Jennifer Lopez at ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ Oscar Buzz, Sundance and more

Jennifer Lopez brought major star power Black Studio presented by Audible at Sundance ahead of the world premiere of her new musical, “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” She was joined in the interview by the film’s director, Bill Condon, best known for writing the Oscar-winning “Chicago” and for directing “Dreamgirls” and co-star Tonatiuh. Lopez was effusive in saying that she has been waiting her whole life for a movie role like this.

“I’ve been waiting my whole life to do a really big MGM Hollywood musical and I finally got to do it,” Lopez shared Variations Matt Donnelly. “It was more (than I hoped). Me and Diego (Luna) were on set and we’re dancing around and we’re singing and looking at each other and it’s like we don’t want to do anything but musicals. Diego said that ! Me too. I don’t want to do anything else.”

“Kiss of the Spider Woman” is a film adaptation of the 1993 Broadway musical of the same name, which won Chita Rivera a Tony Award for the role that Lopez now plays on screen. The music is by the legends John Kander and Fred Ebb, while the musical itself is based on Manuel Puig’s novel.

The musical is set in an Argentine prison in 1981. Lopez would play the title role, a fantasy woman named Aurora created by Luis Molina, a gay hairdresser serving an eight-year sentence for allegedly corrupting a minor. To escape the horrors of his imprisonment, Molina envisions movies starring Aurora as a classic silver screen diva, which includes the role of Spider-Woman who kills her prey with a kiss. Molina’s life is turned upside down when a Marxist, Valentin Arregui Paz, is brought into his cell and the two form an unlikely bond.

Lopez said the film serves as a reminder “that love heals all divides,” explaining, “It’s about two different people who come together and find the humanity in each other and fall in love. To me, that’s something that’s special and must be seen. We are all just human. It is an important film in this way.”

When the subject of Oscar buzz was brought up, Lopez said she didn’t “even want to start the conversation,” though she added, “Obviously, I’d love it to get the recognition that I think it deserves.”

“Bill wrote a script where, for the first time in my life, I was lying in bed reading it and I started saying it out loud. Saying the lines and laughing and crying,” Lopez said. “This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I got into movies because of ‘West Side Story.’ I thought I was going to Broadway. I wanted to do movies, but I didn’t even think about musicals. My kids love musicals. It was a dream come true.”

Before Sundance, Lopez said Black that working on “Kiss of the Spider Woman” was “probably my favorite movie experience,” adding, “It’s a movie about how love transcends everything — the harshest of circumstances, gender, social prejudice. Everything.”

“Kiss of the Spider Woman” is one of the biggest films to sell at Sundance this year.