Tag Archive for: Helena Rubenstein

Surprise — The Unheralded Star of the Hit Musical “War Paint” Is the St. Regis Hotel

Watch a movie set in New York, and there’s a good chance you’ll see a Manhattan hotel, whether in a starring role or an unforgettable cameo (think of the The Plaza’s Oak Bar in North by Northwest).

But Broadway shows? Not so often.

Which brings us to War Paint, the engaging, multilayered new musical about the indefatigable 20th-century beauty entrepreneurs Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubenstein. As you’d expect, the equally indefatigable Christine Ebersole portraying Arden (“Hold fast to youth and beauty”) and Patti LuPone as Rubenstein (“There are no ugly women, only lazy ones”) are terrific.

And the hotel where several pivotal scenes unfold on stage? Read more