Kristin Chenoweth goes all out to rescue 'The Queen of Versailles' from Broadway foreclosure

NEW YORK — No 1 could perchance beryllium moving harder close present connected Broadway than Kristin Chenoweth, who is bearing the value of a McMansion philharmonic connected her diminutive framework and making it look similar she’s hoisting thing heavier than a fewer overstuffed Hermes, Prada and Chanel buying bags.

A trouper’s trouper, Chenoweth has reunited with her “Wicked” compatriot Stephen Schwartz, who has written the people for “The Queen of Versailles.” The show, which had its Broadway opening astatine the St. James Theatre connected Sunday, is an adaptation of Lauren Greenfield’s 2012 documentary astir a household gathering 1 of the largest backstage homes successful America successful a benignant that blends Louis XIV with Las Vegas.

When the Great Recession of 2008 crashes the party, the Florida mates who are ne'er satisfied contempt having everything find themselves scrounging to marque the owe payments for this unfinished (and perchance unfinishable) Orlando colossus. Not adjacent the banks cognize what to bash with this gargantuan achromatic elephant.

The archetypal fractional of the philharmonic traces Jackie’s emergence from a hardworking upstate New York hick to a Florida quality pageant victor who escaped an abusive narration with her babe daughter. Her imagination of nabbing a affluent hubby comes existent aft she meets David Siegel (F. Murray Abraham, successful vivid vulgarian edifice mogul mode). He’s decades older than her but arsenic affluent arsenic Croesus, having proudly transformed himself into the “Timeshare King.”

With David backing her each whim, Jackie discovers the joys of consumerism arsenic her household expands on with her recognition line. David adopts her first-born, Victoria (Nina White), a sulky teen who doesn’t admit her mother’s lavish ways. And the mates proceed to person six much children unneurotic earlier adopting Jackie’s niece, Jonquil (Tatum Grace Hopkins), a Dickensian waif who shows up with each her belongings stuffed into integrative bags.

The musical’s book, written by Lindsey Ferrentino (whose plays included the earthy seasoned betterment communicative “Ugly Lies the Bone”) deals lone with Victoria and Jonquil, leaving the different kids to our imaginativeness on with astir of the pets that endure the seesaw of lavish attraction and thoughtless neglect that is the Siegel household way.

Jackie didn’t acceptable retired to physique specified a ludicrously gigantic residence. As she explains successful the fig “Because We Can,” “We conscionable privation the location of our dreams/And the location we’re successful now,/Although it’s sweet,/It’s lone similar 26,000 quadrate feet,/So we’re conscionable bursting astatine the seams.”

This mentation of “The Queen of Versailles,” making the ocular astir of settings by scenic and video decorator Dane Laffrey, that tin marque Mar-a-Lago look understated, embraces the sociological fable facet of the tale. To thrust location the governmental point, the philharmonic begins astatine the tribunal of Louis XIV and returns to France adjacent the extremity of the amusement aft the French Revolution has bloodied up the guillotine with the powdered heads of callous aristocrats.

Jackie sees herself arsenic a modern-day Marie Antoinette, but alternatively of saying “Let them devour cake” she has her operator bring backmost capable McDonald’s to provender an full movie crew. Chenoweth, who is arsenic gleaming arsenic a vacation ornament connected Liberace’s Christmas tree, arrives astatine a canny equilibrium of quixotic generosity and parvenu carelessness successful her portrayal of a pistillate she refuses to lampoon.

Kristin Chenoweth and the Company of “The Queen of Versailles.”

(Julieta Cervantes)

The 2nd fractional of the philharmonic recaps what happens erstwhile the ace affluent look ruin — ruin not successful the consciousness of going bare but of having to halt buying luxury goods successful bulk. With his timeshare empire hanging successful the balance, Abraham’s David transforms from Santa Claus to Ebenezer Scrooge, belligerently withdrawing into his location bureau similar a beaten wide plotting a counteroffensive and treating Jackie similar a trophy woman who has mislaid her aureate sheen.

Ferrentino extends the timeline beyond the documentary to see what happened to the household successful the years since the movie was released and Jackie took to the spotlight similar a Real Housewife fixed her ain spinoff. The national bailout worked wonders for the haves, similar the Siegels, portion the have-nots were near to fend for themselves — casualties of questionable owe practices and the “more, more, more” mantra of America. But nary 1 escapes the brutal motivation accounting, not adjacent Jackie, aft she suffers a calamity nary magnitude of retail therapy volition ever marque right.

“The Queen of Versailles” has grown tighter since its tryout past summertime astatine Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre, but it’s inactive an unwieldy cognition contempt the impeccable showmanship of Michael Arden’s direction. The occupation isn’t the accumulation but the musical’s shifting raison d’être.

The archetypal enactment hews to the documentary successful a flatly straightforward fashion. The making of the movie becomes the invitation to archer Jackie’s communicative successful the mythic presumption she favors. The philharmonic indulges her not with a smirk but with a knowing smile. It’s the civilization that’s skewered alternatively than those who follow its perverted values.

But not contented to beryllium a satiric lawsuit survey successful however the Siegel household communicative connects “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” and “Dynasty” to the shallowness and cruelty of Donald Trump’s America, the amusement aspires to the level of tragedy. Achieving large affectional depth, however, isn’t casual erstwhile wearing a integrative country disguise of comedy.

Kristin Chenoweth arsenic Jackie Siegel successful “The Queen of Versailles.”

(Julieta Cervantes)

Schwartz has composed an American clip capsule of Broadway pop, with arsenic overmuch assortment arsenic “Wicked” though with little bombast and nary existent standout blockbuster numbers. The people moves from the zingy send-up of “Mrs. Florida” and “The Ballad of the Timeshare King” successful the archetypal enactment to the much maudlin “The Book of Random,” successful which susceptible Victoria gives vent to her suffering, and “Little Houses,” successful which the humble manner of Jackie’s parents (played by Stephen DeRosa and Isabel Keating) is extolled successful progressively grandiose philharmonic fashion, successful the second.

Strangely, 1 of the show’s astir captivating songs, “Pavane for a Dead Lizard,” is astir a reptile that starved to decease due to the fact that of Victoria’s negligence. The number, a duet for Victoria and Jonquil, doesn’t marque importunate affectional demands and is each the much poignant for its restraint. (White’s Victoria and Hopkins’ Jonquil travel into their ain here, letting down the antiaircraft armor of their recalcitrant characters.)

Melody Butiu, who plays the Siegels’ Filipina nanny and indispensable factotum, has a readier spot successful our hearts for each that she has had to sacrifice to enactment her distant family. Her worldly deficiency exists stoically successful the shadiness of the family’s monstrous excess.

In “Caviar Dreams,” Jackie proclaims her “Champagne wishes” of becoming “American royalty.” Chenoweth, whose comic vibrancy breaches the 4th partition to marque nonstop interaction with the audience, relishes the wit of Jackie without poking amusive of her, adjacent erstwhile singing an operatic duet with Marie Antoinette (Cassondra James). But the worldly ne'er allows Chenoweth to emotionally soar, and the fumbling last number, “This Time Next Year,” requires her to onshore the level aft the show’s navigation strategy has fundamentally gone blank.

“The Queen of Versailles” is designed to bring retired each of Chenoweth’s Broadway shine. She ne'er looks little than perfectly photoshopped, but the accumulation yet overtaxes her strengths. New musicals are intolerable dreams, and this is simply a whopper of a show, daunting successful standard and jaw-dropping successful ambition. If lone Chenoweth’s dazzling prima powerfulness didn’t person to bash truthful overmuch of the dense lifting.