THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November- Page 13
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#300
Posted: 9/22/25 at 3:24pm
Realistically, would/could they drop Chenoweth?
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#301
Posted: 9/22/25 at 3:28pm
Realistically, Chenoweth isn't the problem. Would/could they afford to drop Jackie Siegel as a producer and then rework the show in a way that she wouldn't approve of?
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#302
Posted: 9/22/25 at 3:31pm
Observation said: "Realistically, would/could they drop Chenoweth?"
The entire show is based on her. The key art is her. So, I'm going to say....nah?
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#303
Posted: 9/22/25 at 3:31pm
Observation said: "Realistically, would/could they drop Chenoweth?"
Never
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#304
Posted: 9/22/25 at 3:36pm
TotallyEffed said: "Observation said: "Realistically, would/could they drop Chenoweth?"
Never"
I figured as much... if I were an investor, I'd be sh*tting myself right now.
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#305
Posted: 9/22/25 at 4:35pm
Is Siegel actually billed as a producer?
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#306
Posted: 9/22/25 at 8:24pm
DiscoCrows said: "Is Siegel actually billed as a producer?"
Unless things changed for Broadway, according to the Playbill for the Boston tryout, she was not:
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#307
Posted: 9/23/25 at 5:05am
BrodyFosse123 said: "DiscoCrows said: "Is Siegel actually billed as a producer?"
Unless things changed for Broadway, according to the Playbill for the Boston tryout, she was not:"
Siegel’s production company, Beautiful People Productions, can be found near the top.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/30/17
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#308
Posted: 9/23/25 at 9:46am
Exactly
Leading Actor Joined: 3/12/14
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#309
Posted: 9/23/25 at 10:03am
I would love to know what Mr. Progressive, Michael Arden, has to say about this mess. Why so silent? 👀
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#310
Posted: 9/23/25 at 10:26am
Siegel’s production company, Beautiful People Productions, can be found near the top.
Thanks and I stand corrected. I had zero idea Siegel had a production company.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#311
Posted: 9/23/25 at 10:29am
Observation said: "TotallyEffed said: "Observation said: "Realistically, would/could they drop Chenoweth?"
Never"
I figured as much... if I were an investor, I'd be sh*tting myself right now."
After the reception in Boston, they were already there!
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#312
Posted: 9/23/25 at 10:35am
Go to Queerty on Instagram. 465 responses, a handful of “anti-woke,” gay bashing defenders. The consensus: her apology failed because a preponderance of her target audience inferred an “agree to disagree” message. A publicist should’ve handled this immediately with an issued statement correcting a misinterpretation of her original remark. Instead, it’s worsening; she’s focussed on how the ensuing backlash hurts … her. She and the show’s team seem to think the determinative issue is her Christian faith instead of Kirk’s racism, misogyny, and homophobia. It’s clearly a blunder that won’t disappear.
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#313
Posted: 9/23/25 at 11:09am
His silence isn't surprising after the word salad palooza of statements that came from the MHE casting oof.
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#314
Posted: 9/23/25 at 11:38am
Auggie27 said: "Go to Queerty on Instagram. 465 responses, a handful of “anti-woke,” gay bashing defenders. The consensus: her apology failed because a preponderance of her target audience inferred an “agree to disagree” message. A publicist should’ve handled this immediately with an issued statement correcting a misinterpretation of her original remark. Instead, it’s worsening; she’s focussed on how the ensuing backlash hurts … her. She and the show’s team seem to think the determinative issue is her Christian faith instead of Kirk’s racism, misogyny, and homophobia. It’s clearly a blunder that won’t disappear."
Yeah... look at the QoV TikTok... every video has several comments calling her out. I don't really agree with it, but to be honest, there are so many things going on in this world that I don't understand. Even videos that do not feature Kristin, people are saying and asking the same things. I wonder if she'll get some pushback in the theater during shows/curtain call? I'm so interested to see how this all plays out. My gut tells me by the end of the year, this show will have already faded into obscurity.
I've had zero interest in this show since the beginning given the subject matter, and if "Caviar Dreams" is a preview for the rest of the show, I'm not interested. The only good thing I've heard about it is that they do some inventive stuff with the set (and I'm not even sure what that means?) and of course we get Sherie back on stage. I don't live in NYC so it would take a lot of effort for me to see the show, and there is a list of shows I'd prioritize over this one.
This just doesn't feel like the moment for this show, for several many reasons.
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#315
Posted: 9/23/25 at 11:45am
I feel for them, trying to turn the page from the comments. But also, if you don't want to jeopardize your upcoming project, don't engage with the most controversial people and events of the day publicly.
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#316
Posted: 9/23/25 at 12:06pm
I don’t understand how anyone can take what Chenoweth said and now think that somehow she is a maga conspiracy theorist anti woke freedom fighter. Literally, this is someone who just wants to love and be loved by everyone. It’s Kristin Chenoweth for godsake, she has a long history of supporting democrats and advocating for the queer community. This whole “controversy” is just more people wanting to be outraged by something.
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#317
Posted: 9/23/25 at 12:33pm
The Bandstand said: "I don’t understand how anyone can take what Chenoweth said and now think that somehow she is a maga conspiracy theorist anti woke freedom fighter. Literally, this is someone who just wants to love and be loved by everyone. It’s Kristin Chenoweth for godsake, she has a long history of supporting democrats and advocating for the queer community. This whole “controversy” is just more people wanting to be outraged by something."
How much did you pay for your ticket(s)?
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#318
Posted: 9/23/25 at 12:35pm
I don’t have tickets yet. What a noxious comment
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#319
Posted: 9/23/25 at 12:40pm
Frank DiLella gave Chenoweth and the show a life line and they fumbled it.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/26/19
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#320
Posted: 9/23/25 at 12:54pm
The Bandstand said: "I don’t understand how anyone can take what Chenoweth said and now think that somehow she is a maga conspiracy theorist anti woke freedom fighter. Literally, this is someone who just wants to love and be loved by everyone. It’s Kristin Chenoweth for godsake, she has a long history of supporting democrats and advocating for the queer community. This whole “controversy” is just more people wanting to be outraged by something."
Nobody thinks that Kristin is some maga conspiracy theorist. But people do think that her "long history" of supporting queer community was performative. I mean, would she reach the level of fame and adoration without full support of said theater queer community? She would've been just another washed up, forgotten Broadway star who was lucky to have an iconic role 20 years ago. I'm still convinced that Kristin said what she said and then doubled down not because she's genuinely evil. She's just dumb, I think. Didn't realize how harmful the right wing rhetoric was to LGBT folks and how it straight put target on them. It's entirely possible she's just extremely low informed, about everything. Her "apology" should've been written out by a professional, because it looked like another white tears performance where the main character blames everyone but themselves. I wish this production well.
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#321
Posted: 9/23/25 at 1:06pm
The Bandstand said: "I don’t have tickets yet. What a noxious comment"
That’s what I thought.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#322
Posted: 9/23/25 at 1:22pm
This public relations crisis has broadened beyond weighing her history as an ally and parsing the remarks (but can we bluntly state: who isn't an LGBTQ+ ally in the Broadway community?) We're now in a post-Osnes, post-Levi climate wherein sociopolitical allegiances matter but how they're demonstrated matters more. Have we forgotten the LuPone debacle? When Chenoweth couldn't be bothered to identify the Kirk policies that she supposedly embraces - beyond his professed religious identity - her weak damage control became part of the crisis. You get one clean shot at reversing the narrative, and if you fumble it, you get ... well, everything in this thread, on Instagram, and elsewhere.
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#323
Posted: 9/23/25 at 1:24pm
Chenoweth has been an LGBT advocate for a long time and there’s really nothing in her history that suggests she is aligned with right wing politics. I think she is well-intended but not the most adroit- she had an emotional response to the fact that a mother and young children lost their husband and father and was either unaware of the greater context or thought she was sidestepping it by focusing on the human tragedy and her faith. She’s fumbled it every step of the way, which is wholly on her and speaks to either her naïveté or lack of PR awareness, but I think people insinuating she’s a down-low bigot are acting in bad faith. I do think she needs PR training, stat, and better people guiding that. This is not something that those working on the production should need to be worrying about right now.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November#324
Posted: 9/23/25 at 1:27pm
The half ass damage control includes deleting comments on their socials and posting her singing from the score. They need to do more promotions, more discounts, and hire a crisis manager if they actually want this to be a success. Messy.
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