NEED TO KNOW
- Kristin Chenoweth spoke with PEOPLE about her upcoming role in The Queen of Versailles, her first Broadway role in a decade
- The Wicked alum warned fans of her famous Galinda/Glinda role, “You’re not gonna get Wicked, so don’t get disappointed”
- Chenoweth will appear in The Queen of Versailles at the St. James Theatre in New York City, with previews beginning Oct. 8 ahead of a Nov. 9 opening night
Kristin Chenoweth wants her fans to go into The Queen of Versailles with the right expectations.
Speaking with PEOPLE on the red carpet at the 2025 Tony Awards in New York City on Sunday, June 8, the Broadway veteran warned fans of Wicked — in which she originated the role of Galinda/Glinda opposite Idina Menzel’s Elphaba — that her upcoming role is “very different.”
“People think they’re gonna get Wicked — you’re not gonna get Wicked, so don’t get disappointed,” says Chenoweth, 56.
The Stephen Schwartz musical Queen of Versailles, which Chenoweth is co-producing through her production banner Diva Worldwide Entertainment, will mark the actress and singer’s return to the Broadway stage after a decade away.
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An adaptation of Lauren Greenfield’s award-winning 2012 documentary of the same name, The Queen of Versailles follows socialite Jacqueline “Jackie” Siegel and her “Timeshare King” husband David Siegel’s multi-million dollar quest to build the biggest private home in America. Chenoweth plays Jackie, with F. Murray Abraham as David.
“We’ve worked on it for five years, and I need to birth this baby, you know?” Chenoweth tells PEOPLE, before reflecting on “22 years with” Wicked music and lyrics writer Schwartz, 77.
And what got her “interested” in The Queen of Versailles was “what it has to say,” despite some initial reservations she admits she had about signing on.
“When Stephen called me [and explained the premise], I was like, ‘I don’t know … ‘ ” Chenoweth tells PEOPLE. “But then we started talking and discussing and developing, and it got me excited.”
As for her Wicked days, they’re not too far removed from Chenoweth’s life now, as both she and Menzel, 54, made surprise cameo’s in last year’s Jon M. Chu-directed movie treatment.
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While Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande took over the roles of Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, Menzel and Chenoweth play members of an Emerald City singing group that perform “One Short Day,” a song about the Wizard of Oz’s magical arrival to the land.
And asked whether she and Menzel will return in the films’ second part — Wicked: For Good, which hits theaters this November — Chenoweth recently told PEOPLE exclusively, “All I can say to the fans is they’ll just have to go and see.”
Chenoweth will appear in The Queen of Versailles at the St. James Theatre in New York City, with previews beginning Oct. 8 ahead of a Nov. 9 opening night.
The 2025 Tony Awards will air on CBS and Paramount+ on Sunday, June 8, at 8 p.m. ET.
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