KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN – Deep, Distressing and Brilliant
Mayflower Studios – Southampton until 6th June 2026
Review: Pat Hayward 3rd June 2026
From the creators of Cabaret and Chicago comes the musical Kiss Of The Spider Woman which plays the Mayflower Studios this week. Marking the 5th anniversary of these venues becoming part of the Mayflower operation in Southampton, how fitting that this first major British production of Kiss Of The Spider Woman since the early 90s should be a Mayflower Southampton co-production together with Curve and Bristol Old Vic. It is easy to see how this musical, when it originally transferred from the West End to Broadway, won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Actor awards for the three leads.
This production is outstanding in every way and is one of the very best productions not only to play this venue but Southampton. Kander and Ebb’s 1992 musical has blasted its way back in the finest way possible. I can’t understand why this brilliant show isn’t better known, the score is one of their best and the book by playwright Terrence McNally is based on the Manuel Puig novel of the same name, is bold and considered, that mixes love and optimism with hatred and despair. In the same way that Les Mis offers moments of operatic grandeur so does Spider Woman and in the next moment quiet intimacy that you might find in a Sondheim show.
Director, Paul Foster really knows how to get the most out of a piece, enough to get the audience totally engaged, but not too much that can often swamp a story with glitz and effects. The sets by David Woodhead are incredible with Howard Hudson’s lighting turning the dark and dingy Argentinian prison cell into a Hollywood dream world with a flick of a switch and the inventive video designs from Andrzej Goulding.
Fabian Soto Pacheco, who hails from Costa Rica, (recently seen fronting the Philharmonic Orchestra in a Coldplay tribute concert) is brilliant as Molina, the camp window dresser and George Blagden (shortly to be seen as Raoul in Love Never Dies at the London Palladium) is dynamite as his cellmate, the austere revolutionary Valentin who buries himself in Marxist texts. To escape from the tedium of cell life Molina has dream fantasies involving the star of childhood favourite movies, Aurora, spectacularly portrayed by Anna-Jane Casey, who also has a dark side as the Spider Woman, is helped with glittering costumes by Gabriella Slade. Anna-Jane brings to the show her extensive West End experience in shows such as Cabaret and Chicago and many other major musicals, as well as fronting the John Wilson Orchestra at the Proms. Not only are the three stars incredible actors they have the best singing voices I have heard on any stage for a very long time, that includes both Broadway and the West End.
But the story includes other memories, Molina’s mother (Tori Scott), Valentin’s girlfriend Marta (Gabriella Garcia) and then there are other friends and the prison guards (Damian Buhagiar, Jay Rinconi, Jess Buckby, Davide Fienauri, Alex Pinder and Tommy Wade-Smith) – all of whom can act, sing and dance (very unusual these days). The choreography by Joanna Goodwin is understated but shows to maximum effect the brilliance of the cast. The seven piece band under the direction of Dan Glover provides the perfect musical platform for the telling of the story, setting the tone and the atmosphere for every varying moment.
This Saturday marks the end of this phase of the production, so if you haven’t got tickets I urge you to get down to Mayflower Studios, get tickets and make sure you see what is the best show we have seen for a long, long time. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if this production doesn’t make it to the West End or even Broadway – it is that good!
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