The Queen of Versailles, starring Kristin Chenoweth, is cutting its Broadway run short.
The new musical, which featured a score by Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz, is ending its run Jan. 4, after opening at the St. James Theatre Oct. 8. The show is based on the 2012 documentary about Jackie and David Siegel, who attempt to build a replica of the Palace of Versailles in Florida, until they’re hit by the 2008 financial crisis. It received mostly mixed to negative reviews; however, The New York Times designated it as a Critic’s Pick.
The musical, which began previews at the St. James Theatre Oct. 8, ahead of a Nov. 9 opening, had been bringing in just above $1 million a week in the preceding weeks with capacity just above 90 percent, which would be healthy for a show but not with the high running costs of large musicals.
F. Murray Abraham starred in the musical opposite Chenoweth, with a cast including Ninah White, Tatum Grace Hopkins and more. Michael Arden, a Tony Award winner for Parade and Maybe Happy Ending, directed the show. Lindsey Ferrentino wrote the book to the musical.
This show marked the reunification of Schwartz and Chenoweth. And Chenoweth’s return to Broadway after 10 years away. She was also a producer on the project alongside Bill Damaschke, Seaview and Sonia Friedman.
Chenoweth previously told The Hollywood Reporter that she took on the project after Schwartz and Arden called her during the pandemic and played her one of the songs from the show. Asked if she was worried about the reception to the musical, which includes very wealthy characters and references to knowing Trump, Chenoweth said she believed the show “shines a mirror on us all.”
“I think people thought it was going to be one thing. And I definitely do the comedy for sure in the beginning, but there’s a very dark turn that happens that the documentary doesn’t even touch upon,” Chenoweth said. “Our Act 2 picks up where the documentary left off. So at first it’s funny. But people meet me at the stage door and say, “I can’t believe what a surprise that [tonal] turn was.” I don’t care if you’re left or on the right side of things — it shines a mirror on all of us. We can all see ourselves in it, good, bad, ugly.”
