THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES To Close December 21, 2025 — Page 12

Sutton Ross said: "
I honestly don't see it anywhere. It can't be done in middle/high schools (imagine?), it won't be in colleges, it cost too much for regional theater, and it's too massive of a production for cruise ships. So, ummmm, Vegas? They know a thing or two about tacky, gauche, ridiculous, over the top shows. That is literally the only place I can think of where this piece belongs, besides the dumpster bin outside of the St James."

Yeah it's completely ridiculous to suggest this will have any sort of regional/amateur/school after life (I don't buy that the certain poster suggesting it is being serious.) I can see Caviar Dreams and Pretty Wins maybe showing up in a Schwartz revue (like that weird "revue with a story" Snapshots which has had various updates over the years) or concert, and that's really going to be it. But, yes, I still want that cast album.

EmceeHammer said: "QoV will close the same day as the Off Broadway revival of Baker’sWife, which will have played almost as many performances.

I haven’t done the math, but if you include the previews of the original Broadway productionof Baker’s Wife, it will have been performed in New York almost as much, if not more, than QoV.

At least Schwartzwill always have Wicked (and Pippin and Godspell). Between this and the fallout from Wicked: For Good, 2025 is not the career victory lapthat was expected."

I don't see how Schwartz would consider Wicked for Good a failure in any real way (and I say that as someone who didn't love it and doesn't think the new songs amount to much at all.) And to be fair, Children of Eden still does pretty well regionally/amateur wise (but unless they drop that huge chorus, will never try for Broadway.)

Also, maybe I'm misunderstanding, but the original Broadway The Baker's Wife had zero New York performances--it closed in DC before making it to Broadway (so no Broadway previews, period.)

Thanks, Eric. You are spot on, per usual. I was totes wrong about BW playing in New York prior to the recent revival. I didn’t do the math… or the research. Chalk it up to the Mandela Effect.

W:FG is not good. It’s actively bad, and I think will be viewed as a stain on the legacy of the musical overall. The new songs from Schwartz are unfortunately part of that. (Even though the actresses perform them so well they almost sound like Sondheim.)

it wasn’t my intention to overlook Children of Eden, except I did because… it’s Children of Eden.


Schwartz has had a remarkable and distinct career on Broadway, wartz and all.

This is a total aside but I thought of it since Kristin was just injured. It seems like she makes her curtain call entrance down the middle of the stairs in heels with no railing. I found this rather precarious and dangerous. Isn’t there something like an Equity OSHA that would forbid this. This tiny actress descending stairs without three points of contact. I was worried for her.


Even Sherie used the railing during her curtain call.

I said what I said. I’ll save it for another thread unless I’m too lazy to post it.

It’s a bad movie. The poor word of mouth and steep drop in box office is a good indication. My adolescent nieces all said “not impressed.” I laughed my way through it. Pure camp.

EmceeHammer said: "

W:FG … will be viewed as a stain on the legacy of the musical overall."

lol sure, Jan.

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "theatre people are not known for leaving failures alone."

Are there really so many instances? I'm tryinfg to think of them. There's Sondheim's various re-toolings of Merrily and Schwartz's attempts at The Baker's WIfe. Jerry Herman revised Mack and Mable and wanted another shot at Dear World. Maybe the post-Broadway revision of The Addams Family (though was that an acutal flop?). But I can't t think of much else. I can think of many more revivals that re-tool an already successful work, especially when it comes to the classic shows.

Not arguing with you as much as simply trying to call to mind more examples.

Fireplace said: "I can see paper mill, the muny, goodspeed, Kennedy center, broadway at music circus, and many others doing it down the line."

here we go again. BroadwayFlash with a new username defending their favorite musical.

Reading the rambling new defenses of yet another shilling avatar is both highly amusing and deeply grating.

It’s also comically audacious to see that they raised the prices of all levels for the now-final week by at least $30 and marking the availability as “limited” when the house is about 25% sold

joevitus said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "theatre people are not known for leaving failures alone."

Are there really so many instances? I'm tryinfg to think of

Side Show immediately comes to mind for me.

Parade wasn't a financial success in its first outing.

But those are both shows that received critical acclaim yet failed financially. Twice on the part of Side Show.

Auggie27 said: "MrsSallyAdams landed on a core problem: the musical "cleaned up" the captured verisimilitude in the documentary, sanitizing defining elements in all of the wrong ways. The creatives seemed to believe that the final reveal of the McVersailles would be so breathtaking as a theatrical coup,its completion alone would somehow validate the navel-gazing heroine's tortuous arc. "Look what she built!" Yet if the designdared to end with a whiff of Grey Gardens if not Grey Gardens, we might've at least seen a metaphor that held a point of view. That damned staircase, so badly used in the finale with that tentative blocking, ultimately has no dramatic value. It's the chandelier in Phantom without the crash to the floor. Therein lies a stalled narrative, trying to get by on static stage pictures rather than an activated protagonist fighting obstacles."



Lol'ing over my coffee at "That damned staircase, so badly used in the finale with tentative blocking." I admit I haven't seen this live, and won't be able to. (I was tempted to travel in to see Sherie if there were dates in the new year) but every video online I've seen, either of KC or Sherie, the unfocused blocking on that staircase drove me absolutely insane. She goes up a few steps, then comes down, then she goes to the railing, then she comes down the stairs, then she goes back up a couple steps, then she grabs her cup from the side, then she comes back down. I'm being flippant, but it really did come across as extremely unfocused.

I wonder if they set out to really say something with this show when they started and somewhere along the way it all got muddied and they didn't know what they were trying to say. I'd like to know if there was a specific point where they all said "this is now a different story." Once the dust has settled, I hope we start to hear a little bit more about who was driving these decisions.

And if Michael Arden wants to continue working at this caliber, he's going to need to start thinking about weekly running costs and working within a budget.