THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES Previews- Page 14

[Up In One]

Posted: 11/4/25 at 11:44am

bwayphreak234 said: "As someone who enjoyed the show, I am extremely disappointed to hear about the diary bit being cut. That was a crucial moment in showing Jackie's true character."

I agree it’s crucial to Jackie’s real character, but this production either didn’t know what to do with it or was handcuffed in how it could respond. QOV could have been a brilliant tragedy, but as it stands, cutting that moment is the only way to give her final number a chance at working. I sat there befuddled through her big number thinking, you don’t deserve to sing this. An audience going in blind may now see the ending as a victory for Jackie and Kristin, but for those in the know, it’s like a judge telling the jury to disregard that last statement and not consider it in their deliberations.

 

[gleek4114]

Posted: 11/4/25 at 11:46am

I appreciate the clever quip, but I’m looking for actual information ;)

[MezzA101]

Posted: 11/4/25 at 2:53pm

Miss America Meets the Queen of Versailles

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/11/10/miss-america-meets-the-queen-of-versailles

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/5/25 at 7:53pm

I was there this afternoon, in a packed TDF house, no empty seats downstairs (and I snared row L center orchestra). Whatever the preview period changes to the end, and the consequences of the diary, the show is startlingly unfocused, as if the creatives have no real idea what the piece is about. Yes, we get an 11th hour wink-wink that compares the revealed trappings to a certain bougie Florida resort (and makes a fall 2025 cheap joke about recent events that is utterly shameless in reminding the audience that these creative don't really respect this story's protagonist.)

This woman at its center remains a cipher, not an intriguing enigma. She wants, and oh, how how much she wants, and she sings about her wanting - she's a bottomless pit of amorphous desire for more - and then sings about it some more. The show has incidents, the 2008 crash, a domestic tragedy, a subsidiary character with recognizable human values; but this woman treads uninteresting water, fixated solely on acquisition and conspicuous consumption. And the creatives seem to believe the resulting portrait has culture-revealing depth and nuance and is worth somebody's time. Whose?  That's what we were discussing in the men's room afterward: who the hell is the audience?

And why does it exist? Is it a cautionary tale? Why dress it up in the actual Versailles drag - a weighty, coyly executed conceit that reaches its nadir at the top of act two with a number that recalls the excised "Louis Says" from Victor/Victoria. Not a compliment. 

Chenoweth, in glorious, range-traversing voice to my ears, raises the roof and emotionally beats her much exposed chest, but there's no there there in the songs, no root-for in the action, no serious reflection morphing into a fresh epiphanies. In a strained and interminable Jackie's Turn, she learns - and touts - that she's the same shallow creature she was when she launched into "Caviar Dreams" two hours earlier. The audience rose, albeit in clumps and without much energy - de rigueur in NYC - and one man shouted "Bravo!" from the mezz.  But the folks on their feet were unmoved and headed for the exits. I have no idea why this got this far.

Updated On: 11/5/25 at 07:53 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/5/25 at 10:06pm

Kinda random choice for an official video clip: 

 

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/6/25 at 12:01am

What is there to say that hasn’t already been said? This is an embarrassment for all involved. 

The fact that this is the first tenant at the St. James after SUNSET feels beyond sacrilegious. A damn mess, with Chenoweth sleepwalking through the whole thing. This makes Idina’s REDWOOD look like a star vehicle for the ages. It’s really confounding how or why this made it to Broadway in this condition. 

Word of mouth / buzz during intermission was deadly. Barely got a standing ovation. It also started almost 20 minutes late.

Updated On: 11/8/25 at 12:01 AM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/6/25 at 9:18am

I found myself ruminating on it last night, unable to shake how wrong almost every decision is. The real Versailles conceit, given an arch, heavy-handed (and actually heavy) production frame, is so tonally off yet baked into the concept for the show, you feel that no one knew how to abandon it, i.e., no one would say out loud the truth: "that stuff has to go, immediately." If you just scrapped all of that, including the ludicrous pre-show cleaning of chandeliers - seriously, don't ask - in full view of the audience - the show might at least aim for a kind of raw-boned American authenticity. And if you had a composer - lyricist able to capture Jackie's world - the late, great Carol Hall might've found the "Doatsy Mae" and "Hard Candy Christmas" in the tale - it might've achieved some verisimilitude. But Schwartz is at sea with these trappings, and leans on cliches like the hoary "Caviar Dreams" I Want song (staged in a bizarre choreographed moving staircase style that makes us worry that Chenoweth will fall in front of us.)

If Jackie herself is a living cliche, it's the job of theater artists to excavate something underneath her collection of all too predictable demographic-defining traits. The show can never make up its mind whether she's a flawed anti-hero or just an awful, shallow human being who wants sh*t. And we're left feeling dragged through  gilt-encrusted mud. When I reflected on its horrors last night, I was startled at how flawed the show is from the ground up.

Updated On: 11/6/25 at 09:18 AM

[CJRochester]

Posted: 11/6/25 at 11:52am

I think a big problem with the material is Jackie is still alive, and the events are present day. The fact she is a co-producer makes it even worse. As others have stated, the show doesn't know how to take a stand on judging her. It would have been better to attempt this story after she had passed, where having the perspective of time would help frame the story. 

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 11/6/25 at 11:57am

It feels like this show has been in previews since August.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/6/25 at 12:24pm

CJRochester said: "I think a big problem with the material is Jackie is still alive, and the events are present day. The fact she is a co-producer makes it even worse. As others have stated, the show doesn't know how to take a stand on judging her. It would have been better to attempt this story after she had passed, where having the perspective of time would help frame the story."

Even if she was long dead, this show would still be awful tho....

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/6/25 at 1:04pm

Living her best life - and regrettably, we know too well what that is - or passed, she is unworthy of a major musical theater portrait. 

Updated On: 11/6/25 at 01:04 PM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/6/25 at 2:54pm

There was also an incessant, low humming noise throughout the entire performance last night.


Any idea what that’s about?

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/6/25 at 3:00pm

The Wednesday matinee started almost 20 minutes late, after Chenoweth herself made an announcement that a delay was necessary. Could it be related to the humn? I heard noise in two scenes and thought it was ambient sound to suggest ... something offstage? 

By the way, the show has been built around the 11 o'clock spot reveal (already spoiled in footage all over the internet), but the downside is a pretty unattractive set for the two hours before. Everything must be played against the construction, and though the conceit makes dramatic sense, it means we have countless down-center scenes that feel cramped. They're opened up by a lot of business with tall rolling staircases. At times, characters are perched on them while singing or playing two-character scenes. It doesn't read as kinetic; it reads as fighting a static piece of world building. Not much to look at here, until we see the gilt in the reveal and that damned staircase. 

Updated On: 11/6/25 at 03:00 PM

[MezzA101]

Posted: 11/7/25 at 11:50am

'Stumble' Review: NBC Cheerleading Sitcom Is Iconic

https://variety.com/2025/tv/reviews/stumble-review-nbc-kristin-chenoweth-jenn-lyon-1236568442/

[Dolly80]

Posted: 11/7/25 at 11:55am

Are there any discount codes for this? Intrigued to see just how bad it is but not at full price obviously!

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/7/25 at 12:07pm

MezzA101 said: "'Stumble' Review: NBC Cheerleading Sitcom Is Iconic

https://variety.com/2025/tv/reviews/stumble-review-nbc-kristin-chenoweth-jenn-lyon-1236568442/"

Caught the pilot early and it's absolutely hilarious. Perhaps she can recur more if her schedule happens to be more open in the new year.....

[bpstar]

Posted: 11/7/25 at 3:07pm

I have been trying to find footage of the reveal online and cannot find it anywhere! Any ideas where to look?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 11/7/25 at 3:17pm

Sutton Ross said: "MezzA101 said: "'Stumble' Review: NBC Cheerleading Sitcom Is Iconic

https://variety.com/2025/tv/reviews/stumble-review-nbc-kristin-chenoweth-jenn-lyon-1236568442/"

Caught the pilot early and it's absolutely hilarious. Perhaps she can recur more if her schedule happens to be more open in the new year....."

Um, Kristin isn’t a reoccurring role - she’s a series regular of STUMBLE. 

[east side story]

Posted: 11/7/25 at 3:22pm

Oh, good. KC will have something to do when this closes by January.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/7/25 at 3:42pm

BrodyFosse123 said:


Um, Kristin isn’t a reoccurring role - she’s a series regular of STUMBLE."

Um, nah but continue talking about sh*t you know nothing about......

features Kristin Chenoweth as a recurring guest star,

Jenn Lyon and Taran Killam co-star in the mockumentary-style sitcom, with Kristin Chenoweth in a recurring role.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/7/25 at 3:44pm

The reveal is in Playbill, Chenoweth on the stairs. 

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 11/7/25 at 10:09pm

This is a big steamy mess at the St James.  We were just slack jawed and thoroughly confused the whole show.  It’s bad from top to bottom while trying to make a point about America at the end with the Versailles people? 
 
the cast tries but it also appears the director didn’t sculpt the performances.  The direction is overblown even for a show about opulence (if that’s the point)?  The script doesn’t know what it wants to be and the direction is arden and the full kitchen sink … again.  It’s just not good from the direction to the source .  Kristin seems discontent - how long does this one last ? 

maybe ATG has a quick holiday concert in their back pocket prior to an inevitable spring show.  Our audience section barely clapped and the standing ovation was barely there at the end .  Tepid if that. 

Can't believe we sat through that - except to say we had.  That was on Broadway.

Updated On: 11/7/25 at 10:09 PM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/7/25 at 10:56pm

I found the audience reaction eerily unlike anything I've experienced in recent years. The obligatory group rise - albeit in clumps - was punctuated by people stepping over one another to exit. Not a joke, literally trying to flee up the aisles. Someone upstairs shouted "Brava!" at Chenoweth, but you could feel the cast suspended in place by a lukewarm reception that everyone pretended was a genuine standing O. We all felt uncomfortable. I have no idea what critics will make of it, but I've yet to read a posting that identifies anything worth praising. Some outliers "had a good time," and many savor the star. But has anyone read a detailed appraisal of the piece, claiming that it works? I'd be curious if one exists. 

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 11/8/25 at 6:24am

Auggie27 said: "I found the audience reaction eerily unlike anything I've experienced in recent years. The obligatory group rise - albeit in clumps - was punctuated by people stepping over one another to exit. Not a joke, literally trying to flee up the aisles. Someone upstairs shouted "Brava!" at Chenoweth, but you could feel the cast suspended in place by a lukewarm reception that everyone pretended was a genuine standing O. We all felt uncomfortable. I have no idea what critics will make of it, but I've yet to read a posting that identifies anything worth praising. Some outliers "had a good time," and many savor the star. But has anyone read a detailed appraisal of the piece, claiming that it works? I'd be curious if one exists."

the curtain call was the same when I went. Eery is a good word. I felt forced to participate when I wanted to scream instead .

[quizking101]

Posted: 11/8/25 at 7:38am

iluvtheatertrash said: "Auggie27 said: "I found the audience reaction eerily unlike anything I've experienced in recent years. The obligatory group rise - albeit in clumps - was punctuated by people stepping over one another to exit. Not a joke, literally trying to flee up the aisles. Someone upstairs shouted "Brava!" at Chenoweth, but you could feel the cast suspended in place by a lukewarm reception that everyone pretended was a genuine standing O. We all felt uncomfortable. I have no idea what critics will make of it, but I've yet to read a posting that identifies anything worth praising. Some outliers "had a good time," and many savor the star. But has anyone read a detailed appraisal of the piece, claiming that it works? I'd be curious if one exists."

the curtain call was the same when I went. Eery is a good word. I felt forced to participate when I wanted to scream instead ."

It appears this reception hasn’t changed much since the first preview. Other than the usual screaming queens, I remember my section also feeling very tepid in the reception, with people leaving throughout the show, but also just straight up abandoning their windowcard gift/using it as a doormat