Kristin Chenoweth has brought her crown to Boston.
The Tony and Emmy award-winning actress stars in the new musical “The Queen of Versailles,” which is making its pre-Broadway debut at the Emerson Colonial Theatre through August 25.
Based on the documentary of the same name, the musical recounts the story of Jacqueline Siegel, a former beauty queen and computer engineer who dreams of constructing a recreation of the famed Palace of Versailles on the outskirts of Orlando with her wealthy husband — only for those dreams to go up in smoke with the 2008 financial crisis.
Executive arts editor and The Culture Show host Jared Bowen sat down with Chenoweth to discuss what it was like to inhabit the role of Jackie Siegel.
In preparing for the role, Chenoweth felt an immediate connection with her character.
“This is a woman who, from very humble beginnings, suffered a lot of loss — had it all, and lost it all,” said Chenoweth. “I have a feeling that Jackie Siegel has a lot that she stuffs down... but that’s what attracted me to her, because she’s complicated, and for an actress, that’s what we look for. We want levels to a person.”
Chenoweth saw parts of her own upbringing in Siegel’s story. She said her parents were engineers, while she was the artist of the family.
“Luckily I had parents, and so did Jackie, who said 'do what you love,’” said Chenoweth. “But looking at Jackie Siegel in her life, she has all these kids, all these planes, all these cars, she’s building a 90,000 square foot house. I wonder, will it ever be done?”
Those points of connection extend to how Chenoweth, now more than three decades into her storied career, reflects on the path that brought her to where she is today.
“I’d love to say that I would have handled wealth and fame differently if I’d never had it. But the first time I got a paycheck that was worth anything... I went right over to the Mercedes dealership and bought a two seater convertible,” said Chenoweth. “My father said, 'be careful, remember where you came from.’ I’m like, 'I’m remembering! That’s why I’m going to get the car!’ And he said, 'no, that’s not what I mean. Because you can, doesn’t mean you should.’ That’s another theme in our show.”
Throughout the stressors of show business, Chenoweth has learned how to stay grounded and balance her work and her life.
“I have graduated from saying 'yes’ to everything,” she said. “I’ve even had to say no things I really want to do. But I have to make a decision... for my family, my husband, my friends. They all used to understand, 'oh, Kristin doesn’t have time’... I will continue to do all that, I just did a movie, I work in concerts, I will go back to television in the fall. I will do all of it. But I’m not going to do triple and quadruple duty.”
Chenoweth added, “When it becomes a job and not something you love anymore... you lose that spark. I don’t want to lose the spark because I love what I do.”
To hear more from Kristin Chenoweth, listen to the full interview above. Listen to The Culture Show daily at 2 p.m. on 89.7.
