Kristin Chenoweth is American Royalty in the world premiere of The Queen of Versailles at the Emerson Colonial Theatre.
Glitz, glamour, and facade are at the front of the new musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, a book by Lindsey Ferrentino, direction by Michael Arden, and starring Kristin Chenoweth and F. Murray Abraham as Jackie and David.
Based on the 2012 documentary of the same name, the new musical shines a spotlight on Jackie and David Siegel, owners of the Westgate Resorts, who built a mansion designed to be a replica of the Palace of Versailles in Central Florida.
Jackie’s American rags-to-riches story begins with her upbringing in a modest home and a middle-class family. But Jackie’s story is not one without adversity. Chenoweth portrays Jackie as upbeat, determined, and a glass-half-full type of person. After her first failed marriage, Jackie nearly loses everything and starts over with her infant daughter in Florida. She is then swept up in a romance with “The Timeshare King,” real estate mogul David Siegel. Jackie and David eventually marry, leading Jackie to a new life where she has everything she could have wanted. Enamored with Jackie, David vows to build her a mansion in Florida, replicating Versailles, the very palace that captured her heart on their honeymoon. Becoming a bit of a spectacle themselves, a film crew begins documenting the Siegels’ lavish life and the mansion build.
But Jackie’s bubble is about to burst as the 2008 housing crisis nearly bankrupts the family. Construction on the mansion halts, and the Siegels are in financial crisis. As they navigate the economic crisis and their turbulent relationships, Jackie begins to distance herself from her reality, and find solace in her lavish home, which she vows will one day be finished. As the Siegels’ world crumbles around them, Jackie clings to the mansion — now a momento of their past lives.
The production is visually stunning, with luscious sets to illustrate the Siegels’ luxurious lifestyle and smooth transitions between sets and scenes where they’re filming the documentary on stage. Live filming is used on stage to demonstrate what the camera sees and how Jackie wants their family’s story to appear on screen and is then projected for the audience to see.
Chenoweth brings Jackie to life on stage with spunk. Her cheerful spirit and can-do attitude radiate on stage. Chenoweth’s stage presence is undeniable, from her chemistry with Abraham and Nina White, who portrays Jackie’s eldest daughter, Victoria Siegel, to her captivating vocals. She carries the haunting core melody of “Caviar Dreams” throughout the production, making it more haunted each time.
While Chenoweth gets to flex her acting muscles playing Jackie as extravagant and over-the-top, Abraham nicely compliments her as the sound David Siegel. Amid the disaster of the economic crisis, David is stoic as he tries to preserve the life Jackie and her family have come to know. The pair play off each other nicely, building a portrayal of a relationship that was plucked from reality.
White, who is fresh off her run in the Tony Award-winning production of Kimberly Akimbo on Broadway, captures Victoria’s teenage angst and internal struggles with ease and provides a healthy contrast to Jackie’s never-ending optimism. To no fault of White’s, Victoria’s story seems a bit disjointed from the rest of the family, as many of her scenes on stage are either solo scenes and numbers or interactions with Jackie. There is hope that in the subsequent transfer of the production, there is still some potential for Victoria’s story to be better interwoven with the rest of the Siegels.
Though the production has a large ensemble, the use of the large ensemble numbers is few and far between. For a production capturing a luxurious life, the cast often does not feel as robust as it should. There are a few ensemble asides, but rarely an ensemble number that moves the plot forward. Many big numbers are solos or duets for Chenoweth, Abraham, or White.
The musical’s second act is weaker overall than the first, dragging down by packing so much of the downward spiral of the economic crash into the narrative. As the production seeks a Broadway transfer, there is room to tighten the narrative and move the pacing along. The musical’s running time is quite long, and the narrative blocks sometimes feel a bit disjointed. From the audience’s perspective, it is challenging to see where the story is going and why the run time comes close to three hours. The story is interesting enough to warrant a stage adaptation but is still finding its footing in earning the audience’s attention.
The Queen of Versailles is a strong contender for bringing back the big musicals of the early 2000s with its use of large, built-out sets, dazzling and quick costume changes, and a large ensemble.
There’s still hope yet for Jackie Siegel’s story. The Queen of Versailles is set to transfer to Broadway in spring 2025.
The Broadway Edit 