Conversations with Kristin Chenoweth (2015)

Career Q&A with Kristin Chenoweth.  Moderated by Richard Ridge, Broadway World.

Emmy and Tony Award winning actress and singer, Kristin Chenoweth, takes the lead in a career that spans film, television, voiceover and stage, effortlessly.

She received an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on the ABC series Pushing Daisies (Pushing Daisies was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award for “Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.”) More recently, Chenoweth lit up the stage of McKinley High as a former student who returned to town with more than the baggage from her flight, on Fox’s hit comedy, Glee. Though Kristin has often come into our livingrooms on hit shows such as The West Wing (where she starred as Annabeth Schott) and as a guest judge on both American Idol and Project Runway, she may be most remembered by Broadway lovers everywhere for her origination of the role of Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked, which earned her a Tony Award Nomination, and her Tony-winning performance in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, for which she stole the show and many hearts in the process.

Chenoweth will next be seen on-screen in the Universal film The Boy Next Door, alongside Jennifer Lopez, and in the animated Lucas film fairy tale musical Strange Magic, both set to be released on January 23. She will also be seen in the film A Bet’s A Bet (International title: The Opposite Sex), releasing in January. She’s completed production on the indie teen drama entitled Hard Sell and the Disney Channel’s live-action original movie Descendants, in which she will play the classic Sleeping Beauty villain Maleficent. 

Chenoweth will return to Broadway, playing the glamorous film star, Lily Garland, in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s 20-week limited engagement of On the Twentieth Century in March. 

In addition to her starring roles on stage and screen, in 2009, Kristin also wrote an upliftingly candid, comedic chronicle of her life so far, in, A Little Bit Wicked, which was released by Simon & Schuster, and debuted at # 12 on the New York Times Hardcover Non-Fiction Best Seller List.

Kristin is also a passionate supporter of charities which dedicate their time and efforts to helping those in need, such as: the Kristin Chenoweth Art & Education Fund, The Red Cross, Broadway Cares EFA, The Point Foundation, ASTEP, breast cancer awareness, adoption advocacy and organizations supporting animal welfare. 

Chenoweth earned a Bachelor’s degree in Musical Theater and a Master’s degree in Opera Performance from Oklahoma City University. She was also presented with Honorary Doctorate degrees from both the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and her alma mater, Oklahoma City University. Kristin is an inductee into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, as well as the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.