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Kristin Chenoweth
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Kristin Chenoweth (born July 24, 1968) is an American singer and musical theater, film, and television actress. Some of her best-known roles have included Glinda in Broadway's Wicked and Annabeth Schott in television's The West Wing. She most recently appeared in the role of Olive Snook on the ABC dramedy Pushing Daisies for which she received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy.
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Encyclopedia
Kristin Chenoweth (born July 24, 1968) is an American singer and musical theater, film, and television actress. Some of her best-known roles have included Glinda in Broadway's Wicked and Annabeth Schott in television's The West Wing. She most recently appeared in the role of Olive Snook on the ABC dramedy Pushing Daisies for which she received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy. She is also the face of Jude Frances jewelry.
Chenoweth has a distinctive speaking voice. In FHM's March 2006 issue, she compared her voice to that of Betty Boop. Chenoweth is a light lyric soprano known for her skilled singing technique and artistic interpretations.
Early life
Adopted at birth, Kristi Dawn Chenoweth grew up in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. (Her genealogical lineage includes one-quarter Cherokee ancestry.) Her vocal ability and talent were realized at a young age, performing songs for local churches. A highlight of her childhood was a special solo appearance at the Southern Baptist Convention national conference at the age of 12. She performed the song "I'm Four Foot Eleven and I'm Going to Heaven".
Chenoweth attended Oklahoma City University, where she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta (Beta Omicron) Sorority. She earned a degree in musical theater and a master's degree in opera performance, studying under the prestigious voice instructor Florence Birdwell. Well known for her teaching ability, Professor Birdwell has trained other notables such as Miss America 1981 Susan Powell and three-time Tony nominee Kelli O'Hara. It was Birdwell who suggested to Kristi that she add an "n" to her first name, reasoning that the name "Kristin" was perhaps more classically suited for an opera singer. While at OCU, Chenoweth won the title of "Miss OCU" and went on to win second runner-up in the Miss Oklahoma pageant in 1991. For a period of time, she performed on stage at Opryland USA.
Chenoweth won a number of competitions, including a "most talented up-and-coming singer" award in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, which came with a full scholarship to Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts. Two weeks before school started, she went to New York City to help a friend move. While there, she auditioned for the Paper Mill Playhouse's production of the musical Animal Crackers and got the role of Arabella Rittenhouse. She turned down the scholarship and moved to New York to do the show and pursue a career in musical theater. She is 4'11".
Career
Theater
Chenoweth made her Broadway debut in a production of Moliθre's Scapin starring Bill Irwin, followed in the spring of 1997 by the musical Steel Pier by John Kander and Fred Ebb, for which she won a Theatre World award. The following season, she appeared in the City Center Encores! production of the George and Ira Gershwin musical Strike up the Band and the Lincoln Center Theater production of William Finn's A New Brain. She has performed several times on the radio program A Prairie Home Companion.
During the 19981999 season, she performed in the Broadway revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown as the title character's little sister, Sally, a character that was not present in the original production. (That character replaces the obscure Peanuts character Patty, not to be confused with Peppermint Patty.) The production won Chenoweth the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards as the season's Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She then starred in the Broadway comedy Epic Proportions, followed by appearances in ABC's television adaptation of the musical Annie (as Lily St. Regis), and in the leading role of Daisy Gamble in the City Center Encores! production of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.
In 2003, Chenoweth performed songs from her album Let Yourself Go in concert for Lincoln Center's 5th American Songbook. She also performed in City Center Encores! 10th Anniversary Bash. In London, she was involved in Divas at Donmar for director Sam Mendes, then appeared in the Actor's Fund Benefit Concert of the musical Funny Girl in New York City.
In October 2003, Chenoweth returned to Broadway in Wicked, the smash hit musical about the early years of the witches of Oz. She was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance as Glinda. After playing Glinda for nine months (not including the years leading up to the Broadway run where she played the role in all of the show's workshops), Chenoweth left Wicked on along with co-stars Joel Grey and Norbert Leo Butz. Chenoweth was replaced by Jennifer Laura Thompson.
Chenoweth played Cunegonde in a revival of Candide, directed by Lonny Price in 2004. Price's semi-staged concert production with the New York Philharmonic under conductor Marin Alsop, ran for four performances between and . The production featured Paul Groves as Candide, Sir Thomas Allen as Dr. Pangloss, Tony Award winner Patti LuPone as the Old Lady, with choruses from both Westminster Choir College and the Juilliard School completing the performance cast, and was also broadcast on PBS's Great Performances. A performance of the rarely sung duet "We Are Women" between Cunegonde and the Old Lady was included in the production.
From December 14, 2006 to March 11, 2007, Chenoweth starred on Broadway in a production of The Apple Tree and received rave reviews for her performance. On , she performed a solo concert at The Metropolitan Opera in New York, only the third musical theatre star ever to present a solo concert at the Met, following Barbara Cook and Yves Montand. Chenoweth has also performed leading roles at the Goodspeed Opera House and the Guthrie Theatre, and she was chosen by the late Jerome Robbins as the guest soloist in his West Side Story Suite of Dances at New York City Ballet.
Chenoweth hosted the 52nd Annual Drama Desk Awards on .
Chenoweth played Elizabeth in the pre-Broadway workshop in Mel Brooks' Broadway adaptation of his film Young Frankenstein, however, due to her Pushing Daisies commitments, she was unable to appear in the production. Similarly, in 2008 she had been scheduled to reprise her role as Cunegonde in an English National Opera production of Candide, but she had to pull out because of the resumption of filming.
She appeared in Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's Music in the Air for its short semi-staged running from February 5-8, 2009.
Television and film
In television, Chenoweth starred in a short-lived sitcom, Kristin, for NBC that ran for six episodes (13 were filmed). It was a mid-season replacement in 2001 that co-starred Jon Tenney. Beginning in the sixth season (20042005) of The West Wing, Chenoweth had a recurring role playing media consultant Annabeth Schott, and became a main cast member in the show's seventh and final season (2005-2006). She performed "For Good," a song she had sung in Wicked, at the memorial service for her friend and West Wing costar John Spencer.
Chenoweth was a part of ABC's An American Celebration at Ford's Theater with Kelsey Grammer, NBC's Salute to the Olympic Winners, The Kennedy Center Gala honoring Julie Andrews, and an episode of Frasier on NBC. She also starred as Marian Paroo in the ABC television production of Meredith Willson's The Music Man, opposite Matthew Broderick.
Chenoweth appeared in Nora Ephron's 2005 film version of Bewitched. The film's star, Nicole Kidman, had attended a performance of Wicked and was so impressed with Chenoweth's charisma and stage presence that Kidman asked Ephron to cast Chenoweth in the film. Chenoweth got the part of Maria Kelly, Kidman's character's best friend. In 2006, she appeared in five films including The Pink Panther, RV, Stranger Than Fiction, Running with Scissors and Deck the Halls. Chenoweth also appeared as Mr. Noodle's Sister Ms. Noodle in Sesame Streets Elmo's World television series alongside Michael Jeter and Bill Irwin.
In February 2007, Chenoweth co-hosted on an episode of The View and was invited back after performing a song from The Apple Tree on the show. She was also featured briefly in the first season finale of Ugly Betty. In fall 2007, she became a member of the cast of the ABC show Pushing Daisies. The comedic drama is the story of Ned, a man who can bring the dead back to life. Chenoweth plays Olive Snook, a co-worker and neighbor of Ned's who is in love with him. In the show, she has sung numerous times, doing a take on "Hopelessly Devoted To You" (originally performed by Olivia Newton-John in the musical film Grease)(during which she is interrupted by customers and the janitor), a duet with Ellen Green for "Birdhouse in Your Soul", Eternal Flame, and Candle on the Water with a group of male singers. Chenoweth sang in the second episode of season one. She has received good reviews including many that say she is perfect for the role. She received an Emmy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2008 for her role as Olive in Pushing Daisies. On February 24, 2008 Chenoweth sang "That's How You Know" from the movie Enchanted at the 80th Annual Academy Awards in the Kodak theatre.
Chenoweth appeared in the 2008 holiday romantic comedy film Four Christmases, playing the sister of Reese Witherspoon's character.
Kristin also appeared on the Fox News Channel's 2008 special "A Fox and Friends Christmas", where she sang "Do You Hear What I Hear?" from her Christmas album 'A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas'.
Internet
On August 27, 2008, Chenoweth released a video with funnyordie.com titled Intervention with Kristin Chenoweth. The video parodied A&E's show Intervention, with Chenoweth starring as a singing, dancing interventionist. The song was composed by Andrew Lippa, Chenoweth's frequent musical director and composer for her concert songs as well as the composer of "My New Philosophy", which she sang in the revival of Charlie Brown, and the lyrics were written by Amy Rhodes, who also wrote the clip. The video was shot in five hours in a room of a Hilton Hotel. Chenoweth admitted that she was hesitant about performing the lyrics.
Upcoming roles
- Chenoweth is slated to portray Dusty Springfield in an upcoming film on the singer's life.
- She will provide the voice of the title role for the upcoming Disney animated film
Rapunzel. Chenoweth was scheduled to return to the Met in 2010 to play Samira in John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles after being invited by Peter Gelb to perform, but due to the current economic conditions, the opera was ultimately cancelled.Recently, Chenoweth signed on to star as a "suicidal prostitute" in the indie drama Into Temptation under writer-director Patrick Coyle.Chenoweth has joined the cast of the upcoming animated comedy Sit Down, Shut Up playing the voice of a religious science teacher named Miracle Grohe, replacing Maria Bamford, who has a similar voice quality to Chenoweth.Chenoweth has been cast in a new NBC David E. Kelley drama entitled Legally Mad and will play an attorney named Skippy Pylon.Recently, it was announced that Chenoweth will play a live-action role in another upcoming FOX series, Glee playing what Michael Ausiello is calling "a part that's as top secret as it is hilarious".
Special events and appearances
Kristin and the cast of the Broadway musical Wicked performed the song "One Short Day" in the 2003 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
In the 2005 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Kristin 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.
Kristin 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.
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 "The Care Bears Winter Fun-Derland" float.
Personal life
Chenoweth has agreed to write a memoir about her life, describing her adoption, her turn in Wicked and her time in Hollywood. She has stated that the book will not be a 'tell all', and instead will focus on "how I got where I am so far." The planned date of publication is 2009. The title has been revealed to be A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith in Stages.
Chenoweth has spoken publicly about her faith; she describes herself as a non-judgmental Christian. Raised as a Southern Baptist, she later chose to have a personal connection to a faith that is not based in any one denomination. When in California, she attends a non-denominational church in Malibu. In New York, she attends a United Methodist Church.
Chenoweth also has a large gay fanbase, and was uninvited from a Women of Faith conference in September 2005 "due to her publicized and heartfelt beliefs that God is accepting of all people on earth," including homosexuals.
Chenoweth released an album in April 2005 called As I Am, a mixture of hymns and contemporary Christian music, with adult contemporary arrangements. To promote the album, she made an appearance on The 700 Club, an appearance that upset some of her gay fans. She later said she thought that the "Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells of the world are scary" and that she regretted appearing on the show.
Chenoweth was once engaged to actor Marc Kudisch and previously dated virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell and Survivor host Jeff Probst.
She also dated producer/writer Aaron Sorkin. In Sorkin's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the character of Harriet Hayes bears significant resemblances to Chenoweth, and the relationship between the Christian Hayes and "East Coast liberal Jewish atheist" (her description) Matt Albie is modeled after that between Chenoweth and Sorkin; Chenoweth's decision to appear on the 700 Club and her falling out with Women of Faith were depicted with the Hayes character.
She reportedly is dating 25-year-old producer/writer/director Charlie McDowell. He was her date at the 2008 Tony Awards (June 15, 2008).
Credits
Theater
Broadway
Steel Pier (1997) Precious McGuire/Couple #4/Couple #25You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1999) Sally BrownEpic Proportions (1999) Louise GoldmanFunny Girl (2002 Benefit) one of 16 women (in the same performance) playing Fanny Brice, she sang "His Love Makes Me Beautiful"Wicked (2003) GlindaThe Apple Tree (2006) Eve/Princess Barbαra/Ella/Passionella
Off-Broadway
The Fantasticks (year unknown) LuisaDames at Sea (year unknown) RubyBox Office of the Damned (1994) Kristy The New GirlScapin (1997) HyacinthA New Brain (1998) Nancy D./Waitress
New York City Center Encores!
Strike up the Band (1998) Anne DraperOn a Clear Day You Can See Forever (2000) Daisy Gamble/MelindaThe Apple Tree (2005) Eve/Princess Barbαra/Ella/PassionellaStairway to Paradise (2007) Female StarMusic in the Air (2009) - Frieda Hatzfeld
Filmography
Films
Topa Topa Bluffs (2002) PattyShow Business (2005) (documentary) HerselfBewitched (2005) Maria KellyThe Pink Panther (2006) CherieRV (2006) Mary Jo GornickeRunning with Scissors (2006) Fern StewartStranger than Fiction (2006) Darlene SunshineDeck the Halls (2006) Tia HallSpace Chimps (2008) (voice) KilowattTinker Bell (2008) (voice) RosettaFour Christmases (2008) Courtney
Upcoming:
Into Temptation (2009) - Linda SalernoTinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (2009) (voice) - RosettaRapunzel (2010) (voice) RapunzelTinker Bell: A Midsummer Storm (2010) (voice) - RosettaTinker Bell: A Winter Story (2011) (voice) - Rosetta
Television
Paramour (1999) (mini-series)Annie (1999) Lily St. RegisKristin (2001) Kristin YanceyFrasier (2001) Frasier's new agent, Portia Sanders in episode Junior AgentThe Music Man (2003) Marian ParooSesame Street (semi-regular cast member from 2003) Mr. Noodle's Sister, Ms. NoodleCandide (2005) (PBS Great Performances broadcast of New York Philharmonic concert version) CunιgondeThe West Wing (semi-regular cast member from 2004, regular cast member from 20052006) Annabeth SchottUgly Betty (2007) DianeRobot Chicken (2007) Princess, Olive Oyl, Mother (voice)Pushing Daisies (2007-2009) Olive Snook
Upcoming:
Sit Down, Shut Up (2009) - Miracle Grohe (voice)Legally Mad (TBA) - Skippy PylonGlee (2009) - TBA
Discography
Pushing Daisies (Original Television Soundtrack) (2008)A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas (2008)A Place for Us: 50 Years of West Side Story with Hugh Panaro (2007)Just Before Sunrise with Nathan Gunn (2007)As I Am (2005) (solo album)"Disney Presents The Music Man" (2003 TV Film)Wicked (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (2003) (Grammy Award)Let Yourself Go (2001) (solo album)"Kidults" with Mandy Patinkin (2001)"Our Heart Sings" (2001)"Grateful: The Songs of John Bucchino" (2000)"110 in the Shade" (1999 Studio Cast Recording) (cameo)You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1999 Broadway Revival Cast)A New Brain (1998 Original Off-Broadway Cast)Billion Dollar Baby (1998 York Theatre Company)"The Most Happy Fella" (1992 Studio Cast)Cole Porter's You Never Know (1991 Pasadena Playhouse production)
Awards
Awards
Steel Pier 1999 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown 1999 Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown 1999 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown 2004 Broadway.com Audience Award Favorite Onstage Pair Wicked (shared with Idina Menzel) 2005 Breakthrough Of The Year Award - Hollywood Life Magazine 2005 Grammy Award Best Cast Show Album Wicked 2007 Broadway.com Audience Award Favorite Diva Performance The Apple Tree 2008 Point Courage Award - Point Foundation
Nominations
Wicked 2004 Tony Award Best Actress in a Musical Wicked 2005 SAG Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series The West Wing 2006 SAG Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series The West Wing 2007 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical The Apple Tree 2007 Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical The Apple Tree 2007 Broadway.com Audience Award Favorite Actress in a Musical The Apple Tree 2008 Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series Pushing Daisies 2008 Satellite Award Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or TV Film Pushing Daisies
External links
Christianity Today website
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