What We Know So Far About THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES Musical
Performances for the Boston premiere begin on Tuesday, July 16 and run through Sunday, August 25, 2024.
By: Sidney Paterra Jun. 01, 2024
Did you know that The Queen of Versailles will soon hold court on stage? As BroadwayWorld previously reported, the new musical is getting ready for an out-of-town run this summer before heading to Broadway. What do you need to know about the new musical? Let's study up!
The Queen of Versailles is based on Lauren Greenfield’s award-winning 2012 documentary film of the same name and the life stories of Jackie and David Siegel. The film depicts the billionaire real estate couple, who were triumphantly building the biggest house in America for themselves—a sprawling 90,000-square-foot palace inspired by Versailles—when their timeshare empire falters and the economic crisis hits…
The film received positive reviews and currently has a 95% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. It won the US Directing Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Critics' Choice Award for Best Documentary Feature.
You can watch the documentary in full by renting via Prime Video. Additionally, you can watch the followup series, Queen of Versailles Reigns Again (2022), on Max. The musical does not however, cover events taking place in the 2022 series.
In early 2023 it was officially announced that Kristin Chenoweth would reteam with composer Stephen Schwartz for a musicalized version of the story. The musical also features a book by Lindsey Ferrentino, direction by Tony Award winner Michael Arden and choreography by Lauren Yalango-Grant & Christopher Cree Grant.
In the musical, Chenoweth leads the company as beauty queen, socialite and TV personality Jacqueline “Jackie” Siegel, who she met in real life earlier this year.
From computer engineer to Mrs. Florida to billionairess, Jackie Siegel sees herself as the embodiment of the American Dream. Now, as the wife of David "The Timeshare King" Siegel and mother of their eight children, they invite us to behold their most grandiose venture yet: they're building the largest private home in America in Orlando, Florida – a $100 million house big enough for her dreams and inspired by the Palace of Versailles. But with the Great Recession of 2008 looming, Jackie and David's dreams begin tocrumble, along with their lavish lifestyle. The Queen of Versailles explores the true cost of fame, fortune, and family.
Kristin Chenoweth performs "Caviar Dreams" from The Queen of Versailles:
The musical will premeiere at Boston’s historic Emerson Colonial Theatre in a limited six-week run- Tuesday, July 16 through Sunday, August 25, 2024. Afterwards, it will arrive on Broadway, though details regarding dates and theatre have not yet been announced.
In the Boston engagement, Chenoweth will be joined by F. Murray Abraham as David Siegel, Melody Butiu as Sofia, and Nina White as Victoria Siegel. Additional cast includes: Stephen DeRosa as John, Greg Hildreth as Gary, Tatum Grace Hopkins as Jonquil, and Tony Award nominee Isabel Keating as Debbie, with 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.
Be sure to check back at BroadwayWorld for more updates on The Queen of Versailles and its road to Broadway!
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