Exclusive Look at Kristin Chenoweth in Broadway Musical 'The Queen of Versailles'

“I’m so grateful to have something new to play with at this point in my career,” Chenoweth says, applying bubblegum pink blush. “I mean, it’s not like I’m just standing on stage with a chair and a rug — this is a whole new American musical!”

Ahead of the show’s 2025 Broadway premiere, Chenoweth met Vogue about development The Queen of Versailles with Schwartz, doing 18 costume changes every night in Boston and meeting the real Jackie.

Vogue:Remind me when Stephen first contacted you about this project.

Kristin Chenoweth: Our wonderful writer Lindsey first came to see Stephen, as she is originally from Florida and met Jackie at a beach club. Her first impression was: This lady is like a Gypsy Rose, we should have a musical about her. So she went to Stephen, who went to our producer Bill Damaschke, who went to our director, Michael Arden, and they all called me at the beginning of the COVID pandemic with this idea. Michael must have really talked to me about his vision because I immediately wondered how this was going to work.

Did you already know the documentary?

I love the documentary, but I wasn’t sure if it would work as a musical. I said to Stephen, “You know what, I’m going to do a reading or two and see if it comes to me.” We started refining part of the first act three or four years ago, around the time the COVID vaccines started rolling out. I showed up to that rehearsal and almost immediately started falling in love with Jackie. That’s how it was with the musical. Wickedbecause Glinda was a supporting character in this series. It was actually Elphaba, Fiyero, and Madame Morrible’s series until it naturally became Glinda’s series as well.

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