THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November — Page 3

Kristin has never been a huge box office draw in her own right. The success of WICKED was sui generis; none of her subsequent Broadway appearances have been as lucrative or long-lasting.

AC126748 said: "Kristin has never been a huge box office draw in her own right. The success of WICKED was sui generis; none of her subsequent Broadway appearances have been as lucrative or long-lasting."

She has only been in 3 shows since WICKED: two limited run Roundabout productions, and one commercial production which recouped (Promises Promises, in which she had a bigger costar).

This will be a massive test of drawing power and I have a hard time seeing it succeed unless major work has been done since the out of town.

On paper, it has a better director and composer than Redwood. Let’s see if they can put in the work.

I just hope they’ve used this time to do significant work on the show. Without that, word of mouth will be poison for it.

Jordan Catalano said: "I just hope they’ve used this time to do significant work on the show. Without that, word of mouth will be poison for it."

The question is how much rework do you have to do to make the character likable. The only reason the audience didn’t hate her was because she was played by KC.

Jarethan said: "Jordan Catalano said: "I just hope they’ve used this time to do significant work on the show. Without that, word of mouth will be poison for it."

The question is how much rework do you have to do to make the character likable. The only reason the audience didn’t hate her was because she was played by KC. "

And that’s the major flaw of the show. A musical about a completely unlikable woman where the plot is “will this billionaire finish building her mansion?” I just want to know if they have found a way to make it about more than that, but I highly doubt they can.

Kristin chose Versailles over Death becomes her

Why would they even choose to go into the st James? It’s so big, they’ve already closed the balcony, Greg nobile needs to abandon doing musicals completely, he doesn’t know what he’s doing

I’ve only seen the first episode of the original TV show, but I believe I’ve seen Jackie and her husband on a few episodes of Below Deck and recall them making comments about COVID hoaxes and praising DJT. Let alone her husband’s tone deaf “I wonder what the poor people are doing today” comment while people in Florida can’t afford homeowners insurance and are fleeing the state’s support of free-flying swastikas outside of Disney World by MAGA supporters.

Unless I’m completely mistaking my episodes, I can’t say it gave me much interest in seeing a musical about ultra wealthy people building a replica of a French palace in the Florida swamps.

Do you refuse to see Othello because Iago is a bad guy? I haven't watched anything about the Siegels, I'm seeing this strictly for Chenoweth. Maybe it would have been better to wait until they were both dead & then they could make her a full blown Iago. But would Chenoweth want to do that? Could she? Doesn't feel like it would be in her wheelhouse. Time will tell how this goes.

I'm just waiting for a cast album, assuming this show records one. Stephen hasn't written much for the theatre since WICKED first opened.

inception said: "Do you refuse to see Othello because Iago is a bad guy? I haven't watched anything about the Siegels, I'm seeing this strictly forChenoweth. Maybe it would have been better to wait until they were both dead & then they could make her a full blown Iago. But would Chenoweth want to do that? Could she? Doesn't feel like it would be in her wheelhouse. Time will tell how this goes."

Of course, this is a musical comedy, not a dramatic tragedy. Also, based on what I saw, this ain’t in any danger of being compared to Shakespeare.

Anastasia_Beaverhausen said: "the producers are holding all the aisle seats and a lot of the best seats (which is a thing they do and I hate it....Chess is doing the same thing)"

Important for the show to have a bunch of really good House Seats available in case they are still raising money in previews and need to get potential investors in.

Plus seats for creative team, press, etc.

Some of those seats will likely become available -- and at a lower price -- as you get closer to the date of preference.

Anastasia_Beaverhausen said: "I get that, but the same seats are unavailable for every on-sale performance...even after it opens. So to me, it looks like they are greedy producers trying to get us to buy thecrap seats that are there."

I tend to agree with this. In theory, the “worse” but “cheaper” seats will sell earlier, and then closer to performance time buyers will be left with either “suddenly-available” premium or side/rear balcony/mezzanine.

This strategy may not work with this show, however.