The Queen of Versailles

 C
 
There’s a fascinating show on stage at the St. James Theatre. Unfortunately, it’s not the one that lasts for over two and a half hours and recounts the story of Jackie Siegel (Kristin Chenoweth) and her husband David (F. Murray Abraham,) The Time Share King, who set out to build America’s largest private home in Orlando, Florida in the early 2000s. No, it’s the one that starts about 15 minutes before curtain time, featuring beautifully dressed and bewigged figures at the Sun King’s court going about their rounds, raising and lowering chandeliers to trim their wicks, dusting, serving tea and cakes, and parading around a lavish room in Louis XIV’s pre-Versailles Parisian palace. It's too bad that at this point 90% of the audience is busy settling in and paying no attention to what is happening on stage. After an opening song about why the king wants to build the palace at Versailles (“Because I Can”), we move to Orlando and the Siegels. Alas, it’s downhill from there.  Although Lindsey Ferrentino’s book is largely based on the hit 2012 Sundance documentary by Lauren Greenfield, it somehow does not capture the film’s impact. Perhaps the ever-increasing excesses of the .1% in recent years have numbed us to Jackie’s insatiable quest for more. With multi-award winner Kristin Chenoweth in the lead role, Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) as composer/lyricist, two-time Tony winner Michael Arden as director and a seemingly unlimited budget for the spectacular sets and costumes by Dane Laffrey and Christian Cowan respectively, it seemed that success was a sure thing. It wasn’t. Although Chenoweth works hard to bring Jackie to life, her role is disjointed and the score does not give her much chance to demonstrate her vocal prowess. The parts of the book that don’t adhere to the documentary are not improvements. The first act comes across as an extended outline of Jackie’s life. When a tragic element enters in the second act, it feels like an add-on. If there is a clear point of view, I missed it. F. Murray Abraham’s moments on stage are few and far between. Nina White, as Jackie’s firstborn child Victoria, and Tatum Grace Hopkins, as her niece Jonquil, are both fine. The many other cast members perform admirably. Would that the score and book had been more engaging. As it stands, I was left to wonder how a show with so much going for it could so badly misfire. Running time: two hours 40 minutes including intermission.