ALL HAIL THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES!
The pre-Broadway production of The Queen of Versailles, studded with Broadway royalty, understandably had Boston abuzz at the opening last night. Despite the brutal August sun, the line of theatergoers waiting to get through the security check and up to the will-call counter stretched down the block along Boston Common and included plenty of people in 4-inch heels and the same kind of body-hugging garb Jackie Siegel, the Queen of Versailles herself, would be happy to wear.
The wait was worth it. With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Pippin, Wicked), book by Lindsey Ferrentino, direction by Michael Arden (Parade, Once on This Island, Spring Awakening) the production stars Kristin Chenoweth as Jackie Siegel and F. Murray Abraham as David Siegel.
Kristin Chenoweth and F. Murray Abraham in The Queen of Versailles
The story of Jackie and David and their effort to build America’s largest private residence was presented in Lauren Greenfield’s 2012 documentary of the same title. The events portrayed in the film are all here, but continues with their story, going more deeply into Jackie’s life before meeting David. It also adds the intriguing and visually impressive French court of Versailles, complete with Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette (I’m no scholar of French history but I know enough to be surprised to see these two appearing together — Louis XIV built Versailles; Marie Antoinette was married to Louis XVI, two kings later. Then again, these scenes are presumably a reflection of Jackie Siegel’s fantasy life, and I suspect that she is no scholar of French history either, so I give them a pass).
Scenic and Video Designer Dane Laffrey‘s opening set places us in 18th-century Versailles. Three men in gold coats, white stockings, and powdered wigs move about before a wall of stacked paintings, dusting the three crystal chandeliers. A painter in a voluminous velvet coat works at an unfinished full-length portrait of the king, and then Louis himself (Pablo David Laucerica) appears. A comic character, leaping from one chair to another to keep his feet from touching the floor, he introduces himself as the Sun King and announces his plan to build Versailles. Then he sings the first musical number of the show, “Because I Can.” By now we have become accustomed to 18th-century France, so it’s a delightful surprise when that wall of paintings rises to reveal what appears to be an interior construction site of scaffolding and framing and boxes of supplies. Kristin Chenoweth sits on a throne-like chair in a pink spangled dress with fuchsia feathered sleeves. Once the enthusiastic applause dies down, she introduces herself and explains that “we didn’t set out to build the biggest home in America.” She sings her own version of the Sun King’s song: “Because We Can,” and F. Murray Abraham arrives on the set in his golf cart.
Kristin Chenoweth as Jackie Siegel in The Queen of Versailles
Throughout the first act, set changes move us smoothly through a series of flashbacks that portray Jackie’s early life: her upbringing in a lower middle-class family in Endwell, New York; working her way through engineering school and landing her dream job at IBM only to learn it wasn’t going to get her what she wanted; moving to NYC to try her hand at modeling and acting; her breast augmentation; her first marriage to an abusive Wells Fargo VP who takes her to Florida; her first pregnancy and determination to escape her marriage; her successful competition in the Mrs. Florida pageant (“even married women can be beautiful”); and finally the party where she meets twice-divorced David Siegel.
All this background is handled efficiently and entertainingly with smooth scene changes and a series of cleverly written songs, especially “Caviar Dreams” and “Keep on Thrustin'” (expressing Jackie’s claim that while some may have “greatness thrust upon them,” others must “keep on thrusting greatness”). Chenoweth star power is commanding, adding flirtatious gestures and expressions that make Jackie endearing. We laugh at this woman and her willingness to do anything to achieve her dreams of wealth, yet who can’t love this hard-working and determined young woman, this devoted mother who wants only the best for her infant daughter, on whom she bestows the royal name of Victoria? She seems to regard herself and her outsize dreams with a charming self-deprecatory air that earns our sympathy.
The Cast of The Queen of Versailles
We get a little bit of David Siegel’s backstory with “The Ballad of the Timeshare King,” performed by men in chaps and cowboy hats. It’s a catchy number, but I didn’t understand the rodeo motifs, given that Siegel grew up in Michigan and made his fortune in Florida. Nonetheless, his business acumen is well portrayed by Abraham; he’s Don Draper without Jon Hamm’s good looks when he tells his sales force that they are saving lives by selling time shares (because people who take regular vacations live longer than those who do not). And he’s bowled over by Jackie when he meets her. It’s not long before we see their Las Vegas wedding, complete with Elvis impersonator, followed by their honeymoon in France, which takes them to — you guessed it — Versailles! Inspired by the size and grandeur of the place — and completely unfazed by its role in history — Jackie imagines a life in these surroundings as the Sun King sings “The Golden Hour” and David offers to build Jackie her own Versailles so they can become American Royalty.
There are a lot of scenes, and at this point, they are being recorded by the documentary film crew. Each one takes us into another aspect of the Siegels’ crazy life. Jackie is popping out babies until she has seven kids, all cared for by Sofia, the shockingly overburdened and yet remarkably devoted Filipina nanny, movingly portrayed by Melody Butiu. We see Victoria, now a teenager compellingly played by Nina White on an exercise bike, painfully aware that she is not as pretty as her mother or her beauty-pageant-winning-friends, singing “Pretty Wins.” They are soon joined by Jackie’s “eighth child,” teenager Jonquil (Tatum Grace Hopkins), her niece recently homeless due to a troubled family situation.
F. Murray Abraham as David Siegel in The Queen of Versailles
By now we are wondering what this show is really about as Jackie accumulates her giant Fabergé eggs, her personal Godiva chocolate shop, her ridiculous portraits of herself as an 18th-century French queen, and numerous other objects that seem increasingly silly. And then we find ourselves in the midst of the September 2008 financial crisis. David’s creditors want payment. All he owns is in jeopardy; even the partially built mansion is at risk. “Crash!” our French king and courtiers sing, but Jackie isn’t having it. “This Is Not the Way,” she sings, that “my movie ends.”
During the intermission, you might wonder where we’re going with this. Are we really supposed to be celebrating and sympathizing with these nutty people and their not-just-conspicuous-but-frankly-ridiculous consumption? You may want to sympathize with Jackie and her Keep on Thrusting Greatness attitude and her delight in her dozen fluffy white dogs (though people sometimes step in their poop in the house). David seems to be a devoted if somewhat detached husband and dad. He is driven to make money, and he needs this fecund woman of unquenchable material desires with her many children to spend and enjoy it. He gets a bit testy after the crash, but not for long. Jackie and David are too smart to fail, and they find ways to survive their financial crisis.
The Siegel Family in The Queen of Versailles
I’m not going to provide a lot of detail about the second part of the show to avoid any spoilers, but I suggest you keep your eye on Victoria and Jonquil. (I’ll say it again — extraordinarily well played by young White and Hopkins). These seemingly minor parts will become increasingly important in the second part of this show. Jackie and David are not immune to tragedy. Faced with an unexpected death, normal people might conclude that money can’t buy you everything. In the case of the Siegels, however, their money does ultimately buy them something priceless — the ability to carry on their self-deception and their refusal to recognize the destructiveness of their behavior, not only to the world at large, but even to those they most love. The unfinished project of the house continues to occupy Jackie, but the other thing money can’t buy, as we all know, are relationships. As the show comes to an end, we see a family photo session atop the marble staircase of the finally completed grand ballroom. After the camera is gone, everyone else scatters and Jackie is left alone, singing “This Time Next Year” to express her longing for what she thinks is the completion of her house, but that is likely a yearning for something quite different. As she sings, her words touch us in the echoing emptiness, made all the more palpable by Peter Hylinski‘s sound design.
The whole thing strikes me as a fascinating mashup of The Lehman Trilogy and Real Housewives, maybe with a little bit of The Unsinkable Molly Brown thrown in (but without the heartwarming ending). It’s a musical about real people and their wealth, and it’s intriguing that the still-living Siegels would subject themselves to this kind of exposure and frankly ridicule, first in the documentary film and now in the musical, which arguably digs even deeper into their privacy. It’s a tad too long, but at the same time, it’s an opportunity to enjoy some significant talent and thought-provoking themes about who we (as Americans? as human beings?) have become and at what cost.
photos by Matthew Murphy
The Queen of Versailles
world premiere
Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre
ends on August 25, 2024
for tickets, vicit Emerson Colonial
opens on Broadway in 2025; for more info, visit Queen of Versailles