Kristin Chenoweth returned to the stage for the first time in nearly a decade to rave reviews.
The 56-year-old Tony Award-winning actress made her stage debut as Jackie Siegel in the musical The Queen of Versailles on Thursday at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre.
In February, she announced that she would play the lead role in the musical and that she would also produce it. The musical is based on the 2012 documentary of the same name.
The Boston performances will run through August 25, after which the musical will hit Broadway sometime in 2025.
The reviews are already pouring in, with many critics praising Chenoweth, and she could be in contention for her second Tony Award.
Kristin Chenoweth has returned to the stage for the first time in nearly a decade and she’s already receiving rave reviews
In February, she announced that she would star in and produce the musical, which is based on the 2012 documentary of the same name (the real Jackie Siegel is pictured above).
The original documentary followed former billionaire David A. Siegel, who owned a lucrative timeshare company called Westgate Resorts.
He and his wife Jackie sought to build one of the largest private homes in America, modeled on the Palace of Versailles in Paris.
The documentary, directed by Lauren Greenfield, shed light on the difficulties they faced in getting the project off the ground. To this day, the massive home remains unfinished.
F. Murray Abraham plays Jackie’s husband David in the musical, which features music and lyrics by Steven Schwartz, making for a Wicked reunion with Chenoweth.
The musical offers her “the richest opportunity yet to flex her dramatic muscles,” according to Bob Verini’s Variety review, which states: ‘while inspiring the composer-lyricist to produce the most emotionally gripping score, bar none, of his long career.’
The review adds: ‘Chenoweth is brave and skillful in creating a protagonist of utter folly who never quite figures out where she went wrong. We do, and the lesson of false values comes across as a whiplash.’
“Let’s start at the beginning: Kristin Chenoweth is a national treasure, and if you disagree, you’re going to have to fight us,” begins Peter and Jackie Chinana’s review on Boston.com.
“The Wicked actress dominates the proceedings from start to finish, almost never leaving the stage and radiating a level of energy from her 4-foot-11 frame that you simply can’t comprehend without experiencing it in person. She’s a neutron bomb of charisma,” the review adds.
He and his wife Jackie sought to build one of the largest private homes in America, modeled on the Palace of Versailles in Paris.
The musical offers “her richest opportunity yet to flex her dramatic muscles,” according to Bob Verini’s review in Variety, which adds that “the composer-lyricist is inspired to create the most emotionally gripping score, bar none, of his long career.”
The production from Schwartz, playwright Lindsey Ferrentino and director Michael Arden will reportedly remain “work in progress” before making its Broadway debut in the 2025-2026 season.
They even point out that “Chenoweth’s Jackie Siegel deserves to be added immediately to the pantheon of unbeatable Broadway musical matrons, alongside Streisand’s Fanny Brice, Merman’s Mama Rose and Lansbury’s Auntie Mame.”
Jacob Miner of Theatrical admitted that he wondered, “How on earth would this work?” before he started the performance.
However, he did admit that the production was “one of the most bewildering, yet entertaining, musicals I’ve seen in recent memory.”
The production from Schwartz, playwright Lindsey Ferrentino and director Michael Arden is reportedly still “work in progress” before making its Broadway debut in the 2025-2026 season.
