Posted: 10/23/25 at 5:53pm
Possible spoiler in
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Does this show include the death of the daughter, Victoria? Or does that take place after the events in this musical?
Posted: 10/23/25 at 6:05pm
corninthesky said: "Haven’t seen it yet (might on our upcoming trip), but I wonder how much of it is that it’s just coming in at the wrong time. Maybe all those questions had great answers years ago. Something about the premise (and honestly a new Schwartz score) draws me in but these reports are making me reconsider."
It definitely plays a part--comparing the reaction online with when it was in Boston. But of course regional reactions to try outs are always more forgiving than Broadway reactions.
Posted: 10/23/25 at 6:06pm
Matt Rogers said: "Possible spoiler in
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Does this show include the death of the daughter, Victoria? Or does that take place after the events in this musical?"
It's a key Act II plot point.
Posted: 10/24/25 at 2:07pm
"And having Fox News* playing on a gigantic TV screen in the center of the stage, just who is the audience for this thing?"
OMG.
But to answer Eric's entreaty: as soon as TDF gets Wednesday matinees, and it will, I'm there.
*Sidebar, on my FB page, I referred to the bougie ballroom being built in DC as "Versailles meets Vegas," and of course thought of this show.
Posted: 10/26/25 at 12:13am
This was an interesting show. For me, it started out well. It seemed campy and like everyone understood the assignment. It was moving along briskly. The cast was fantastic. Then Jonquil showed up and it got muddy.
Then I started having questions like who is this musical for? Are we supposed to feel anything for these people? What are Jackie’s goals? She’s really a garbage person. The musical didn’t really answer those questions and Jackie was never able to get me on her side. SPOILER. At the end of the show she’s trying to replace her daughter with Jonquil. She represents the worst of America. I can and do love anti-heroes. Jackie was not written well enough to get me on her side. She’s a grifter.
I thought Cheno was great and gave 110%. My issue is she’s never been a nimble dramatic actress IMO. The kewpie doll voice and schtick didnt give Jackie any gravitas.
Id be VERY INTERESTED in seeing what Sherie does with the role because I feel she has more edge and the ability to give a more complex performance. I think she could make this more the cautionary tale it’s trying to be.
I was talking to folks around me and this included elderly and young folks. All agreed it’s an intriguing story and fascinating but none of them liked the music at all. The younger people said they heard shades of Wicked in some of the melodies. I thought the music was ok and everyone sang the heck out of it.
Victoria is fantastic.
Regardless of any opinions, I think it’s the worst time possible for this show to open. Dialogue about building ballrooms and gold gold gold are just not escapist right now. Grifters aren’t escapist right now. Songs about Florida women and their plastic surgery aren’t fun right now. Seeing people make money on the backs of the poor ain’t cute right now. It’s all the wrong themes at the wrong time.
I was entertained and the cast is top notch. I just felt it all never came together.
Posted: 10/26/25 at 7:15pm
Criticism over the quality of the show itself, and if this should have been adapted at all, aside, it is sobering to see just how much the changes to our world and the US over the past year and a half have changed the way the show is viewed.
Posted: 10/27/25 at 9:23pm
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQNBzPkklUh/?igsh=MTVjcmp6a2hhMjAxZw==
Just love Sherie.
Posted: 10/28/25 at 10:09am
re: I was talking to folks around me and this included elderly and young folks.
Elderly? Not meaning to be critical but unless you were talking about very old and infirm people, these were merely senior citizens. Most or all of whom would bristle at being termed "elderly." My own father is 90 and is so active that I wouldn't dream of describing him that way.
No big deal. Just a pet peeve of mine. I was a newspaper reporter and the word "elderly" was not to be used unless it was for someone of a very advanced age with infirmities. By the same token, I once saw a Washington Post story about a car crash involving a 60-year-old driver. Yes, sixty. Ancient. The headline writer, who I have to assume was all of 22, referred to the driver as "elderly." Magically that disappeared after the comment I left below the article....
Posted: 10/28/25 at 10:17am
Interesting how terminology evolves since elderly historically has been associated with 65+ and "elder" is a moniker of high esteem in many cultures. I know quite a few people bristle at the use of senior citizen even if they are in the age range which qualifies them for the associated discount.
Posted: 10/28/25 at 1:24pm
delete
Updated On: 10/28/25 at 01:24 PM
Posted: 10/28/25 at 2:07pm
It's back on TDF, finally a Wednesday matinee, and this "elderly" boomer is goin' after all.
Posted: 10/28/25 at 9:03pm
Wow. That was pretty bad. I don’t see this surviving past the holidays.
Posted: 10/28/25 at 9:41pm
"I think it’s the worst time possible for this show to open. Dialogue about building ballrooms and gold gold gold are just not escapist right now. Grifters aren’t escapist right now. Songs about Florida women and their plastic surgery aren’t fun right now. Seeing people make money on the backs of the poor ain’t cute right now. It’s all the wrong themes at the wrong time.
Bettyboy72, spot on.
Isn't it interesting that no one read the room, i.e., the country? And saw that the material has no discernible target audience on Broadway in 2025. We might all come back to an early parallel, the Tammy Faye musical's crash and burn based on similarly bad timing. Yet this seems far worse, since the impact of the tropes both earnestly explored and satirized are being felt across the country. A few weeks before Thanksgiving, the working poor are finding food banks shuttered and the nation witnessing gilt-embossed megalomania in full throttle. This woman's trajectory seems perversely inappropriate as a piece of entertainment, let alone an artistic examination of class envy. That said, I'm more curious than ever, and glad I nailed seats for next week's midweek matinee.
Updated On: 10/28/25 at 09:41 PM
Posted: 10/28/25 at 9:49pm
Auggie27 said: ""I think it’s the worst time possible for this show to open. Dialogue about building ballrooms and gold gold gold are just not escapist right now. Grifters aren’t escapist right now. Songs about Florida women and their plastic surgery aren’t fun right now. Seeing people make money on the backs of the poor ain’t cute right now. It’s all the wrong themes at the wrong time.
Bettyboy72, spot on.
Isn't it interesting that no one read the room, i.e., the country? And saw that the material has no discernible target audience on Broadway in 2025. We might all come back to an early parallel, the Tammy Faye musical's crash and burn based on similarly bad timing. Yet this seems far worse, since the impact of the tropes both earnestly explored and satirized are being felt across the country. A few weeks before Thanksgiving, the working poorare finding food banks shuttered and the nation witnessinggilt-embossed megalomania in full throttle. This woman's trajectory seems perversely inappropriate as a piece of entertainment, let alone an artistic examination of class envy. That said, I'm more curious than ever, and glad I nailed seats for next week's midweek matinee.
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totally agree. I figured it was going to struggle anyway as this story seems tone deaf right now but post the destruction of the East Wing for the Grifter Ballroom ( if any Australian PM tried this with The Lodge they'd be gone the next day) on top of millions of people about to lose SNAP benefits it just seems doomed.
Posted: 10/28/25 at 10:09pm
I have a question for those who have seen it. I have a super tight schedule when I come to see this. Can anyone who has seen a Sunday matinee performance tell me about what time intermission ended? For example, if the show started at 3pm (or 3:05pm) was intermission from 4:20pm to 4:40pm? Any help on this would be appreciated. Or how long act one is.
Posted: 10/29/25 at 9:59am
Saw the show on Saturday afternoon after seeing it in Boston and found it on the whole disappointing.
I thought there was a lot of promise in Boston, it was deeply imperfect but there was a tour-de-force performance at the center and a lot of good ideas percolating that I hoped would be expanded.
Well. None of them were, and the tour-de-force performance here feels only "good."
The biggest issue to me is that there's no real perspective. I think it's a mistake having Jackie be the pseudo-narrator of the piece because it sends the impression we're supposed to be rooting for these people to build this massive house and get to flaunt their wealth in the ways they do, which given the state of the country feels odd.
The score is merely serviceable at best, even the last song that should feel like a true breakdown for Jackie never goes as dark or as deep as it needs to. The placement of songs is sufficient but none of them feel necessary to the story. Can't believe that dead lizard song made it past the workshop stage. F. Murray Abraham's Timeshare King song borders on elder abuse. Schwartz seems to have no idea how to alter a score to suit an actor's voice considering how often Kristin has to switch between belting and head voice within lines in her songs, both of Nina White's songs sit right at the break in her voice, and the cousin's song is just...all over the place.
The book is what it is. I don't have strong feelings about it either. Thought there was a lot of promise in Boston, but it all kind of fizzled out. And I'm shocked they cut the bit about publishing the daughter's diary. Let us see how awful these people are or can be. Never understood if I was supposed to believe Jackie and David actually loved each other.
Performances are all solid to good. Kristin feels slightly diminished in the space, but is still charming and likable. Nina White is good, though the role is poorly written. F. is fine. Greg Hildreth is trying his best with weak material. Thought Melody Butiu was lovely as one of the few people who felt truly human onstage.
The direction is serviceable. The design is fine. It all just feels like a bit of a shrug.
Posted: 10/29/25 at 10:01am
Wait, they cut the diary scene at the end?
Posted: 10/29/25 at 10:08am
Posted: 10/29/25 at 11:05am
Jordan Catalano said: "Wait, they cut the diary scene at the end?"
No mention of them publishing it. Just announce that they're starting the Victoria's Voice foundation and then move on to the next moment.
If you ever needed proof that they're afraid to portray Jackie in a negative light due to her support of the production, there you have it.
Posted: 10/29/25 at 11:11am
They cut the diary scene?! Extremely telling and disappointing. As others have said, the team seems afraid to have a point of view.
Posted: 10/29/25 at 11:11am
Well that diary selling bit had been in the show, they must have JUST cut it.
Posted: 10/29/25 at 1:25pm
No diary selling line in the show last Saturday.
Also, Cheno didn't seem to have the dramatic chops to pull off the Norma Desmond-esque ending. I think it needs more dramatic heft than Cheno flitting about.
Posted: 10/29/25 at 2:07pm
Saw the show on Saturday after seeing it in Boston and thinking it had a lot of potential.
We can call it. Cheno phoned it in. She was darker, more scrappy, and sang it better in Boston. If she's not going to get out there and at least fight for the show with her performance, the show has no reason to exist. I never found it painful like I found Tammy Faye and Swept Away, but this is DOA.
The addition of Hannity the second that screen opens is baffling. You need to at least be able to root for Kristin the performer in the first 15mins of the show, and then slowly get confirmation the character she's playing is a terrible person. Flashing Hannity in the first 5mins removes any ounce of that tension and makes the first act rather static.
Posted: 10/29/25 at 3:30pm
Jordan Catalano said: "Wait, they cut the diary scene at the end?"
Yep. It was in the show on 10/14 and out by 10/17. Such a disappointment.
Posted: 10/29/25 at 4:07pm
The announcement that they were publishing Victoria's diary was the most dramatically effective moment in the entire show. I gasped. The whole audience gasped. It was a rug pull and incredibly appropriate. They've cut the thing that told me most clearly, as an audience member, that the show knew Jackie Siegel isn't a good person. I guess Jackie finally realized that herself.
Cutting this specific moment changes the entire show. It takes the show from an indictment to a puff piece. They've pulled their most effective punch. What an incredibly disheartening decision.
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