'The Queen of Versailles' gets lost in a Hall of Mirrors

For much of the new Broadway show, “The Queen of Versailles,” the set is covered in tarps and slipcovers. That's fitting for a musical that ultimately seems still under construction.

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It's based on a 2012 documentary film about the quixotic attempt to build the largest private home in America and despite reuniting star Kristin Chenoweth with her “Wicked” songwriter Stephen Schwartz, there’s an unfinished feel, like some spackling and sanding is desperately needed.

“The Queen of Versailles,” which opened on Sunday night at the St. James Theatre, doesn’t really know why socialite Jacqueline “Jackie” Siegel is so dogged in completing an American replica of Versailles in Orlando, Florida, despite recession and personal tragedy.

Lindsey Ferrentino’s story waffles between ridicule and championing Siegel's pie-in-the-sky vision, failing at biting satire and ultimately losing a chance to say something about wealth inequality as America flirts with economic disaster again. “I don’t know if they're laughing with us or at us,” says a niece, summing up the whole audience experience.