Review Roundup: Kristin Chenoweth Led THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES

The Queen of Versailles will take its Broadway bow during the 2025-26 season, following a the world premiere engagement at the Emerson Colonial Theatre that officially opened on August 1st, 2024.

The Queen of Versailles, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Lindsey Ferrentino, direction by Michael Arden and choreography by Lauren Yalango-Grant & Christopher Cree Grant, will run through August 25 at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre before making its way to Broadway. 

The Queen of Versailles stars Kristin Chenoweth as beauty queen, socialite and TV personality Jacqueline “Jackie” Siegel, F. Murray Abraham as David Siegel, Melody Butiu as Sofia, Stephen DeRosa  as John, Greg Hildreth  as Gary, Tatum Grace Hopkins as Jonquil, Isabel Keating as Debbie, and Nina White as Victoria Siegel.

The company also includes Anna Bakun, Stacie Bono, Yeman Brown, Amanda Jane Cooper, David Aron Damane, Drew Elhamalawy, Sara Esty, KJ Hippensteel, Diana Huey, Cassondra James, Andrew Kober, Jesse Kovarsky, Pablo David Laucerica, Travis Murad Leland, Michael Mulheren, Michael McCorry Rose, and Grace Slear.

This new musical is based on Lauren Greenfield’s award-winning 2012 documentary film The Queen of Versailles and the life stories of Jackie and David Siegel.  

Let's see what the critics have to say!

Laura Collins-Hughes, The New York Times: Act I fizzes entertainingly along, striking just the right tone, Chenoweth’s playfulness and charm endearing Jackie to us. And the show, which starts with and occasionally returns to the original Versailles, looks great. (Set and video are by Dane Laffrey, costumes by Christian Cowan, lighting by Natasha Katz.) But in Act II, the tone flails, even descending briefly into sentimentality with a song called “Little Houses.” The cast is rock solid, and Chenoweth gives a fiercely intelligent performance, emotionally nuanced and deep. The narrative ground beneath the actors is unsteady, though. The darkness has — for now, at least — thrown the show’s creators off.

Terry Byrne, The Boston Globe: Every moment Chenoweth is on stage in “The Queen of Versailles” she commands our attention — not only as Jackie Siegel, the woman obsessed with conspicuous consumption at the center of this new musical, but also as herself: a musical theater diva capable of stunning us with both her vocal prowess and comic timing. ... Chenoweth’s star power may be thrilling, but it can’t blind us to the need for this musical to dig a little deeper into the characters and tighten up its running time before heading to Broadway.

Bob Verini, Variety: “The Queen of Versailles,” the much-anticipated reunion of “Wicked” collaborators Kristin Chenoweth and Stephen Schwartz, offers the diva her richest opportunity to date to flex her dramatic muscles, while inspiring the composer-lyricist to the most emotionally affecting score, bar none, of his long career. This true-life riches-to-rags-to-rebirth saga, chronicled in Lauren Greenfield’s 2012 documentary of the same title, offers more in the way of sociopolitical critique than is usual for a mass-market entertainment. But it’s the production’s lavish appointments, and equivalent star power that offer the strongest prospects for commercial success when the show, now premiering at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre, lands on Broadway in 2025 or ’26.

Tara Bellucci, Time Out New York: You don’t need to have seen the film to follow the plot, but doing so will deepen your appreciation of how fully Chenoweth fills her larger-than-life character’s sparkly shoes. Her Jackie is tenacious to a fault, brilliantly oscillating between out of touch and in on the joke. She’s likable yet cringe: a symbol of unchecked capitalism but also an uncompromising mom who will do anything to secure her family’s future. And Chenoweth’s unique voice breathes Schwartz’s songs to vibrant life, especially in bops like “Caviar Dreams.”

Jacquinn Sinclair, WBUR: The entire ensemble — which works with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine — was complemented by the creative team to pull off an exciting night of theater. French Revolution gear, sequined 1980s dresses and marvelously over-the-top gowns by Christian Cowan and technical costume designer Ryan Park, Dane Laffrey’s scenic and video design (especially the nighttime view of Endwell), Natasha Katz’s lighting and props by Ray Wetmore and JR Goodman all helped make the show even more spectacular.

Jacob Miner, Theaterly: All this to say, this show is fun with a capital F and Chenoweth knows how to take charge of any audience and keep them with her till the curtain drops. When they say pre-Broadway, boy do they mean that. I think this might just be one of the largest productions I have seen in years with utterly brilliant scenic design by frequent Arden collaborator Dane Laffrey. It helps that the wonderful Emerson Colonial, home to numerous Broadway out-of-town tryouts, has a lobby also modeled off of The Palace of Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors. 

Cameron Kelsall, Theatermania: Director Michael Arden finds some balance between the superficial spectacle and hardscrabble reality as the center of the Siegels’ world, but the overall production feels flabby and disjointed, with myriad ideas thrown into the mix to see what will stick. A necessary sense of vulgar luxury remains missing from Dane Laffrey’s scenic design and Christian Cowan’s costumes. An over-reliance on video projections (also by Laffrey) seem designed to evoke the constant presence of a documentary camera, but their continued use throughout the second act, when the filming has ostensibly stopped, feels incongruous and alienating.

R. Scott Reedy, BroadwayWorld: Under Arden’s brisk and well-paced direction, the story of Jackie’s life is laid out, following her from a humble childhood in Endwell, New York – where Chenoweth’s coloratura soprano soars on the aspirational “Caviar Dreams” – to college and a position as a computer engineer with IBM, and then to a relocation, with her finance-guy first husband who will soon turn abusive, to Florida, a move that ultimately proves fortuitous when, after divorcing husband number one, she crosses paths with David.

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