THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November- Page 17

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 7:57am

I meant more like it’s a weird time to make a show where we are suppose to care about these Republicans hoarding all their wealth… but yeah I see your point 

[EmceeHammer]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 8:02am

Thanks for that pushback and deeper analysis. I’m a huge fan of the original documentary and have been dreading just how much this show will miss the point. Your reaction gives me hope. 

Perhaps Assassins isn’t the best comp for my concerns. Is this more like Great Gatsby where they bury and/or totally miss the social criticism of the source material to make the lead more likable?

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 8:33am

I've said this elsewhere, but as someone who saw the Boston run, I really enjoyed this show, despite it being imperfect.

The final moments of Jackie standing in the completed foyer of the house, alone is impactful. It shows that the money can't buy everything, and it reminds me of the great lyric in "Thank Goodness" from Wicked: "Because getting your dreams, it's strange but it seems a little complicated. There's a kind of, sort of cost. A couple of things get lost. There are bridges you've crossed you didn't know you've crossed until you've crossed".

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 8:46am

fashionguru_23 said: "I've said this elsewhere, but as someone who saw the Boston run, I really enjoyed this show, despite it being imperfect.

The final moments of Jackie standing in the completed foyer of the house, alone is impactful. It shows that the money can't buy everything, and it reminds me of the great lyric in "Thank Goodness" from Wicked: "Because getting your dreams, it's strange but it seems a little complicated. There's a kind of, sort of cost. A couple of things get lost. There are bridges you've crossed you didn't know you've crossed until you've crossed"."


Maybe the worst lyric in Wicked lol

[Ensemble1711444445]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 9:11am

fashionguru_23 said: "I've said this elsewhere, but as someone who saw the Boston run, I really enjoyed this show, despite it being imperfect.

The final moments of Jackie standing in the completed foyer of the house, alone is impactful. It shows that the money can't buy everything, and it reminds me of the great lyric in "Thank Goodness" from Wicked: "Because getting your dreams, it's strange but it seems a little complicated. There's a kind of, sort of cost. A couple of things get lost. There are bridges you've crossed you didn't know you've crossed until you've crossed"."
 

Updated On: 10/7/25 at 09:11 AM

[east side story]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 11:13am

TotallyEffed said: "fashionguru_23 said: "I've said this elsewhere, but as someone who saw the Boston run, I really enjoyed this show, despite it being imperfect.

The final moments of Jackie standing in the completed foyer of the house, alone is impactful. It shows that the money can't buy everything, and it reminds me of the great lyric in "Thank Goodness" from Wicked: "Because getting your dreams, it's strange but it seems a little complicated. There's a kind of, sort of cost. A couple of things get lost. There are bridges you've crossed you didn't know you've crossed until you've crossed"."


Maybe the worst lyric in Wicked lol"

AGREED. 

 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 11:26am

EmceeHammer said: "Thanks for that pushback and deeper analysis. I’m a huge fan of the original documentary and have been dreading just how much this show will miss the point. Your reaction gives me hope.

Perhaps Assassins isn’t the best comp for my concerns. Is this more like Great Gatsby where they bury and/or totally miss the social criticism of the source material to make the lead more likable?"

I haven't seen the documentary so I can't speak to that, but I definitely saw a portrait of a woman who strove for wealth to the point where she lost just about everything else substantial in her life, similar to what another poster said.  I found it fairly damning, but I think it requires some critical thinking of the audience.  I'd also push back on the person that says it celebrates greed and excess because I don't think the show does that at all.  At various points you see how Jackie's flightiness and blissful ignorance in the face of chasing that excess blinds her to larger issues at hand, which culminates in a moment of tragedy, and the way that she reacts to that moment also shows just how far off the deep end she's gone.

I don't think it was a perfect show, and the main work they'll need to do is to fine tune the tone of the show so that it comes across more clearly, though I think part of it might also be that Kristin Chenoweth is just so damn charismatic on stage that you want to like her.  But I felt that she really understood the tragedy of the character at the end of the show and was perhaps a bit ahead of Michael Arden in that aspect.

[Ensemble1711444445]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 11:41am

chrishuyen said: "EmceeHammer said: "Thanks for that pushback and deeper analysis. I’m a huge fan of the original documentary and have been dreading just how much this show will miss the point. Your reaction gives me hope.

Perhaps Assassins isn’t the best comp for my concerns. Is this more like Great Gatsby where they bury and/or totally miss the social criticism of the source material to make the lead more likable?"

I haven't seen the documentary so I can't speak to that, but I definitely saw a portrait of a woman who strove for wealth to the point where she lost just about everything else substantial in her life, similar to what another poster said. I found it fairly damning, but I think it requires some critical thinking of the audience. I'd also push back on the person that says it celebrates greed and excess because I don't think the show does that at all. At various points you see how Jackie's flightiness and blissful ignorance in the face of chasing that excess blinds her to larger issues at hand, which culminates in a moment of tragedy, and the way that she reacts to that moment also shows just how far off the deep end she's gone.

I don't think it was a perfect show, and the main work they'll need to do is to fine tune the tone of the show so that it comes across more clearly, though I think part of it might also be that Kristin Chenoweth is just so damn charismatic on stage that you want to like her. But I felt that she really understood the tragedy of the character at the end of the show and was perhaps a bit ahead of Michael Arden in that aspect."

 

[Ensemble1711444445]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 11:45am

chrishuyen said: "EmceeHammer said: "Thanks for that pushback and deeper analysis. I’m a huge fan of the original documentary and have been dreading just how much this show will miss the point. Your reaction gives me hope.

Perhaps Assassins isn’t the best comp for my concerns. Is this more like Great Gatsby where they bury and/or totally miss the social criticism of the source material to make the lead more likable?"

I haven't seen the documentary so I can't speak to that, but I definitely saw a portrait of a woman who strove for wealth to the point where she lost just about everything else substantial in her life, similar to what another poster said. I found it fairly damning, but I think it requires some critical thinking of the audience. I'd also push back on the person that says it celebrates greed and excess because I don't think the show does that at all. At various points you see how Jackie's flightiness and blissful ignorance in the face of chasing that excess blinds her to larger issues at hand, which culminates in a moment of tragedy, and the way that she reacts to that moment also shows just how far off the deep end she's gone.

I don't think it was a perfect show, and the main work they'll need to do is to fine tune the tone of the show so that it comes across more clearly, though I think part of it might also be that Kristin Chenoweth is just so damn charismatic on stage that you want to like her. But I felt that she really understood the tragedy of the character at the end of the show and was perhaps a bit ahead of Michael Arden in that aspect."

 

Updated On: 10/7/25 at 11:45 AM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 12:10pm

Ensemble1711444445 said: "Bad moment in time to be celebrating a "let them eat cakemusical.""

But the short-lived Gershwin brothers sequel LET EM EAT CAKE went so well in 1933!!!

[Anastasia_Beaverhausen]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 4:06pm

Where are the discounts??? They really need to offer some to sell all those empty seats. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 6:21pm

It's obvious they don't think they need it, since the sole code is like 10% off which isn't enough. Sales have not increased at all, so whomever wants to see this, see it quickly.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 7:12pm

Ensemble1711444445 said: "
Look at the campaign and the Caviar Dreams song they released....they are selling greed and excess froma gold digger. The real woman spends more time at Mar a Lago than Melania does. There is not a deeper story drive intoremorse or contrition or god forbid having learned compassion for those less fortunate. She has always wanted to be rich and famous and now this musical is her latest attempt at fame. Bad moment in time to be celebrating a "let them eat cakemusical.""

I'm fully with chrishuyen on this, but I will also concede that the advertising campaign feels wrong for right now, especially.  But... I can't really think of the alternative.  Do a deep dive into how much her relentless goal for a shallow take on the American dream lost her (I assume people know about one key very personal loss?)  A tagline like "She thought she was living the American Dream!  How blind she was, trapped in her American nightmare."  OK, I can't write taglines, but you get my point.  Still, the way they are selling it is obviously not working...

(I also don't think it helps that the real life "Queen of Versailles" has so embraced the show, bringing her real housewives type friends to see it decked out in their cheap-finery, etc, with no sense of the fact that the musical... doesn't really celebrate her.  But I'm not sure again how they can handle that any differently if they want to do the show.  Especially considering her role as a producer--in name only, obviously like most current Broadway producers.)

 

Updated On: 10/1/25 at 07:12 PM

[EmceeHammer]

Posted: 9/30/25 at 9:16pm

Maybe this is a “let them have their cake and eat it too” musical. 

[MezzA101]

Posted: 10/3/25 at 1:13pm

Kristin Chenoweth Teams With 'Wicked' Writer on 'Queen of Versailles'

https://variety.com/2025/legit/news/kristin-chenoweth-wicked-composer-stephen-schwartz-queen-of-versailles-broadway-1236537767

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/3/25 at 6:51pm

I also wonder where Schwartz' fanbase is.  Does he have one?  (I would count myself as a fan...)  All the complaints that this id a vanity project like Redwood leaves off the fact that it's a rare new Broadway score by Schwartz--a songwriter in his late 70s who certainly was not given his due in the 70s when he had the biggest series of hits (it's amusing to now read Pippin reviews which were so dismissive that anyone in the future would remember the score.  I think Gottfried said he was the one songwriter who benefited the most from the least talent or something ridiculous.)  And yet, completely left out of this discussion about Queen of Versailles is Schwartz or why he was drawn to the subject.

[MysteriousLady]

Posted: 10/3/25 at 10:34pm

For someone as successful as he has been, Schwartz doesn't have the name value that Lloyd Webber or Lin Manuel has. His titles are much more famous than his own name; Godspell, Pippin, Pocahontas, Prince of Egypt, Wicked. It really should be a bigger deal that someone of his pedigree is debuting a new score on Broadway; instead, it's shrugs. 

[Ensemble1711444445]

Posted: 10/4/25 at 7:29am

MysteriousLady said: "For someone as successful as he has been, Schwartz doesn't have the name value that Lloyd Webber or Lin Manuel has. His titles are much more famous than his own name; Godspell, Pippin, Pocahontas, Prince of Egypt, Wicked. It really should be a bigger deal that someone of his pedigree is debuting a new score on Broadway; instead, it's shrugs."
 

Updated On: 10/7/25 at 07:29 AM

[DrMonicaDeMoneco]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 3:05am

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "“Went out of her way to acknowledge his death”

Can we be real? She commented on an Instagram post. Something that can be done both from your toilet seat and the train platform. You guys are acting like she took a full page out in the Times memorializing him and his ideals.

This whole thing is being blown out of proportion with thesemisdirected reactions. This is not the nail in the coffin for QOV, the show itself is doing that job just fine.

Chenoweth can be a nightmare(personal experiences) and she has consistently aligned herself with ‘both sides of the aisle’. This choice to comment or even support should not be surprising to anyone. She was raised Southern Baptist and performs with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I suggest everyone level theirexpectations, listen when peopletell you who they are, and let foolsput their foot in their mouthand make an ass of themselves, who cares. Focus on the real enemies at play and quit falling for these dumb distractions."

I agree 100% : This is not the nail in the coffin for QOV, the show itself is doing that job just fine.

Get your tickets fast!!! This show is DOA

[EmceeHammer]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 9:17am

MysteriousLady said: "For someone as successful as he has been, Schwartz doesn't have the name value that Lloyd Webber or Lin Manuel has. His titles are much more famous than his own name; Godspell, Pippin, Pocahontas, Prince of Egypt, Wicked. It really should be a bigger deal that someone of his pedigree is debuting a new score on Broadway; instead, it's shrugs."

Stephen Schwartz will have three shows playing simultaneously in New York this season. Two on Broadway and one off. That’s a milestone few composers or playwrights have achieved. Sondheim did it posthumously, perhaps before. Who else?

But… Schwartz still isn’t a name brand. His track record is spotty. Maybe this season is his time to shine? Will he finally win a (competitive) Tony?

I suspect QoV marketing is in a tough spot with how to leverage Schwartz. Play up Wicked and you might remind people they can see that instead. Play up Baker’s Wife or his long career and you might remind people most of his shows are not exactly popular or successful.

The ads I’m seeing (and I’m seeing a LOT) highlight Schwartz and the score only after Chenoweth and Abraham. I’ve seen more publicity around the set and the real life Jackie Siegel than I have for Schwartz.

[TheatreMonkey]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 9:57am

Andrew Lloyd Webber has had three shows, on Broadway, play at the same time, too. 

[Kad]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 10:05am

ALW was able to turn himself into a brand after his big hits, while Sondheim was anointed by critics and aficionados even though most of his shows were flops and not a single one cracks even the broadest lists of longest-running shows. Schwartz is kind of the mid point between them- Wicked is a hit not unlike Webber’s biggest and he has quite a number of very popular songs, albeit from a very uneven and comparatively thin body of work. He’s not quite critically embraced, but not completely popularly embraced either. 
 

I do wonder, however, if the lack of push of him is in part due to his own disinclination to be put in the spotlight like that? He’s not particularly known to put himself out there in the ways Webber or Sondheim did. 

[DaveyG]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 10:07am

TheatreMonkey said: "Andrew Lloyd Webber has had three shows, on Broadway, play at the same time, too."

For seven weeks in 1999, so did Frank Wildhorn. It's still shocking to me. 

[EmceeHammer]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 10:17am

TheatreMonkey said: "Andrew Lloyd Webber has had three shows, on Broadway, play at the same time, too."

With both Cats and Phantom running for so long, ALW hit this milestone several times over. 

Schwartz doesn’t haven’t the name recognition or clout of ALW or Sondheim (though arguably Sondheim didn’t until after his death). 
 

[Ensemble1711444445]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 10:28am

EmceeHammer said: "TheatreMonkey said: "Andrew Lloyd Webber has had three shows, on Broadway, play at the same time, too."

With both Cats and Phantom running for so long, ALW hit this milestone several times over.

Schwartz doesn’t haven’t the name recognition or clout of ALW or Sondheim (though arguably Sondheim didn’t until after his death).
"

 

Updated On: 10/7/25 at 10:28 AM