Kristin Chenoweth’s on- and offstage starring role in ‘The Queen of Versailles’

The musical marks the Tony and Emmy-winning actress's first Broadway producing credit, and she also leads the cast as real-life socialite Jackie Siegel.

Summary

• Kristin Chenoweth discusses being a first-time producer on the Broadway musical The Queen of Versailles while playing the lead role
• Director Michael Arden and composer Stephen Schwartz also discuss their creative collaboration with Chenoweth
• She joins other celebrities like Darren Criss; Jonathan Groff; and Idina Menzel who have produced Broadway shows

In The Queen of Versailles, theatre star Kristin Chenoweth notches her seventh Broadway musical as a performer — and her first as a producer. And she’s savoring the new challenge.

“I’ve enjoyed the outside-of-rehearsal part,” said Chenoweth, adding that her producing role taps into skills beyond the ones audiences see. “I get to raise money and get to know our investors.”

At the same time, the Tony and Emmy Award-winning performer (for You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Pushing Daisies, respectively) has been getting to know middle-class model-turned wealthy socialite Jacqueline “Jackie” Siegel.

After all, it’s Jackie’s life — along with her billionaire husband, Westgate Resorts founder and timeshare magnate David Siegel (played by F. Murray Abraham) — up there on stage at the St. James Theatre. The Siegels are known for building a palatial Florida home called Versailles, whose construction was upended by the 2008 recession and is still unfinished.

Their lives have been musicalized by composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz and book writer Lindsey Ferrentino, based on Lauren Greenberg’s 2012 Queen of Versailles documentary about the construction and difficult events that came later, like Jackie’s 18-year-old daughter Victoria's death of an overdose in 2015.

More recently, in April of this year, Jackie lost David to cancer and her sister, Jessica Mallery, of an overdose. These events inform Chenoweth’s performance as she seeks a delicate balance between Jackie’s larger-than-life persona, her hardships, and her story about the perils of limitless excess.

“Just getting to meet with her a couple times and getting to know her spirit has been integral in how I play her,” said Chenoweth.

The show’s director, Michael Arden, fresh off winning his second Tony earlier this year, appreciates Chenoweth’s dedication on stage and off.

“We’ve got someone who is thinking about how we can get people in to see the show,” he said, “and who believes in taking care of this [production] in the marketplace.”

It’s called show business for a reason. Chenoweth, whose production company is called Diva Worldwide Entertainment, is actually in excellent company. She’s part of a growing group of celebrities who recently expanded their Broadway careers into producing.

They include Darren Criss (Maybe Happy Ending, for which he won Tonys as an actor and producer) and Jonathan Groff (Just in Time), and Chenoweth’s former Wicked co-star Idina Menzel (Redwood, which closed in May).

Stars produce their shows for various reasons: gaining creative control, shaping storytelling, sharing profits, or expanding influence beyond performing.

“It’s interesting that Kristen is a producer on the show, and she’s not a producer in name only,” said Schwartz. “She’s taken that very seriously.”

According to the Oscar-winning Wicked composer, Chenoweth was keen on ensuring the role of Jackie was in good hands — and voice — by not shouldering it entirely by herself. Three-time Tony nominee Sherie Rene Scott (Everyday Rapture, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) is Chenoweth's standby.

“Kristin was thrilled that we were able to get such a great talent to be there when Kristin couldn’t,” said Schwartz. (Scott is currently scheduled to perform on November 25, December 3, and January 20.)

And though she’s named her production company Diva, Chenoweth is not trying to be one — or a bossy queen bee, if you will. She said she relies on Arden to call the shots creatively.

“When I step into the rehearsal room, this is my person that I look to,” Chenoweth said. “It’s not [...] ‘Now I'm a producer, I’m coming in with my book.’ This is my guy, and it’s just right.”

During the opening night curtain call on November 9, Chenoweth stood beside fellow Queen of Versailles producer Bill Damaschke and thanked him for helping her get her “producing wings” — and how that’s expanded her understanding of the business.

“I have learned so much,” she said. “I have learned so much that happens before the actor walks in.”

Get The Queen of Versailles tickets now.

Gillian Russo contributed reporting to this story.

Photo credit: The Queen of Versailles on Broadway. (Photos by Julieta Cervantes)