Queen of Versailles - Broadway

Last week I saw The Queen of Versailles and, sadly, as most reviewers have stated, it is a very disappointing show.  The production will be closing on January 4, 2026. 

The musical is based on the 2012 documentary of the same name and centers on Jackie and David Siegel, owners of Westgate Resorts, who, after visiting The Palace of Versailles in France, decide to build a replica in Orlando. It doesn’t go well.

 

The show stars Kristen Chenoweth, as Jackie Siegel, and she is marvelous. The diminutive actress commands the stage, and her singing voice is still tremendous. An interesting aside, this is her first Broadway musical since Wicked in 2003, that she is originating a role. Over the past 22 years, she has starred in revivals of The Apple Tree (opening in December 2006), Promises, Promises (opening in April 2010), and On the Twentieth Century (opening in March 2015). F. Murray Abraham, still spry at 86, is splendid as the belligerent, argumentative David Siegel. His no-nonsense arrogance, the perfect counterpoint to Jackie’s optimistic disposition.

The two central issues with The Queen of Versailles are Lindsey Ferrentino’s libretto and the score by Stephen Schwartz. In Act I, I actually thought Ms. Ferrentino effectively rendered Jackie Siegel’s very humble beginnings and early life, leading up to her marriage to the much older David Siegel. It is told in a rapid-fire succession of scenes that have a clearly delineated focus. The problem comes in Act II, where the musical gets too muddled, with head-scratching scenes (the burial of her oldest daughter’s pet lizard, members of the French monarchy being executed by guillotine) and plot points that are too secondary.

 

The music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, on first listen, come across as lackluster. There are a few stirring songs, mainly the Act I closer, “This Is Not the Way,” and the finale, “This Time Next Year.” To be fair, I would need to hear the songs again for a more thoughtful opinion. Still, there is just no immediate earworm-type song like last season’s “Dead” from Dead Outlaw or “Where I Wanna Be” from BOOP – the Musical.

 

Director Michael Arden, a Tony winner in 2025 for Maybe Happy Ending, and in 2023 for the revival of Parade, busies the stage with moveable ladders, a sizeable TV screen, large paintings, all within a set under the constant construction of the mega-home. He mixes up the dramatic framing from real-time action to self-confessionals for an ongoing documentary being filmed about the building of the Floridian Versailles.  However, the production is too unwieldy, even for Arden’s adroit toolbox.