Showbiz Today Star of Tomorrow

Kristin Chenoweth: Woman of many talents

By Lori Blackman
Showbiz Today Reports

Tony-winning actress Kristin Chenoweth has an album and a sitcom coming out this season. "You know that saying, 'When it rains it pours'? Well, this is a good storm to be having," she says

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Coming soon to a record store and television near you: Kristin Chenoweth.

You may not have heard much about Chenoweth, but you're soon to going to hear a lot of her. A 1999 Tony-winning actress (for playing Sally in the musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"), her debut album, "Let Yourself Go," was just released by Sony Classics this week. It's a collection of classic Broadway show tunes.

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CNN's Lori Blackman interviews singer/actress Kristin Chenoweth about her busy career (May 30) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

Then there's her new show, "Kristin," which premieres June 5 on NBC. The show is about a small-town girl who comes to the big city in the hopes of becoming a Broadway star -- a story a lot like Chenoweth's. She moved from her hometown in Oklahoma in 1995 and quickly established herself on the New York stage.

We met up with this 29-year-old star of tomorrow at that classic Broadway restaurant -- Sardi's.

CNN: The next two weeks are very pivotal for you. You have an NBC sitcom having its debut next week, and this week you have an album out called "Let Yourself Go."

Kristin Chenoweth: It's something I never planned on. People are always asking me, "So you wanted to do television and then you wanted to do a record?" No, I just wanted to work and be a working actor. Believe me, if it were that easy I'd call up Steven Spielberg right now and say, "Now I'd like to do film." You know that saying, "When it rains it pours"? Well, this is a good storm to be having.

CNN: Does it take away from the experience that you have both at the same time or does it enhance it?

In "Kristin," Chenoweth's character moves to the Big Apple to become a Broadway star and ends up having to get a "real job" to support her aspirations

Chenoweth: I think it enhances it. ... I'm hoping people will say, "Hey, I like this recording, maybe I'll watch her show." Or "I hear this girl has a new album." And it's a real pleasure to look back at your work and feel proud. Good, bad or indifferent, it's me.

CNN: You grew up in Oklahoma and were trained as an opera singer, correct?

Chenoweth:Yes. ... I got my undergraduate degree in musical theater. I always wanted to go to Broadway but I decided to get my master's degree. I had a full scholarship at Oklahoma (City) University to study voice and I started excelling in that and winning competitions. I thought, "Well, if I'm excelling at this, maybe I should think about it as a career."

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I was accepted to the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and two weeks before the program started, I came in to audition here in New York for a musical. I just wanted to see how I would do because it was a dream of mine. I waited five-and-a-half hours to get into the audition because I wasn't a member of the union. At the end of the day they saw me, read me and danced me -- and offered me the lead in "Animal Crackers," a Marx Brothers musical.

I said, "I'm not really here, I'm an opera singer." And the director sat me down and said, "You have to consider what you're doing. You're unique and special, you're an ingenue -- but you're also funny and it's a good combination."

So I decided to move to New York. I still train operatically and I miss it, but I know that where I'm meant to be is here.

CNN: I imagine one of your first very big roles was as Sally in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," for which you won a Tony.

Chenoweth:Yes, but I never expected to capture the role and I never expected the response that I got. People loved this 5-year-old precocious, aggressive girl. I think we can all relate to or remember when we were a child, or we know a child who's like Sally. I certainly remember, and I have a niece I studied for the characterization of the role.

CNN: How much did the Tony award change your life?

Chenoweth: Big time. It's funny because I had so much mixed emotion; I won the Tony Award and the next day I got my closing notice, so we only performed for one week after I got my Tony.

But then I went to L.A. and did the TV musical of "Annie" for Disney and ABC. When I went out to California, my agents got a lot of calls saying, "We saw this girl win a Tony and we'd like to meet her." So I met with network executives who said, "We'd really like to develop something for you."

Not knowing how long it typically takes to do something like that, I thought, "Oh, I got a 13-episode commitment, that's cool." My friends were like, "That's amazing. It just happened so fast after the Tony Awards, and it's funny because a lot of people didn't even see my work, they just saw my speech on the awards telecast and said, "Let's work with this girl."

CNN: Now you have a new show on NBC called "Kristin," in which you star as a woman from a small town in Oklahoma. She moves to the Big Apple to be a Broadway star. Sounds familiar. Is this character you?

Chenoweth: No. Obviously there are a lot of personality traits that are me in the character, but I'm definitely playing a character. She doesn't have a lot of luck in New York City, she fails at her auditions, has to get a real job. (She's) probably a little more naive than I am, a bit more conservative than I am.

But the good news is you're going to get to see the character evolve. And meanwhile, she is not going to forget about her Broadway aspirations. There are going to be plenty of opportunities for me to sing and dance on the show.

CNN: Let's talk about your debut album. It's a compilation of old and new Broadway standards. How did you come up with the concept for this?

Chenoweth: I was doing a play on Broadway and Sony Classics approached me, saying they'd like to talk to me about doing an album. I said, "Great, I'd like to do a potpourri, like a combination of country, gospel, pop music, theater, rock."

And they said, "No, that's not how it works. You have to have a focus."

And we talked about it and I realized I have been cast in a lot of period pieces, '30s and '40s, and it really works well with me. I seem to really understand the style. Plus, it takes us back a more innocent time and a very romantic time and a lot of people want to remember that.

CNN: "The Girl from 14G" is a song on the album written especially for you. This is a very difficult song. You need an incredible range to tackle it.

Chenoweth: Yeah, it's pretty tough. It's about a girl who moves to a New York apartment and above her she's got an opera singer and below her she's got a jazz singer. And she's hearing all of this noise, and I got to do all of the voices on that. The jazz singer was low and soulful and tackled my lower range and the opera singer obviously came more naturally to me. I basically sing four octaves on the song.

CNN: You have a duet on this album with Jason Alexander.

Chenoweth: Yeah, it's really cute. It's funny, he had seen me in the play "Epic Proportions" on Broadway and he had found me and said, "When are we going to do (something) together? You're like from another time, I want to work with you." And I said the same thing. We've been looking for excuses to work together and I was afraid he wasn't going to be available and he said, "Are you kidding? I'll be there."

CNN: If you could choose between television, theater or music for the future of your career, what would you pick?

Chenoweth: Music is who I am. Music is a big part of my life. I began singing at a very young age and I definitely would like to do more albums. I think there are many things out there left to be explored musically that I want to do.

But definitely theater (as well). I wouldn't be sitting here having this interview with you without those roots, without those techniques. Hopefully the television work will bring a larger audience to the theater. That's one of the reasons to continue doing it. I remember one person said to me, "You won a Tony and you're leaving?" I didn't think of it that way. I thought, "What a great opportunity."

So when I do come back to theater, maybe more people will know me and I can bring more people back with me. And that's the goal, that's the goal.

Kristin Chenoweth Online

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