(Photo: "The Siegel Family" shown in a pivotal moment from the new Stephen Schwartz musical, "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES," now playing at the Emerson Colonial Theatre in Boston, MA. through August 25, 2024. Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMAG Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
"I've been up and down my entire life. I mean, I've been married before and I didn't have to worry about anything. I was making tons of money modeling; and then I was poor again."
- Jaqueline Siegel
Pre-Broadway World Premier Musical!
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Book by Lindsey Ferrentino
Directed by Michael Arden
Choreography by Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant
Music Supervision Mary-Mitchell Campbell
Music Coordinator Kristy Norter
Orchestrator John Clancy
Cast Includes: Kristin Chenoweth as “Jackie,” F. Murray Abraham as “David,” Melody Butiu as “Sofia,” Stephen Derosa as “John,” Greg Hildreth as “Gary,” Tatum Grace Hopkins as “Jonquil,” Isabel Keating as “Debbie,” Nina White as “Victoria,” Amanda Jane Cooper as “Sheri & Others,” David Aron Damane as “Ray & Others,” Diana Huey as “Kimberly & Others,” Cassondra James as “Marie & Others,” Andrew Kober as “Pageant Host & Others,” Pablo David Laucerica as “Louis & Others,” Michael McCorry Rose as “Ron & Others,” Yeman Brown, Drew Elhamalawy, Sara Esty, KJ Hippensteel as the “Moving Company”
Additional Creative Team:
Advertising – RPM; Technical Supervision - Juniper Street Productions, Inc.; Press Representative - Rubenstein/Amy Jacobs; Marketing Strategy & Direction - On The Rialto; Casting - Stephen Kopel, CSA, Carrie Gardner, CSA, C12 Casting; Associate Director – Lauren Yalango-Grant; General Management – Baseline Theatrical; Company Manager – James Viggiano; Production Stage Manager - Clarissa Marie Ligon; Production Supervisor – Justin Scribner; Prop Supervision - Ray Wetmore, Jr Goodman; Hair & Wig Designer - Cookie Jordan; Orchestrations - John Clancy; Technical Costume Designer - Ryan Park; Scenic & Video Design - Dane Laffrey; Sound Design - Peter Hylenski; Lighting Design - Natasha Katz; Costume Design - Christian Cowan
Performances:
July 16, 2024 through August 25,2024
(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)
EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE, 106 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02116
TICKETS:
By phone # 888-616-0272
Box Office Hours: Monday-Friday: 9am - 8pm (EST); Saturday-Sunday: 10am - 8pm (EST)
THE EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE Box Office is located at 106 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116
THE EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE website is the official source for tickets:
http://www.emersoncolonialtheatre.com/
What an incredible opening for "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES" at the Emerson Colonial Theatre in Boston.
The highly anticipated musical from legendary Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz hits the ground running and is as exciting as it is thought-provoking.
Depicting how fools governed by avarice and obsessed with extravagance and their own self-absorption never learn, even from tragedy, the show explores a subject as timely now in 2024 as it was back in the days of the French Revolution.
Greed.
Now, for fans of so-called “reality television” the name “Jackie Siegel” may be quite familiar.
Not being an aficionado of voyeuristic "reality" television, I was not familiar with the exploits of the show's protagonist.
As directed by Michael Arden, with choreography by Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant, the show is inventively staged with plenty of high-tech wizardry on display.
Using the entire stage space at the Emerson Colonial, actors are many times observed at the farthest outer lengths of the space,.
Sometimes actors are literally climbing scaffolding and, while trying to carry on complete sections of dialogue exchanges, others are seen turning the scaffolding...WHILE the actors are still on it.
Schwartz’s musical, with book by Lindsey Ferrentino, shows us the “rags-to-riches” tale of Jacqueline Siegel (Kristin Chenoweth) the U.S. self-proclaimed "QUEEN OF VERSAILLES."
More accurately, this musical is a “rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-riches-to-remorse-to-revulsion” story (rinse and repeat).
The Siegels are one family that got knocked down but then got back up again more times than the Chumbawumba tune writers might have thought conceivable.
Yet, as a Stephen Schwartz musical vehicle clearly intended for Tony Award-winner Kristin Chenoweth, just like the stunning artwork displayed in the show, "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES" is itself a musical work of art.
Since the show was announced last year, there has been a great deal of anticipation and hype surrounding the show, especially as Chenoweth and Schwartz collaborated on the blockbuster musical "WICKED" back in 2003.
Yet, for all the show's hype, does Chenoweth herself deliver in the role?
Oh, you better believe she does.
As a performer, Chenoweth has always been and will likely remain the absolute "gold standard" and, in "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES," she ably proves this once more.
The musical opens with a colorful number, “Because I Can,” impressively sung by “Louis XIV” (Pablo David Laucerica) and the Ensemble serving as his early French “Courtiers.”
The scene quickly shifts to a vast mansion under construction and with a documentary filming already under way.
As Jackie, Chenoweth completely takes charge over the balance of the opening number which morphs into present day in “Because We Can,” where Jackie introduces us to every pivotal character we are about to meet in the story.
It is a very “Pippin-esque” opening, if you will allow the comparison.
However, here is where comparisons to prior Stephen Schwartz musicals shifts, because "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES" is nothing like his iconic favorites, “PIPPIN,” “GODSPELL” or especially, especially, especially “WICKED” (emphasizing for those thinking of bringing the kids along to see this one – definitely a show intended for more mature audiences).
The socialite, model, actress, and beauty pageant queen initiates her own documentary on the building of her palatial home in Orlando, Florida.
In real life, this became the basis of a 2012 documentary film, "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES," directed by Lauren Greenfield.
(Photo: Kristin Chenoweth as “Jackie” with F. Murray Abraham as “David" in a scene from the new Stephen Schwartz musical, "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES," now playing at the Emerson Colonial Theatre in Boston, MA. through August 25, 2024. Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade)
The musical expands upon the basic bullet points of the documentary by infusing it with a lot of humor and many great tunes by Schwartz, mostly sung by Chenoweth.
Siegel, born Jacqueline Mallery to John (Stephen DeRosa) and Debbie Mallery (Isabel Keating), was raised in Endwell, New York.
Her parents enjoy watching the television show, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” and hope that, someday, their daughter will achieve only the finest things life has to offer, which Jackie sings about in arguably the best number in the show, “Caviar Dreams.”
As the musical continues, one recurring theme that certainly hits home is to be careful what you wish for your children, parents.
We learn how young Jackie worked multiple low-grade jobs, ultimately graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in computer engineering.
Unfortunately, after multiple encounters with “boys club mentality” at companies replete with glass ceilings, Jackie’s life took a far different direction when she married her first husband.
As we watch the events unfold on stage, by 1993, in order to escape her abusive spouse, Jackie won the "Mrs. Florida America" beauty pageant, an event which Jackie describes in the song coincidentally titled, "Mrs. Florida."
(Photo: F. Murray Abraham as “David Siegel" in a scene from the new Stephen Schwartz musical, "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES," now playing at the Emerson Colonial Theatre in Boston, MA. through August 25, 2024. Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade)
With her only child (at the time) in tow, Jackie has a chance encounter with mogul David Siegel (F. Murray Abraham), owner of Westgate Resorts, a phenomenally successful timeshare company in Florida.
After a little background info on David from the amusing tune “Ballad of the Timeshare King,” Jackie, thirty years his junior, marries David in an extravagant wedding.
Academy Award-winner Abraham, always the consummate actor, is totally engaging as David, offering us a look at what happens when a man has the resources to have anything he wants in life – but, simultaneously, has no emotional or physical “guardrails” in place to help him curb his appetite for want.
In this way, the gluttonous David and Jackie are perfect for one another.
During a pivotal trip to France, Jackie is inspired and, when the couple returns home to Orlando, they begin construction on their outrageously opulent Versailles mansion, based upon the actual Palace of Versailles.
Located on the outskirts of Orlando, the mansion is on track to become one of the largest single-family detached homes in the United States upon completion.
Along Jackie’s journey of reckless spending we meet her oldest child, Victoria (Nina White).
Victoria is chronically self-conscious, always seeing herself lost in the shadow of her more prominent, outgoing mother, which she sings about in the ode to body-shaming, “Pretty Wins.”
White, a marvelous surprise as Victoria, unexpectedly counterbalances the prevailing recklessness that is part and parcel living in the “Versailles” mansion with Jackie and David.
The above all comes to a boil as she sings during the second act’s “The Book of Random.”
(Photo: Kristin Chenoweth as “Jackie Siegel” in the opening moments of the new Stephen Schwartz musical, "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES," now playing at the Emerson Colonial Theatre in Boston, MA. through August 25, 2024. Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade)
Also living with the couple, in addition to their (unseen many) children, is niece Jonquil (Tatum Grace Hopkins) who comes to them after family tragedy and being on the streets.
When she first arrives under the roof of this strange palace being created by the Siegels, she is at first responsive to the new luxurious lifestyle as she sings about in “I Could Get Used To This.”
Hopkins shines in her portrayal of Jonquil, who soon becomes our POV when she aligns herself with her cousin, Victoria.
Though their relationship is strained at first, the two soon become more like sisters than cousins, especially after the death of a “beloved member of the family” which they sing about in the hysterical duet, “Pavane for a Dead Lizard.”
Soon, David Siegel’s company is badly impacted by the colossal bank crash of 2008, and everything soon falls apart.
The family struggles to cope with their dire financial straits and, while David isolates in his office trying to keep the mansion from being taken away, Jackie works all kinds of angles herself to prevent the same.
Construction on the new house is halted, thousands of employees and servants are laid off, and things begin to unravel quickly.
With Gary (Greg Hildreth), his steadfast business confidante …and son (in that order, at least as depicted), David retreats from all, determined to save his own ass-ets.
Hildreth gives a memorable performance as the beleaguered son who goes practically unnoticed by his narcissist father.
Again, the above probably rings a note of familiarity for those following political current events.
(Photo: The CAST of the new Stephen Schwartz musical, "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES," now playing at the Emerson Colonial Theatre in Boston, MA. through August 25, 2024. Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade)
Yet, for all the reprehensible qualities that seem to come with David and Jackie, one can't help but actually like these two.
We may not necessarily root for them, but we do seem to enjoy accompanying them on their life's journey as presented in "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES."
As part of the story being filmed for the documentary, we also meet the Siegel’s nanny, Sofia (Melody Butiu).
Sofia flies under the radar for much of the show but by the time we hit the middle of the show’s second act, more of her character’s life is learned.
In a touching portrayal, Butui tenderly renders Sofia’s story about her life growing up, which was not unlike the very basic, simple “normal” household in which Jackie grew up.
She shares the above number “Little Houses” with equally tender performances by Chenoweth, White, DeRosa and Keating.
(Photo: "The Siegel Family" shown in a pivotal moment from the new Stephen Schwartz musical, "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES," now playing at the Emerson Colonial Theatre in Boston, MA. through August 25, 2024. Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade)
By design, Chenoweth owns the show throughout, of course, but she is most powerful during the show’s final moments in the startling “This Time Next Year” set against a awe-inspiring set of the completed Versailles mansion.
It was once pointed out that even the nicest of prisons is still a prison - and the Siegel's, at least based upon the show's premise, certainly made a glorious prison to call their home.
And yet, many issues are left unresolved or are left for the “viewers” of the Siegel’s story to interpret. Is "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES" a parable, an allegory, a cautionary tale?
It could be all or none of these things for, as is the case with other Schwartz shows, and part of his magnificent legacy, is that, musically and lyrically, by the end he ultimately leaves it to each of us to draw our own conclusions.
In the meantime, though? Just enjoy the show.
The "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES" continues at the Emerson Colonial Theatre in Boston until August 25th and it is highly recommended that you do not let this little masterpiece slip through your fingers.
For tickets and more information, phone # 888-616-0272. THE EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE Box Office is located at 106 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116. THE EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE website is the official source for tickets:
http://www.emersoncolonialtheatre.com/
Approximately three hours including intermission
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
@Theatre_Critics
ABOUT THE SHOW
From computer engineer to Mrs. Florida to billionairess Jackie Siegel sees herself as the embodiment of the American Dream.
Now, as the wife of David "The Timeshare King" Siegel and mother of their eight children, she invites us to behold their most grandiose venture yet: building the largest private home in America - a $100 million house in Orlando, Florida, big enough for her dreams and inspired by the Palace of Versailles.
But with the Great Recession of 2008 looming, Jackie and David's dreams begin to crumble, along with their lavish lifestyle.
Based on the wildly astonishing documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker Lauren Greenfield, "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES" reunites celebrated Oscar®-winning songwriter Stephen Schwartz with Tony® and Emmy Award® winner Kristin Chenoweth as Jackie Siegel.
With a book by Lindsey Ferrentino ("Ugly Lies the Bone,""Amy and the Orphans") and direction by Tony Award winner Michael Arden ("Parade,""Once on This lsland"), "THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES" is a new musical exploring the true cost of fame, fortune, and family.
TICKETS available by phone # 888-616-0272
ABOUT THE EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE
In its storied history, THE EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE has debuted such seminal Broadway shows as Anything Goes, Porgy and Bess, Oklahoma!, Born Yesterday, Follies, A Little Night Music, Grand Hotel and La Cage aux Folles, among others. Reviving a great theatrical tradition, Boston’s newly restored EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE officially re-opened its doors in July 2018 with the pre-Broadway World Premiere of Moulin Rouge! The Musical. THE EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE, which opened in 1900 with a production of Ben-Hur, is the oldest continuously operated theater in Boston; as well as being amongst the most magnificent, having retained most of its original period details. A theatre for the community, EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE will once again contribute to the rich cultural landscape of Boston, with a new and varied program of Broadway shows, live music, comedy and events.
106 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116