THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November- Page 13

[Observation]

Posted: 9/22/25 at 3:24pm

Realistically, would/could they drop Chenoweth? 

[EmceeHammer]

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?

[Sutton Ross]

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?

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 9/22/25 at 3:31pm

Observation said: "Realistically, would/could they drop Chenoweth?"

 

Never

[Observation]

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. 

[DiscoCrows]

Posted: 9/22/25 at 4:35pm

Is Siegel actually billed as a producer?

[BrodyFosse123]

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:

[GiantsInTheSky2]

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. 

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 9/23/25 at 9:46am

Exactly 

[ER765]

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? 👀 

[BrodyFosse123]

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. 

[dramamama611]

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!

 

[Auggie27]

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.

Updated On: 9/23/25 at 10:35 AM

[broadwayboy223]

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. 

[Observation]

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. 

[BJR]

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 Bandstand]

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. 

[east side story]

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 Bandstand]

Posted: 9/23/25 at 12:35pm

I don’t have tickets yet.  What a noxious comment

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 9/23/25 at 12:40pm

Frank DiLella gave Chenoweth and the show a life line and they fumbled it.

[gibsons2]

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.

Updated On: 9/23/25 at 12:54 PM

[east side story]

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.

[Auggie27]

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. 

Updated On: 9/23/25 at 01:22 PM

[Kad]

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. 

[Sutton Ross]

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.