, out in the real world. We understand what is at stake; Molina could ultimately leave his own mother childless:

Mama, I'm coming to get you--

It won't be much longer.

Mama, you'll see....

Soon, we'll be going to movies....

I'll buy you beautiful things....

Molina is a force of nature, determined to remake the world as he would like it to be:

Hush, Mama, hush...

You've got no reason to cry....

Molina's death is inevitable, but his increasingly bold actions are to be celebrated. I think--in the three great Kander/Ebb musicals--Molina is the closest we get to something like a hero.

The movie producers want to cast an "unknown"--and I wish them luck!

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