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Birth Name: Kristi Dawn Chenoweth. Born: July 24, 1968, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA. Nickname: Cheno. Height: 4' 11" (1.50 m). Kristin Chenoweth biography (bio): Kristin Chenoweth is an American singer and Tony Award-winning American musical theatre, film, and television actress. Chenoweth has a distinctive speaking voice; in FHM's March 2006 issue, she compared her voice to that of Betty Boop. Chenoweth is a coloratura soprano, and can sing into the whistle register. Chenoweth is also referred to as "Cheno" by many of her fans. Early life: Chenoweth was born in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and was adopted at birth. Chenoweth's ancestry includes one-quarter Cherokee lineage. She studied drama at Broken Arrow High School under JoJo Nichols. She graduated from Oklahoma City University, where she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta (Beta Omicron) Sorority. Chenoweth earned a bachelor's degree in musical theater and a master's degree in opera performance, studying under Florence Birdwell who taught Miss America 1981 Susan Powell and two-time Tony nominee Kelli O'Hara. While at OCU, she won the title of "Miss OCU" and went on to win first runner-up in the Miss Oklahoma pageant in 1991. She performed at Opryland USA. She 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. Career: Theater: Chenoweth made her Broadway debut in a production of Molière'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 1998–1999 season, she performed the role of Sally in the Broadway revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. 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, 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). After playing Glinda for nine months, Chenoweth left Wicked on July 18, 2004 along with co-stars Joel Grey and Norbert Leo Butz. 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. From December 14, 2006 to March 11, 2007, Chenoweth starred on Broadway in the production of The Apple Tree. Despite the rave reviews about her performance, she failed to get nominated for a Tony. On January 19, 2007, Chenoweth 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. Television and film: In television, Chenoweth 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, 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 requested to Ephron that Chenoweth be cast 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. American parents may also recognize Chenoweth as Ms. Noodle in Sesame Street's Elmo's World television series. She appeared as part of this series briefly alongside Michael Jeter and Bill Irwin. Chenoweth was featured briefly in the first season finale of Ugly Betty. In fall 2007, she will be a member of the cast (Olive Snook) of the ABC show Pushing Daisies. The comedic drama revolves around a man who falls in love with a deceased woman after he figures out how to bring the dead back to life. Chenoweth is rumored to sing in the second episode of season one. Chenoweth will be playing a waitress who's also the aforementioned man's next-door neighbor. Upcoming roles: * Chenoweth is slated to portray Dusty Springfield in an upcoming film on the singer's life. * She will provide the voice (acting and singing) of Rosetta in the new Disney Fairies made-for-video CGI animated movie Tinker Bell in 2007, and is also set to provide the voice of an alien in the animated film Space Chimps. * In November 2007, Chenoweth will record a live album at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco, where she opened up in Wicked. * Chenoweth will return to the Met in 2010 to interpret Samira in John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles after being invited by Peter Gelb to perform. * Chenoweth was originally going to perform the role of Elizabeth in Mel Brooks' Broadway adaptation of his film Young Frankenstein. However, due to other commitments, (namely the TV show "Pushing Daisies"), she backed out and instead, Megan Mullally will play her role. * Her name has long been attached to the upcoming Disney version of Rapunzel opposite Dan Fogler. Personal life: Faith: Chenoweth has spoken publicly about her faith; she describes herself as a liberal Christian. While growing up, she was a Southern Baptist, but later chose to make her faith not based in any one denomination. When in California, she attends a church in Malibu. In NY, 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 because of her accepting attitude toward the gay community. Chenoweth 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. To promote the album, she made an appearance on The 700 Club, an appearance that upset some of her gay fans, but she later said that she thought that the "Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells of the world are scary." Relationships: Chenoweth was once engaged to actor Marc Kudisch and previously dated violinist Joshua Bell. She also dated writer Aaron Sorkin. In Sorkin's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the character of Harriet Hayes bears significant resemblances to Chenoweth, including having made an appearance on The 700 Club to promote an album. Chenoweth confirmed to The New York Dog Magazine that some of the character was taken from her "verbatim," but stressed that, unlike the character, she supports gay rights. |