Kristin Chenoweth Biography
Biography
 |
Kristin was born in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and was adopted at
birth. Kristin Chenoweth has one-quarter Cherokee ancestry. She
graduated from Oklahoma City University, where she earned a
bachelor's degree in musical theater and a master's degree in
opera performance. Kristin Chenoweth is a member of Gamma Phi
Beta Sorority. While at OCU, she won the title of "Miss OCU" and
went on to win first runner-up in the Miss Oklahoma pageant. She
performed at Opryland USA. Kristin Chenoweth won 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; she turned down the
scholarship when she auditioned and won a part on an
off-Broadway show.
Kristin made her Broadway debut in a production of Molière's
Scapin starring Bill Irwin, followed in the spring of 1997 by
the unsuccessful 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.
During the 1998–1999 season, Kristin Chenoweth performed the
role of Sally in the Broadway revival of You're a Good Man,
Charlie Brown, sweeping the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics
Circle Awards as the season's Best Featured Actress in a
Musical. Kristin Chenoweth 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, Kristin 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, Kristin Chenoweth 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.
Kristin 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. Kristin Chenoweth also starred
as Marian Paroo in the ABC television production of Meredith
Willson's The Music Man, opposite
Matthew Broderick.
In October 2003, Kristin returned to Broadway in Wicked, a
musical about the early years of the witches of Oz. She was
nominated for a Tony as Best Leading Actress in a Musical for
her performance as Glinda, but lost to co-star
Idina Menzel (as
Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West).
Kristin's role in Wicked also brought the opportunity to co-star
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 requested to
Ephron that Chenoweth be cast in the film. Chenoweth got the
part of Maria Kelly, Kidman's character's best friend.
Kristin 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. She also starred in a
short-lived sitcom, Kristin, for NBC that ran for six episodes.
It was a mid-season replacement in 2001 that co-starred Jon
Tenney.
Beginning in the sixth season (2004–2005) of The West Wing,
Kristin has had a recurring role playing media consultant
Annabeth Schott, and became a main cast member in the show's
seventh and last 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.
In 2006, Kristin Chenoweth is scheduled to appear in five films
including The Pink Panther, RV, and Stranger Than Fiction.
Chenoweth then will star in Asphalt Beach and in a bio-pic of
Dusty Springfield.
Kristin is a Christian, but was uninvited from a Women of Faith
conference in September 2005 because of her accepting attitude
toward the gay community. While growing up, Kristin Chenoweth
was a Southern Baptist, but now attends a non-denominational
church.
Kristin released an album in April 2005 called As I Am that's a
mixture of hymns and contemporary Christian music, with
arrangements that sound similar to adult contemporary. Kristin
Chenoweth made an appearance on The 700 Club to promote the
album; The appearance upset some of her gay fans, but she later
said she thought "The Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells of the
world are scary." She describes herself as a liberal Christian.
Kristin is 150 cm (4 ft 11 in) tall. Kristin Chenoweth appeared
on the cover of FHM's March 2006 issue, where she indicated she
was proud of having a voice she compared to Betty Boop. She was
once engaged to actor Marc Kudisch and previously dated
violinist Joshua Bell.
Kristin has also appeared in a series of television commercials
for Old Navy in 2006.
Discography List for Kristin Chenoweth
- Let Yourself Go (2001)
- Wicked (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (2003)
- As I Am (2005)
- Cole Porter's You Never Know (1991 Pasadena Playhouse production)
- Billion Dollar Baby (1998 York Theatre Company)
- You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1999 Broadway Revival Cast)
TV List for Kristin Chenoweth
- Paramour (1999) (mini-series)
- Annie (1999)
- Kristin (2001) (canceled after 6 episodes)
- The Music Man (2003)
- Sesame Street (semi-regular cast member from 2003—)
- The West Wing (semi-regular cast member from 2004—, regular cast member from 2005 — 2006)
Film List for Kristin Chenoweth
- Topa Topa Bluffs (2002)
- Show Business (2005) (documentary)
- Bewitched (2005)
- The Pink Panther (2006)
- RV (2006)
Upcoming
- Running with Scissors (2006)
- Stranger than Fiction (2006)
- Untitled Kristin Chenoweth/Dusty Springfield Project (2007)
- Rapunzel Unbraided (2009) (voice)
This Kristin Chenoweth Biography Page is Copyright The Planets © 2004 - 2006 Chuck Ayoub