Director Michael Arden on Making 'Caviar Dreams' a Reality in Musical 'The Queen of Versailles'

Arden came to "The Queen of Versailles" by chance when at a dinner sponsored by the Royal National Theatre, he sat next to playwright Lindsey Ferrentino, whose work he admired. "She complimented me on 'Spring Awakening,' and I suggested we work together on a musical," Arden recalled. "She said she had a crazy idea for one, and asked: 'Have you seen this documentary called 'The Queen of Versailles?' I immediately, like, grabbed her arm and said, 'Oh my God, I'm obsessed with that movie!' I had actually just watched it with my design partner, Dane Laffrey."

Arden remembered seeing the film when it came out and being impressed by its gaudy surface and darker probing into the American Dream. "Lauren Greenfield is a master storyteller and filmmaker. I think her interest in understanding America's relationship to money and consumption made the documentary all the more interesting. And Jackie is such a fabulous character."

Arden knew that to play Jackie on stage would take a fabulous actor, and he knew one with a personal connection with the show's composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz. "I told Stephen this is a role we should make for Kristin. She was the first person I thought of when we discussed casting. She and I had been friends for quite a while, and been looking for project to work on together, much like Steven and I had. So I took her this idea, and she loved the idea."

Like its source, the show concentrates on the building of what was to be one of the biggest residences in the United States – an American Versailles. To do so Arden recruited his long-time design partner Dane Laffrey to bring the mammoth house (some 90,000 square feet) to the stage. "We have been working together since we were teenagers, and we really share our brain," he said. "I think that's the key to it is that we have to build it. That's not like we're presenting something that is finished. We're kind of looking at how something is built from from the ground up. You know, I think when you go to see a play, design is such a huge part of the experience of being there, and audiences are in for a real treat. This will be a real magical visual experience for an audience. The set is truly spectacular. It goes through several phases the mansion being built that you get to watch it on stage, just like you would if you were if you were there in Orlando."

√=Why the house remains unfinished to this day is a key to understanding the complexities of the story, which was called by director Greenfield a "rags to riches" story that became "rags to riches to rags" story. That comment annoyed David Siegel and the couple had a rift with Greenfield that has since melded. While the doc's director and the Siegels input into the musical has been minimal, The director in an interview last yearGreenfield described the film as a "morality tale," and hoped the musical would be the same. "Yes, that's what we are trying to do," Arden concurred. "I think it's a cautionary tale in many ways."

Arden also agreed with Greenfield about the show being about an addiction to consuming with Jackie at its most flagrant offender. "I think the other side of the coin of American Dream is this addiction to consumption. It is pretty much an American addiction. It is like we are taught it. It is ingrained in us to consume. And to try to reach the top of the mountain. It is about status, and once someone is there, it is all but impossible to stop wanting more and more. And the Siegels' story reflects that."

But what gave the documentary its heart was Jackie, who is far from a pretentious Real Housewife personality. A former beauty queen some thirty years younger than David, she is as likable reality show housewife the One-percent could ever produce. At one point, David describes his wife as "a psycho, but a lovable psycho. She does everything to the extreme." Humility proves to be Jackie's saving grace. In a story filled with ostentatious wealth - much of it, oddly, with Jackie as its center - she never appears to lose her upstate New York working class roots.

Making Jackie someone the audience can relate will likely be the key to the show's success, something that the collaborators are keen to make happen. Already the production has released a video of a song, called "Caviar Dreams" that establishes her character with a powerful
anthem of self-determination.

The song occurs early on after young Jackie watches an episode of "The Lifetime of the Rich and Famous" and climbs onto the roof to sing of her dreams. "It's a great song," says Arden. "And I think, like, what's great about it? You really root for quite immediately. In the film, when you meet her, she is already this fabulous and fabulously wealthy character, so she's fascinating, but emotionally remote. But we felt it is necessary to empathize with her as a person from the onset. That we see she comes from nothing and has these aspirations. She is up on her roof after watching 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous' with her family and she's dreaming of her better life. What isn't more relatable?"

Arden may not have much time to rest after "The Queen of Versailles" finishes its Boston run in August. Next up is "Maybe Happy Ending," a musical transfer from Korea set in the near future about a pair of helper robots who are outmoded and abandoned by their owners. A hit in Korea since it premiered in 2016, its English-language version won the 2017 Richard Rodgers Award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The one-acter is composed by Will Aronson, with lyrics written by Hue Park, and book written by both Aronson and Park. Arden directed its American premiere at the Atlanta's Alliance Theatre in 2020. The upcoming Broadway version is set to star Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen.

"Yes, the show is opening at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway in October, starting performances in September. It is a beautiful, beautiful musical by two guys named Hue Park and Will Aronson. And I'm really, really excited about it. It takes place in the future, and very different from "Queen of Versailles," but it's a beautiful show within a spectacular new score."

"The Queen of Versailles" continues at the Emerson Colonial Theatre, 106 Bolyston Street, Boston, MA through August 25, 2014. For more information, follow this link.