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THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES is worse than you've heard | ★★ review of the Kristin Chenoweth led musical

MickeyJoTheatre

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OHMYGOD HEY!

One of this season's earliest new musical openings on Broadway was THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES, a Kristin Chenoweth led star vehicle with a new score from Stephen Schwartz based on the documentary of the same name.

The show, which opened to mixed to negative reviews, has already set an early closing date of January 4th, with online conversation quickly turning to whether or not this show deserved to close and whether it ought to have been more meaningfully supported by the Broadway community.

In this candid and detailed review, I'm sharing my thoughts on the misguided musical and why it inherently is still deserving of honest, unfiltered critique.

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00:00 | introduction
03:18 | on Kristin Chenoweth
09:03 | synopsis / overview
14:08 | the biggest problem
19:18 | the material
25:02 | more on the material
30:23 | creative choices
37:00 | final thoughts

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20 Comments

@LKjqwo 10 months ago

There are two key elements of the documentary that this show cut. The fact that David Siegel was emotionally abusive. And the fact that Jackie's denial of this was pushing her into madness. She can surround herself with presents, children and pets. But soon she's surrounded by garbage and feces and pretending not to notice. Versailles was more Grey Gardens than Barbie Dream House.

@kitty_m_83 10 months ago

13:12 makes me think of the line in 1776 "most men with nothing would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich than face the reality of being poor"

@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343 10 months ago

Honestly even if Kristen hadn’t said anything about Charlie Kirk, I don’t think this show had a snowball’s chance in hell. My cousin went to go see it while it was here in Boston and she said it was terrible. Then it went to New York and it’s clear they didn’t take the criticisms seriously or fix the show at all.

Add that to a very tone deaf show at the very worst time and you have an absolute disaster on your hands.

@n8f2f 10 months ago

Please don’t let this musical stop you from watching the source material. That documentary is actually very good -Kelly

@recordx6246 10 months ago

Saw this show in Boston and as everyone was leaving the theatre we witnessed a group of 4 or 5 homeless individuals being forcibly removed by law enforcement from the Boston Common (a park across the street from the theatre). Don’t think there’s a better display of how tone deaf this entire show was from conception.

@caitlynmarat4165 10 months ago

I’ve actually never heard Mickey Jo outright call a show trash this is crazy

@lexis4490 10 months ago

The documentary is actually a hilarious example of watching these people fall apart as they lose their money, until it becomes tragic. You don’t feel sorry for the people but it helps you understand the delusion these rich people have.

@Wheelyadventures 10 months ago

This reinforces for me that it’s never really possible to write an honest biography of someone when they are still alive. At no point can you get a true impression of someone who refuses to confront their humanity and flaws.

@DoveCalderwood 10 months ago

I'm still trying to process you saying that we could have had an Idina-Kristen production of Death Becomes Her 😵‍💫

@MidwesternDiva 10 months ago

My MOST generous possible read of this show is that it was developed when the creative team assumed Trump would not win reelection, and they thought it would read like parody. Like “look at these losers, aren’t they pathetic but in a kind of a lovable way?”

@geeksheets9752 10 months ago

All I can think of is the clip from the Kardashians “Kim, people are dying”. What a huge misfire to of a concept centered on the ultra-wealthy when people in the US are having social services cut and struggling to eat. Somewhere in this show I feel there could have been a compelling discussion about classism, but it sounds like the narrative would have needed to become more fictionalized to achieve that (ie not based on the real life of its central character.) Either that, or it sounds like it needed to be a much sharper satirical commentary.

Wonderful review as always, thanks for taking one for the team and watching this! As much as I hate to see a show do poorly, I do always enjoy the more scathing reviews! 😄

@hen_430 10 months ago

Kind of ironic that Kristen Chenowith is most infamously known for her portrayal of Glenda and that she has kind of become that character in real life. She is by her profession Bread & Circus to make people feel good without giving them any kind of real substance and just a distraction tool from the corruption that is happening behind the scenes.

@neilwaldock6272 10 months ago

8:30 "A lot of people will be walking out of this show ..." Full stop.

@sierramist0789 10 months ago

Americans of color have been rising up for centuries. The writers clearly show their own bias by ignoring that.

@kpierce1111 10 months ago

This feels like a show that was written to entertain Kristen and they bafflingly decided to invite other people to watch it.

@CleopatraTheMusical 10 months ago

A good indicator is when an actor or actress is also listed as a producer. It usually means there wasn’t enough funding, but they still wanted to bring their vision to life, even if few people believed in it. This really feels like one of those projects where friends call each other up and decide their names alone will draw an audience. It usually doesn’t work, but you can’t blame them. You can’t just tell these people to retire and enjoy the quiet.

@ROBYNMARKOW 10 months ago (edited)

"Chicago" is another musical that takes what could be v.unlikable characters makes them charming & so u root for them. It also successfully works as a social satire of life in the 1920's,unlike "Queen Of Versailles" which tries & fails at depicting the Great Recession in the the early 2000's...

@reeset2198 10 months ago

So interesting! The documentary is great because it simply observes her, and she’s tremendously sympathetic but also completely out of touch with the reality of the financial crisis even as she’s told to try and cut back on her pathological spending. She’s just as completely out of touch as Marie Antoinette’s ‘let them eat cake’ would have us think she was. The most poignant bit was how her husband seemed to have so little respect for her and even her kids understand that he thinks of her as a trophy wife. And the animal poop all over the house and the dead pets - it’s a window into a kind be of dysfunction that only can happen if you’re very wealthy.

@lilzemba 10 months ago

Spoiler warning! I saw the show in Boston and was pretty underwhelmed overall. The thing that really upset me though was the portrayal of Victoria as a person who doesn't enjoy the spotlight/public attention and ends up dying of an overdose (it's unclear if it was accidental or intentional). It is so freaking gross to me that this is based on a real-life person who died relatively recently. They talk in the musical about honoring her memory, but all I see is her parent's using her death as a tragedy to get more attention and garner a slightly sympathetic angle in an otherwise soulless musical. It's so messed up to continue putting Victoria's image in the public spotlight when the stress of that (at least according to how she was portrayed in this show) likely played a huge role in her death

@PeggyMcCabe 10 months ago (edited)

You are so right. My daughter bought tickets for my birthday in Boston. I had never seen Kristen Chenowith in person and was so excited. She was so impressive when she sang and I'm happy I saw her in person. But, the show was just plain weird. I had already watched the documentary out of curiosity. I definitely would not have gone to see it if Kristen wasn't in it. I'm not surprised it is closing.