‘The Queen of Versailles’ Closes Early on Broadway, Highlighting Post-Pandemic Risks

Curtain falls early at the St. James

Kristin Chenoweth stood at center stage of the St. James Theatre on Dec. 21, fighting back tears as the audience rose to its feet. Clad in sequins as Florida socialite Jackie Siegel, she told the crowd it was “hard to say goodbye” and thanked the company that had built a Broadway musical around one of the gaudiest real estate projects in American history.

Minutes later, the cast of The Queen of Versailles took their final bows. Stagehands prepared to dismantle a multimillion-dollar set designed to evoke a half-finished 90,000-square-foot mansion. The show, which had officially opened just six weeks earlier, was closing far ahead of schedule.

The early shutdown capped a brief and costly run that industry observers say illustrates the fragile economics of Broadway in the post-pandemic era. Despite a marquee star, a score by one of theater’s most successful composers and even a coveted New York Times Critic’s Pick, The Queen of Versailles never found the footing it needed to survive.

A shortened run and a high price tag

The original musical began previews Oct. 8, 2025, and opened Nov. 9 at the St. James, one of Broadway’s larger houses. Producers had initially booked the show through March 29, 2026. On Nov. 24, they announced that it would close Jan. 4. Two weeks later, that date was moved up again to Dec. 21.

By the end of its run, the production had played 32 previews and 49 regular performances—a short life for a high-profile musical that cost up to $22.5 million to mount.

Based on Lauren Greenfield’s 2012 documentary of the same name, The Queen of Versailles dramatized the real-life saga of Jackie and David Siegel, the Orlando-area couple who set out to build what they touted as the largest private home in America. The 90,000-square-foot residence, modeled on France’s Palace of Versailles, became a symbol of overleveraged excess when the 2008 financial crisis battered David Siegel’s timeshare empire and halted construction.

Big names, mixed reviews

The stage adaptation reunited Tony- and Emmy-winning performer Chenoweth with composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz, their first Broadway collaboration since Wicked in 2003. Lindsey Ferrentino wrote the book, and Michael Arden directed. Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham co-starred as David Siegel.

On paper, the elements seemed strong: a vivid true story about wealth and precarity, an accomplished creative team, and the return of one of Broadway’s most bankable musical stars in a tailor-made role. Early previews reportedly sold out.

When reviews arrived after opening night, the response was sharply divided.

The New York Times named the musical a Critic’s Pick and described it as “smart and sparkling,” praising the production’s ambition and Chenoweth’s performance. But many other outlets were far more critical.

• The Guardian called the show an “unwieldy” spectacle that failed to say anything substantial about materialism or the financial crisis.
• Entertainment Weekly graded it a C- and said it was “as superficial as its subject.”
• The Associated Press said the musical felt “incomplete,” faulting its wavering tone between camp satire and family tragedy.
• The Daily Beast labeled it an “ostentatious mess” whose glittery staging could not compensate for what it described as emotional thinness.

Reviewers repeatedly cited the same problems: an unfocused book that never settled on a clear point of view toward its wealthy protagonists, and a score that, while polished, did not leave audiences humming. Several critics argued that the show struggled to reconcile its broad lampooning of American excess with the Siegels’ very real pain, including the 2015 overdose death of their 18-year-old daughter, Victoria.

Praise for the performances was far more consistent. Chenoweth’s turn as Jackie Siegel drew strong notices across the board, with critics highlighting the vulnerability she brought to a character often depicted as a caricature of conspicuous consumption. Abraham and several supporting actors were also singled out in otherwise negative reviews.

Box office: not a flop, but not enough

At the box office, The Queen of Versailles was not an outright disaster but could not keep up with its costs.

In the weeks after opening, the musical regularly grossed around $1 million, peaking at just over $1.06 million with about 91% of seats filled. For much of Broadway history, that level would have suggested a solid performer, especially for a new musical.

But the show’s capitalization and weekly running expenses were considerably higher than those of many past hits. Industry analysts say that, in the current environment, a large-scale musical in a big theater may need to sustain well over $1 million a week—with strong advance sales at full price—to have a realistic chance of recouping.

“The old benchmark that a million dollars a week means you’re safe doesn’t really apply anymore,” one veteran producer said in a recent trade interview discussing the season’s new shows.

By early December, The Queen of Versailles was playing to houses that were roughly three-quarters full. About 26% of seats were unsold in one late-run week. As producers turned to heavy discounting through outlets such as TKTS and theater membership programs, the average ticket price dropped into the $70s. The final full week gross was about $630,000.

Overall, the show took in roughly $9.3 million at the box office—far short of its reported budget.

Broadway’s tougher post-pandemic math

Its fate was not unique. Since Broadway’s pandemic shutdown and gradual reopening, the cost of producing new shows has climbed sharply, driven by higher labor, materials and real estate expenses. At the same time, average ticket prices and attendance are only modestly above or slightly below pre-2020 levels, according to industry data.

In the past several seasons, only a handful of new commercial musicals have publicly confirmed that they recouped their investments. Trade publications have reported that none of the 18 commercial musicals that opened in the prior season had yet turned a profit when The Queen of Versailles announced its closing notice.

Controversy and the speed of online judgment

The production also contended with headwinds beyond economics and reviews.

In September, before previews began, Chenoweth drew criticism from some LGBTQ+ fans after posting a sympathetic message on Instagram following the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. She wrote that she was “so upset” by his death and that she had “appreciated some perspectives,” while noting that she did not always agree with him.

Kirk had long opposed LGBTQ+ rights, and Chenoweth, an outspoken ally of queer communities, soon faced backlash from theatergoers who felt betrayed. In subsequent interviews, she said the reaction “nearly broke me” and acknowledged that her comments had hurt people.

On theater message boards and social media, some users who identified as LGBTQ+ said they planned to avoid The Queen of Versailles in response. There is no public data quantifying how much, if at all, that controversy affected sales, but it added a layer of complication for a show whose core audience overlapped heavily with queer theater fans.

After the closing was announced, Arden took to Instagram to criticize what he described as the speed and harshness of the public response to the musical.

“Critique gives way to click-bait cruelty, and complexity is flattened by the speed and force of collective provocative judgment,” he wrote. “Real people and real labor are lost in the noise.”

Supporters of the production have echoed that view, arguing that in an era of instant online reaction, shows are often labeled hits or flops within days, leaving little room for gradual word of mouth to build. Others counter that social media mostly amplifies audience sentiment that would have existed regardless.

An expensive original—and a telling parallel

For Broadway producers, the story of The Queen of Versailles is likely to be studied less for its social media arc than for its balance sheet. A lavish, original musical not based on a widely known film or pop catalog, it represented the kind of high-risk, high-reward undertaking that has grown rarer as investors gravitate toward safer brands.

As crews finished striking the “Versailles” set in late December, the real Jackie Siegel’s long-delayed mansion in Florida—begun in 2004 and battered by recessions and hurricanes—was still inching toward completion. The parallels were hard to miss: two grand projects, both conceived in boom times, struggling to reach the finish line in a different economic reality.

Chenoweth, in her farewell remarks, emphasized pride rather than regret.

“I will always be grateful we got to tell this story,” she told the audience, according to people in attendance.

Whether Broadway will see many more shows like it—expensive, original musicals built on complicated contemporary stories—may depend on whether an industry still recovering from shutdowns can find a way to make that kind of ambition pay off.