F. Murray Abraham finds love story in “Queen of Versailles”

F. Murray Abraham rehearsing for “The Queen of Versailles”. (Photo by Avery_Brunkus)

F. Murray Abraham’s career began in a strange corner of the New York musical scene of the 1960s.

Abraham didn’t find his way in “Cabaret,” “Hello, Dolly!”, “Anatevka” or any of the Tony-winning Broadway blockbusters. He began his journey from more humble starting points.

“I’ve been in a number of children’s musicals,” Abraham told the Boston Herald. “Very famous children’s musicals that were about an hour long and we played in schools at 10 in the morning and things like that. But that was my training as a singer.”

Abraham will draw on that training (and a lifetime of acting experience) when he appears alongside fellow stage star Kristin Chenoweth during the pre-Broadway run of theater icon Stephen Schwartz’s new musical “The Queen of Versailles” from July 16 to August 25 at the Emerson Colonial Theatre.

Based on the 2012 documentary “The Queen of Versailles,” the musical stars Abraham as real estate mogul David Siegel and Chenoweth as his wife, socialite and reality TV personality Jackie Siegel (and their under-construction, 250,000-square-foot, $100 million home, which is, unironically, modeled after France’s Palace of Versailles).

At first glance, it’s a pretty wild template for a Broadway musical. But Abraham finds a lot of substance in the character of David.

“He achieved the so-called American dream and he continues to do so,” Abraham said. “He makes a fortune and then more fortunes. It’s that ambition that is so much a part of our culture… But if you watch the documentary, you’ll see that no matter how individual each of them is, and they are very different people, their extraordinary affection for each other remains.”

Abraham is still mourning the loss of his wife of 60 years, who died almost two years ago. And despite the incredible luxury of the Siegels’ American dream on steroids, he finds humanity in this love story. In “The Queen of Versailles” he gets to sing a gentle ballad.

“Stephen writes some extremely broad, funny and great (songs), and then he wrote an absolutely beautiful love song for me,” Abraham said. “For me, it’s a tender and meaningful love song.”

“When I sing this song, it’s very difficult to get through it without breaking down,” he added. “…that’s how tender and sweet this love song is.”

If Abraham can bring humor and heart to the Siegels, it’s no surprise that he also finds joy and affection in the cast, about whom he continues to rave (“It’s not always like this,” he stressed). Most of the praise goes to the lead actress. For Chenoweth, “The Queen of Versailles” is a reunion with “Wicked” songwriter Schwartz, both of whom received Tony nominations for their work on the hit musical.

“She’s just divine,” he said. “I’ve been in the business for many years and there are very few people you can’t say anything bad about. She’s one of those people.”

Over all these years, Abraham has had an epic career on stage and screen. He won an Oscar for his role as Salieri in Amadeus. He has received major awards for his work in plays by Shakespeare and Chekhov. But rarely has he had the chance to star in such a great musical with an actor as talented as him. He certainly never worked with someone of Chenoweth’s ability in his school cafeteria.

For tickets and more information, visit emersoncolonialtheatre.com.