Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (/ˈtʃɛnoʊwɛθ/; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)[1] is an American actress and singer, with credits in musical theatre, film, and television. In 1999, she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown on Broadway. In 2003, Chenoweth received a second Tony Award nomination for originating the role of Glinda in the musical Wicked. Her television roles include Annabeth Schott in NBC's The West Wing and Olive Snook on the ABC comedy drama Pushing Daisies, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2009.
Kristin Chenoweth
- Actress
- singer
1991–present
Chenoweth sang gospel music as a child in Oklahoma and studied opera before deciding to pursue a career in musical theatre. In 1997, she made her Broadway debut in Steel Pier, winning a Theatre World Award. Her other Broadway roles were in The Apple Tree in 2006, Promises, Promises in 2010 and On the Twentieth Century in 2015, for which she received another Tony Award nomination. She has also appeared in five City Center Encores!, Off-Broadway and regional theatre productions.
Chenoweth had her own sitcom, Kristin, in 2001, and has guest-starred on many shows, including Sesame Street and Glee, for which she was nominated for Emmy Awards in 2010 and 2011. She also starred in the ABC TV series GCB in 2012, played Lavinia in Trial & Error in 2018, and played the characters Mildred Layton and Miss Codwell in the Apple TV+ musical comedy Schmigadoon! in 2021 and 2023, respectively. In films, she has played mostly character roles, such as in Bewitched (2005), The Pink Panther (2006) and RV (2006). She has played roles in made-for-TV movies, such as Descendants (2015); done voice work in animated films such as Rio 2 (2014) and The Peanuts Movie (2015) along with the animated TV series Sit Down, Shut Up and BoJack Horseman; hosted several award shows; and released several albums of songs, including A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas (2008), Some Lessons Learned (2011), Coming Home (2014), The Art of Elegance (2016) and For the Girls (2019). Chenoweth also wrote a 2009 memoir, A Little Bit Wicked.
Early life[edit]
Chenoweth was adopted when she was five days old by Junie Smith Chenoweth and Jerry Morris Chenoweth, both chemical engineers[2] from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa,[3][4][5] and named Kristi Dawn Chenoweth.[6] She revealed in her 2023 book I'm No Philosopher, but I Got Thoughts that her biological parents were bassist Billy Ethridge (briefly a member of ZZ Top) and "Mama Lynn".[7] She has stated that she is of one quarter Cherokee descent[8] and that she eventually met her biological mother.[9] At an early age, she performed gospel songs for local churches. A performing highlight of her childhood was a solo appearance at the Southern Baptist Convention national conference at the age of 12, where she performed the Evie song "Four Feet Eleven". The chorus begins, "I'm only 4 feet 11, but I'm going to Heaven" (Chenoweth is 4 ft 11 in (150 cm) in height).[10] After graduating from Broken Arrow Senior High School, where she participated in school plays, Chenoweth attended Oklahoma City University, where she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta (Beta Omicron) sorority.[11] She earned a bachelor's degree in musical theatre in 1990[12][13] and a master's degree in opera performance in 1992,[13][14] studying under voice instructor and mentor, Florence Birdwell.[12][15] While at OCU, Chenoweth competed in beauty pageants, winning the title of Miss OCU and was the second runner-up in the Miss Oklahoma pageant in 1991.[10][16] In 1992, Chenoweth participated in a studio recording of The Most Happy Fella.[17]
While she was in college and working towards her master's degree, Chenoweth performed at the Lyric Theatre in Oklahoma City, among other regional theatres, in roles like June in Gypsy, Liesl in The Sound of Music, Fran in Promises, Promises[18] and Tuptim in The King and I.[19] As she completed her master's degree, Chenoweth participated in several vocal competitions and was named "most promising up-and-coming singer" in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, which came with a full scholarship to Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts.[20] Two weeks before school started, however, she went to New York City to help a friend move. While there, she auditioned for the 1993 Paper Mill Playhouse production of the musical Animal Crackers and was cast in the role of Arabella Rittenhouse. She turned down the scholarship and moved to New York to play the role and pursue a career in musical theatre.[20][21]
Career[edit]
Theatre[edit]
After Animal Crackers, Chenoweth continued to appear in regional theatre productions, such as Babes in Arms at The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, and Phantom (as Christine; she also toured in Germany in this role),[22] playing roles in Off-Broadway productions like Luisa in The Fantasticks[10][23] and Kristy in Box Office of the Damned (both in 1994).[22] In 1997, she appeared as Hyacinth in the Roundabout Theater Company production of Moliere's farcical Scapin, earning her first New York Times review, with Ben Brantley writing "Kristin Chenoweth's sob-prone ingenue is delightful".[24] She made her Broadway debut in the spring of 1997 as Precious McGuire in the musical Steel Pier by Kander and Ebb, for which she won a Theatre World Award.[10] In 1998 she reprised one of her regional theatre roles, Anne Draper,[25] in the City Center Encores! staged concert of the George and Ira Gershwin musical Strike Up the Band.[26] and created roles in the original Lincoln Center Theater production of William Finn's A New Brain.[27] Ben Rimalower, in Playbill, wrote: "It's unlikely anyone will equal Kristin Chenoweth in the role of 'Nancy D., the waitress.'"[28]
Special events and appearances[edit]
Chenoweth and the cast of the Broadway musical Wicked performed the song "One Short Day" in the 2003 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.[153] In the 2005 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Chenoweth performed the song "Oklahoma" while riding aboard the "Oklahoma Rising" float. The float was making the first of three annual appearances commemorating the state of Oklahoma's statehood centennial in 2007.[154][155] She was the star performer of the opening ceremony of the 2007 Tournament of Roses Parade. She sang "Our Good Nature", an original composition written to coincide with the Oklahoma centennial celebration and the theme of the parade.[156] In the 2008 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, she performed the song "The Christmas Waltz" from her "A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas" album while riding aboard the "Care Bears Winter Fun-Derland" float.[157]
She sang with Il Divo as part of Il Divo's Christmas Tour on December 15, 16 and 17, 2009, in New York City and December 18 in Boston.[158][159] She has sung the U.S. national anthem at various sporting events, including the 2010 New York Yankees home opener,[160] at Candlestick Park for the NFL's NFC Conference Championship on January 22, 2012,[161] at the Arizona Cardinals' season opener in 2016 and their game at University of Phoenix Stadium against the Seattle Seahawks on November 9, 2017.[162] Also in 2010, Chenoweth hosted the 15th Annual Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards on VH1.[163]
In 2013, Chenoweth co-hosted the Oscars Red Carpet Live immediately prior to the 85th Academy Awards[164] and also sang the closing number of the ceremony, "Here's to the Losers", with host Seth MacFarlane, in which, paraphrasing the original Frank Sinatra song, the two poked genial fun at nominees who had not received awards.[165] Chenoweth was the solo performer in the Live from Lincoln Center feature "The Dames of Broadway... All of 'Em!!!"[28] In July, she hosted the fifth Just For Laughs gala in Montreal.[166] She also appeared in the 2013 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade performing the song "New York, New York" while riding aboard Royal Caribbean's "A World at Sea" float.[167]
In 2015, she co-hosted the Tony Awards.[168] She appeared as a guest with Andrea Bocelli on some of his 2017–2018 American tour stops.[169] In December 2018, Chenoweth was the guest artist for The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square's Christmas Concert in Salt Lake City, Utah.[170]