Broken Arrow native Kristin Chenoweth says Jackie Siegel, subject of the new Broadway musical The Queen of Versailles, is “maybe the role I’ve been waiting to play my whole life.”
“The character of Jackie is a complicated, wildly different and outrageous character,” she shares. “At the core of her, Jackie is someone who has the shared desires of building a better life for herself and her family – and that’s very relatable.”
The show opens Nov. 9 at the St. James Theatre in New York. The score was written by Stephen Schwartz, known for hit musicals like Pippin, Godspell and, perhaps most notably, Wicked, in which Chenoweth originated the role of Glinda the Good.
The music in Versailles is especially suited to her voice, Chenoweth says, because longtime collaborator Schwartz “wrote it for me.”
The new musical is based on a documentary by filmmaker Lauren Greenfield about Jackie, who rose from a computer engineer to Mrs. Florida to a billionaire – along with her husband David, the founder of Westgate Resorts, who was known as “The Timeshare King.” David is played by F. Murray Abraham, the stage and film actor who first came to prominence for his Oscar-winning performance as Antonio Salieri in Amadeus.
- In Chenoweth’s newest Broadway production, The Queen of Versailles, she portrays real-life billionaire Jackie Siegel, who set out to build the world’s largest private home in America (coming in around $100 million) right before the 2008 recession. All photos by Matthew Murphy
Jackie set out to build the largest private home in America — a $100 million house in Orlando inspired by the Palace of Versailles. But with the Great Recession of 2008 looming, Jackie and David’s dreams began to crumble, along with their lifestyle. The musical explores the true cost of fame, fortune and family.
“I think we can see ourselves in her,” says Chenoweth, who has won both Emmy and Tony Awards for her stage, film, television and voiceover roles.
“She’s someone that seems very easy to judge, since she puts her life out there on social media and in reality television, but truly, who are we to say how we would behave with a million dollars or more? Who are we to say how we would deal with real loss in our life? Just because you have a ton of money doesn’t mean life is easy.”
Playing Jackie, she says, is challenging her in new and exciting ways.
“I’ve spent a lot of time playing really fun characters and I’ve had a lot of variation of characters –for example, Sally Born, a cartoon, Glinda from Oz, and Jackie; this is a real person with complicated feelings and actions. As an actor, you still want to be challenged, no matter how old you get. I knew this would be the more challenging role than any other offers I’ve had in a while. It’s a whole different ball game when the person you’re playing is still alive.”
Chenoweth says that as she came to know Jackie the person, “I did grow to love her. She’d give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. She does a lot of very important charity work that is currently changing the world as we speak. I think we show a little bit of that in the show as well. But make no mistake, we show the good, the bad and the ugly in the show. We have to, because it’s authentic.”
Chenoweth believes that it’s her responsibility to “step into her shoes, find her energy and play that so I can be true to who she is at her core,” she says. “I’m also the type of performer and actress who’s going to make her my own. I’m never going to be a cookie cutter actor who fits into a lot of categories. I’m unique – and I’ve embraced the qualities that make me different.”
Fortunate to star alongside a number of leading men, Chenoweth says “Murray is no exception. He is a delight every day that I walk into the rehearsal studio; he takes care of me, and I can tell truly loves me. I love him too. I know he is making me better in the role because he is just so good. He’s not only someone I admire, but I am proud to call my friend.”
To say Chenoweth has an “accomplished” career on the stage, the screen and the page would be an understatement.
In 2015, Chenoweth received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2009, she received an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Pushing Daisies. In 1999, she won a Tony Award for You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown and she was nominated for her role in Wicked in 2004. She was also nominated for two Emmy Awards and a People’s Choice Award for her role on Glee.
Her candid chronicle of her life so far, A Little Bit Wicked, debuted in 2009 on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction bestseller list.
Chenoweth has performed to sold-out audiences across the world, including performances at Carnegie Hall and Royal Albert Hall.
The Art of Elegance, her album of American songbook classics, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s jazz charts, and No. 1 on Amazon’s vocal pop chart. In 2018, she performed with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square in their annual Christmas concert in Salt Lake City, which was later televised on PBS.
Notable television roles include appearances in The West Wing, Disney’s Descendants and The Muppets. In film, Chenoweth voiced the role of Gabi in the animated film Rio 2 and Fifi, Snoopy’s beloved French poodle, in The Peanuts Movie.
When the first Wicked film adaptation was released in November 2024, fans were delighted to see cameo appearances by both Chenoweth and her co-star from the original Broadway cast, Idina Menzel. They appeared as Wiz-o-Mania Superstars during the “One Short Day” number.
“I heard from the producers and the director that they wanted Idina and I to do it,” Chenoweth says. “I was apprehensive at first – because I didn’t really view it as ‘my turn’ anymore. After some convincing, I came to understand that the audiences would appreciate it. It was nice to reunite with Idina.”
With a master’s degree in operatic performance from Oklahoma City University, Chenoweth is a member of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. She is well-known for taking pride in her Oklahoma roots.
“For me, it was never a question whether I would support my home state or not,” she says. “The second I go back home to Oklahoma, I am reminded of my roots – and that makes me strong. I’ve always felt like if I forgot my roots, I would lose the compass of where home is. Now I realize, not everyone had a great upbringing like me, and some people want to forget where they came from. But for me personally, Oklahoma is who I am.”
She also hails from a state where voters are known to be influenced by their Christian beliefs and simultaneously, entertainers are expected to be vocal about their political ideologies.
“It’s funny, I grew up in a time where you could be politically whoever you were and separately be the artist that you want to be. It didn’t always have to go together,” Chenoweth says. “I long for those days – I long for the days where it doesn’t matter how I vote. I suppose in the world we live in today, you have to be black or white, there is no gray.”
But artists, Chenoweth says, “often live in the area of gray.”
Chenoweth’s charitable endeavors include a partnership with the Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center Foundation. Ten years ago, she launched the Kristin Chenoweth Broadway Bootcamp, providing young Broadway hopefuls with the opportunity to take classes, perform and learn from mentors in the industry – including herself.
“We started KCBBC because there was nothing else like it in the state. I certainly didn’t have anything like that growing up,” Chenoweth says.
“I wanted to solidify what my legacy would be and change the lives of children and open up opportunities for kids who want to do what I do. We have a two-week intensive training program in the summer. I bring in wonderful faculty to teach. It’s important for my campers to learn from people who have actually done it on Broadway.”
Chenoweth says she is “seeing the fruits of my labor – meaning a lot of my campers are going on and making their own path in this industry and are becoming a big success. And that was the whole goal. I actually take mentoring very seriously.”
She had wonderful mentors in her younger days, Chenoweth says, “and I see how important they were in my journey. All I want to do is create a safe space for these kids to be able to create.”
More Oklahoma Ties
Alongside a leading lady with Oklahoma ties, many Oklahomans are operating behind the scenes as producers of The Queen of Versailles – most notably, Tanninger Entertainment. Founded by Jay Krottinger, Ryan Jude Tanner and Patricia Chernicky, Tanninger Entertainment is a Broadway production company with global box office sales of over $700 million.
Broadway and West End producing credits alongside The Queen of Versailles include The Outsiders, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, Come From Away, Oklahoma! and Waitress. In addition to producing, Tanninger Entertainment manages two global entertainment investment funds, with holdings in productions such as Hamilton, MJ, Evita, Beetlejuice and Much Ado About Nothing.
Featured photo credit: Oklahoman Kristin Chenoweth – an Emmy and Tony Award winner – is best known for projects ranging from Wicked to Pushing Daisies and The West Wing. Photo by Tony Matula, MA2LA
