THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES musical will have pre-Bway tryout this summer in Boston- Page 6

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/17/24 at 4:12pm

I heard from someone last night that it was 3 hours. So… who knows. 

[Ensemble1704909160]

Posted: 7/17/24 at 4:24pm

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "There are many different locations over the span of the show. Highly suggest watching one of the QOV docs to get an idea.

Very surprised that the first preview was three and a half hours. The last dress didn’t even hit three- it’s a funny show so maybe there really is an added 30 mins for audience reaction, etc?"

I was there. The primary time killer was about 45 minutes of scenes and operatic singing about the French Revolution. It's sort of the framing device of the entire show but completely unnecessary. Kristin was excellent, but I am not sold on the score—pretty generic pop speak-sing-y. 

[Mark_E]

Posted: 7/17/24 at 11:44pm

Loved it. Kristin is wonderful, absolutely perfect. I actually really liked the score, and having not been familiar with the documentaries or real life subjects, I found the story easy to follow and really interesting. 
 

Act one is 1:25. Act two 1:05, and with an almost 30 minute interval and 5 mins late starting, my last photos from the bows are time stamped at 11:06. Sure there’s trims to be made but I doubt this goes much below 2:40.

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 7/18/24 at 6:45pm

I caught the second preview last night. It's definitely a work in progress. I rewatched the documentary recently, and the first 3/4 of the musical pretty closely follows the documentary. The last 1/4 takes place after the documentary and covers its premiere at Sundance, as well as a financial recovery and some family developments.

Overall, I was pretty middle-of-the-road on what I saw. The book doesn't really go anywhere interesting, and Jackie (Kristen Chenoweth) is really the only lead character. The other characters are just kind of circling in her orbit. Her husband David (F. Murray Abraham) doesn't have a whole lot to do.  Jackie's daughter, Victoria (Nina White) is probably the second lead here. Stephen DeRosa and Isabel Keating have a couple amusing scenes and funny characterizations as Jackie's parents, but are otherwise wasted. There isn't really a lead character that you care about or are rooting for (maybe the daughter and niece). Jackie comes off as a selfish golddigger (who may or may not love her husband) and her husband as just a heartless businessman (who may or may not really love Jackie). The only characters I cared anything about were Victoria and their maid Sofia (Melody Butiu). Sofia has one brief scene where she talks about not having seen her children in the Philippines in decades because of her need to work to support them. The audience gasped at that revelation, and I would have liked to see that emotional storyline play out a bit, maybe with a related song. Late in the show, there is a family tragedy that is really made to seem like it is the direct result of Jackie's selfishness and choices. It makes her even less likable.

The score wasn't very memorable, at least on first listen. Although, there was one song I really liked. In Act Two, Jackie and Victoria go to visit Jackie's parents in her modest childhood home, while Sofia shows her appreciation for the tiny quarters she gets to live in. They sing a lovely number about the joys of "Little Houses." Although, it doesn't take Jackie long to revert back to her obsession with the palace.

The set is a problem. The main set is the palace that Jackie and David are endlessly building, covered mostly in scaffolding and tarps for most of the show. The problem is that almost none of the scenes are supposed to be taking place in that setting, which takes up the entire stage. The production attempts to "solve" that problem with a large TV screen that is awkwardly and manually moved around behind each scene to show the location (even though it's still surrounded by the enormous palace set). Maybe they meant to show how that house is continually looming over them,

And then there's the framing device with the aristocracy of historic Versailles. It simply doesn't work or add anything to the show (except length). The aristocrats share some scenes with the modern day family, including an opera duet between Jackie and Marie Antoinette. So, what's happening here? Are they here in Jackie's imagination? Are they meant to represent some similarities between then and now? I didn't get it. When the Versailles people appear for the final time, there is an onstage bloody gun murder. This violent scene is shocking and not something that seems crucial to the show. The final segment with Jackie alone on her staircase, with her ring light, recording something for a new documentary and singing her final number doesn't really wrap things up in any satisfying way.

As you might imagine, Kristen is really kristening her heart out, and it's great to see her so much leading this production.  As for documentaries turned into musicals, I was hoping this would be more like Grey Gardens, where I cared about the leads and which had a spectacular score. I know it was only the second preview, and I think there's a lot here to work with. As always, I'll be interested in seeing how this one progresses.

Updated On: 7/18/24 at 06:45 PM

[DiscoCrows]

Posted: 7/18/24 at 10:11pm

That was such great info! Thank you for the breakdown.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

So, does the musical actually reference/exist in the world and context of the actual documentary? Like it’s referred to and part of the story? I had assumed this would play out as a dramatization of the documentary's content rather than its actual existence. Not that it’s a bad thing one way or the other.

As someone who hasn’t seen it yet it makes me wonder if the documentary development/process itself would be a better framing device for the show than the Versailles stuff people seem mixed on. Kind of like the MTV crew in MJ and how they push him to open up and further the character development (and narrative at large) of someone who is obviously a very, very flawed but entertaining human. Jackie and Michael have that in common.

I know people seem mixed on the score. I’m expecting fun melodies and ridiculous lyrics that are unaware of their absurdity and I think that fits the overall tone of Jackie Siegel. It’s not high art but I adore “Caviar Dreams” and am so excited to hear the rest of it.

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 7/18/24 at 11:10pm

DiscoCrows said: "That was such great info! Thank you for the breakdown.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

So, does the musical actually reference/exist in the world and context of the actual documentary? Like it’s referred to and part of the story? I had assumed this would play out as a dramatizationofthe documentary'scontent rather than its actual existence. Not that it’sa bad thing one way or the other.

As someone who hasn’t seen it yet it makes me wonder if the documentary development/process itself would be a better framing device for the show than the Versailles stuff people seem mixed on. Kind of like the MTV crew in MJ and how they push him to open up and further the character development (and narrative at large) of someone who is obviously a very, very flawed but entertaininghuman. Jackie and Michael have that in common.

I know people seem mixed on the score. I’m expecting fun melodies and ridiculouslyrics that are unaware of their absurdityand I think that fits the overall tone of Jackie Siegel. It’s not high art but I adore “Caviar Dreams” and am so excited to hear the rest of it."

To answer your spoiler question:

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

During the first 3/4 or so of the show, they are actually filming the documentary. It is referred to, and there are cameras onstage occasionally.  This makes sense since they then attend the premiere of the documentary at Sundance in act two

And i don't remember specific examples, but there were some quirky lyrics. Kristen had a couple cheeky "popu-ler....lar" type moments.

Updated On: 7/18/24 at 11:10 PM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/18/24 at 11:16pm

Heard they’re putting in a new opening: an elderly Jackie will be sitting on a bench wearing a green coat and she will ask the audience if they know who she is and wondering how she wound up here. 

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 12:43am

There is a very good musical here, more akin to Jason Robert Brown (…and maybe a little Sondheim), but a hatchet needs to be brought down significantly. 

That said: Kristin is giving the best performance of her career. She deserves a better closing number. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 12:50am

Honest to God, I walked out feeling the EXACT same way and thinking it sounded very JRB. 

When act one ended, I was very very happy with it but act two needs so much work. Act one is pretty hilarious and a hell of a lot of fun but then act two turns so serious and is a total downer for most of it. I understand it’s based on real events and those things did happen but they need to find a way to bring some of what made act one so good into it. 
 

But overall yes, this is absolutely the best Chenoweth has ever been on stage. 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 6:56am

It’s great to see Chenoweth on stage but this show is cluttered. Act one can feel, at times, like a sung Wikipedia article. Jackie’s rise from working class beginnings isn’t particularly interesting. Her relationship with David lacks the tension it had in the documentary. And nobody cares about King Louis.

Act two works when it focuses on the daughter and niece as they struggle for independence. If Jackie had a stronger relationship with them it could be a modern day G-psy. Her final breakdown could be a “Roses’ Turn” if I felt this woman had any hidden depths. A diva needs agency and Jackie surrendered hers to her husband.

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 9:39am

Yes, the second act is serious and depressing, and loses all the fun of the first act. I think the biggest problem is that the show focuses almost exclusively on Jackie, and Kristen is doing massive work in that portrayal. But Jackie is so vacuous. It doesn’t seem like she has any real emotions or care much about anything other than material possessions. You even doubt she has any love for her husband or children. She jokes about not even remembering how many she has. Even when you think she’s maybe developing some change of heart, she goes right back to her normal shallow self. Even her reaction to a family tragedy seems performative.  A Rose’s Turn ending number would be great, but at this point, I’m not sure what revelation or emotion it would convey. 

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 10:16am

The show simply drops anytime either daughter is on stage. They are doing the best that they can, but their songs are dull and nothing in the book aids in character development. 

Also, the framing device is entirely unnecessary. The audience can grasp the Louis XIV analogy without repeatedly being bit hit over the head with it. 

Removing or limiting either of those two elements could easily cut down the show by 15-20 minutes (last night got out just around 11). 

Positives: the show is stunning, it looks as though no expense was spared.  This is also Schwartz’s best score since Pippin. I reiterate what I said last night: Kristen is star.  She’s been away from the stage so long I almost forgot how remarkably talented she is. Can’t wait to have her back on Broadway…hopefully this show will become more worthy of her talents. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 11:00am

It's insane to think how this is Kristin's first musical in almost a decade and her first ORIGINAL show in over two decades. 

As for the daughters' songs, if I had one wish for the show I'd honestly cut them all. They come across as cut songs from something like "Heathers" or something awful like that, just to make 12 year old girls go "OMG it's meeee" and turn them into another "Defying Gravity" (though nowhere near as good as that) and give them something to sing and cry about on TikTok and in their audition for community theater productions of "Annie".  And that song with the two sisters burying the lizard? Yeah, cut that now. I'm sure some of these things exist to give Kristin time to change or breathe off stage but they should really find something else to fill that time. 

Now the framing device with Louis XIV didn't bother me as much as other people but it's way overused. If it was referenced in a few crucial scenes it would have more impact, I feel. Don't cut it all out but scale it back - by a lot. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 11:04am

Also, as for the running time, last night Act One was 1:25 and Act Two was 1:08 with Intermission lasting 25 minutes. So it's not an abnormally long show but with cuts it should be a tight 2:30. 

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 1:27pm

Couldn’t agree with you more about the lizard song. How that survived night one is beyond me. I gather they’re going for a “Little Lamb” song, but it doesn’t work. 

Having said that, let’s give Kristen a “Rose’s Turn”! That finale is so underwhelming.

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 2:00pm

Oh yeah…I forgot about the dead lizard song. And the daughter’s song about her diary, which she calls her Book of Random, for some reason. ✂️✂️

I hope they find better ways to use the daughter and the niece. They, along with the maid, could have some really moving scenes/songs about how Jackie affects their lives. 

[DiscoCrows]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 2:52pm

Is there a song list?

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 3:09pm

DiscoCrows said: "Is there a song list?"

One wasn’t provided. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 3:26pm

DiscoCrows said: "Is there a song list?"

For some time now, many out-of-town tryouts haven’t been printing the song list during previews as things are being added and cut and moved around nightly. The song list gets added to the Playbills post-opening as the show is frozen at that point. 

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 6:07pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Also, as for the running time, last night Act One was 1:25 and Act Two was 1:08 with Intermission lasting25 minutes. So it's not an abnormally long show but with cuts it should be a tight 2:30."

Wow, yeah, that doesn't seem particularly long to me, at all.  I was expecting much longer run times from all the discussion.  Audiences are always far more restless with the second Act (I mean R&H shows with their massive runtimes used to have very long first acts, and then second acts that were only a little more than half that length,) and it sounds like this Act II is rougher going so I imagine that is where further cutting could be particularly useful. 

 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 6:28pm

I’m surprised by the pushback to the daughter and niece’s songs. I felt they were the only characters with any stakes. Maybe they could cast a confident singer as the husband and build up his role. He was a great source of menace in the documentary. 

[Jmuep2]

Posted: 7/21/24 at 12:49am

I thought her daughter was the only compelling character in the show. But you could lose the lizard song. 
 

‘’I texted a friend on my way home after. It’s a good show but I don’t think it will ever be great until they really get a better handle on their opinion of the lead character and bring that out. As is now, the arc is just murky. And considering what I know about the real life subject, I don’t think it’s possible to do that and be true to the subject. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/21/24 at 8:41am

Listened to all of “The Biggest Home in America” opening number and loved it. In particular the country western music undertones. Can’t wait to hear the rest and what a gift for Kristin to have a score written exclusively in her range and strengths. 

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/21/24 at 6:52pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Listened to all of “The Biggest Home in America” opening number and loved it. In particular the country western music undertones. Can’t wait to hear the rest and what a gift for Kristin to have a score written exclusively in her range and strengths."

*Clueless* did they release this track somewhere?

[Kad]

Posted: 7/21/24 at 7:53pm

I wish we had somebody like BalconyClub there in Boston to report on changes made to this.