THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November — Page 16

Is anyone ever going to tell me whether Chenoweth made a habit of generally acknowledging significant deaths on her social media? Because, even if I accept the unlikely proposition that she hadn't heard about Hortman's assassination, you sure as hell aren't going to convince me that Kirk's death is the first murder she ever heard about.

The point is, if she went out of her way to acknowledge his death in a way that she hadn't usually done before, that would be very telling about where her priorities lie.

This show would be a hard sell even if she didn't make the comments. It's about a trump loving billionare who wants to be seen as inspiring. Kristin is also IRL friends with Jackie. It's already messy without the comments from social media.

Greg nobile posted a pic of Jackie in front of the marquee. Honestly, the show seems to be doing decent at the box office for the next two months. And people hardly buy in advance anymore. Im sure they are going to get the good word of mouth and good reviews based on how well received her performance was in Boston. They will have a large media campaign once they begin performances.

The Bandstand said: "Greg nobile posted a pic of Jackie in front of the marquee. Honestly, the show seems to be doing decent at the box office for the next two months. And people hardly buy in advance anymore. Im sure they are going to get the good word of mouth and good reviews based on how well received her performance was in Boston. They will have a large media campaign once they begin performances."

Updated On: 10/7/25 at 09:53 PM

Jay Lerner-Z said: "Eva Peron was arguably a scummy person, and arguably irrelevant in 1978. Quality can transcend everything!

Imelda Marcos is definitely a scummy person and arguably irrelevant, and yet a quality musical about her flopped on Broadway.

Timing can also transcend everything.

gibsons2 said: "pagereynolds said: "gibsons2 said: "jlindsey865 said: "This was going to bomb with or without Chenoweth’s ignorant Kirk remarks."

Absolutely. Incredible that people haven't learned after Tammy fiasco. Stop making musicals about scummy people, dead or alive."

What a strange comment. Tammy Faye was a well known advocate for people with AIDS. Like, she had a lot of faults but she wasn't scummy."

Debatable. Both of her husbands were convcitedoffraud. Would be silly to think she hasn't fully participated in those schemes."

I'm glad at least one other person gets this. The way a campy personality makes a lot of people forget/ignore behavior suprises me. I mean, does anyone really believe she had NO idea what Jim Bakker was doing, or how they managed to raise all that money for an amusement part and a lavish personal lifestyle? I mean, come on.

To those harping on the "proportions" to which this has been blown: damage control in public relations is an art and a science. If handled efficiently, it's like putting out a kitchen fire. Two days later, you smell some burnt food but you cook something new.

Ms. Chenoweth has had a publicist for decades. She and her team know well the shelf life of such controversy, how silence breeds a "proportions" increase, not reduction, and inevitable consumer consequences. It isn't a question of a theater board chatter; it's the buzz around any project, particularly in a high profile launch or amendment of creatives (see Maybe Happy Ending). We can debate whether the remark earned the buzz, but it happened. Had the PR team issued an amplification in 24 hours, Chenoweth moving beyond her single talking point rebuttal (LGBTQ ally + Christian = KC) it could've been history. Scolding those debating whether consequences are deserved is part of what we do here. But this star has created a problem that only she can solve.

Updated On: 9/24/25 at 11:28 AM

Why would they open up the back balcony seats but not the front balcony seats? It’s the opposite for the Saturday October 11 performance

Chenoweth has a new gig lined up. She'll be free for it soon enough.

Kristin Chenoweth Stars In Church Choir Comedy In Works At NBC From Alissa Neubauer, Kapital & 3 Arts

This is like.....not the announcement you'd want to make after the recent mess but here we are. I wish the show luck because they'll need it.

RippedMan said: "It’s an odd show given the source material. They aren’t good people doing good things…"

Wait until you hear about Sweeney Todd or Assassins.

EmceeHammer said: "If this show had the tone of Sweeney Todd or Assassins, it wouldn’t be in (as much) trouble.

Now imagine an Assassins where “Everybody has the right to their dreams” is presented as an unironic self-affirmation, but yassified."

It's funny you say that because as one of the few defenders of the Boston production, I think it's painted with a bit of the same brush as Assassins, though in no way was it as masterful. But both are about chasing one's own definition of the American dream, and while Assassins demonstrates the characters that do that at the cost of societal order, Versailles shows the personal cost, even when Jackie doesn't realize it. I thought it was really fascinating to see how her obsession with her "American dream" came at the cost of the other things she would've valued and prioritized before, and I found that the show ultimately painted her as an ironic tragic figure, one who was too blinded by her ambition to realize just how tragic her life had become.