"Kiss of the Spider Woman" was given a workshop by New Musicals, whose goal was to create, develop, and provide a working home for sixteen new musicals over four years, at the Performing Arts Center, State University of New York at Purchase in May 1990. It was directed by Harold Prince with choreography by Susan Stroman and featured John Rubinstein, Kevin Gray, Lauren Mitchell, and Harry Goz. An attempt to persuade New York critics not to review this initial production (given its workshop status) failed, with Frank Rich in "The New York Times", followed by other critics covering the production and filing mostly negative reviews. New Musicals folded after "Spider Woman".