Dreams do still come true, it seems. On Sunday night in Park City, Utah, the big “hot ticket” screening was the world premiere of Bill Condon’s much-anticipated “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” a dazzling big screen adaptation of Terrence McNally, John Kander, and Fred Ebb’s 1992 Broadway musical of the same name (itself a take on Manuel Puig’s 1976 novel of the same name). While the story, about a pair of Argentinian prisoners who are brought together during the “Dirty War,” was previously made into a feature film in 1995 with stars William Hurt, Raul Julia, and Sônia Braga, Condon’s film marks the first big screen musical spin on the original material.
And, for star Jennifer Lopez , starring in a musical — her very first, if you can believe it — was the culmination of decades of dreaming. The film, which stars breakout star Tonatiuh as Luis Molina (a flamboyant young Argentine tossed into prison for inappropriate acts with another man, but who dreams of one day being a woman) and Diego Luna as a political prisoner named Valentin Arregui (Molina’s initially reserved cellmate), debuted at the Eccles Theatre to massive applause during the film and a standing ovation after. Afterwards, visibly moved and teary Lopez took the stage with Condon and Tonatiuh to chat with festival head Eugene Hernandez.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life,” Lopez said, choking up. “The reason I even wanted to be in this business is because my mom would sit.
