SMALLTOWN ROOTS, BIGTOWN PERFORMER
Personable Kristin Chenoweth – the original Glinda in the Broadway musical Wicked – was a delight last night in L.A. This is Kristen as a regular gal from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, but her stage presence is phenomenal and her vocals are stratospheric. She dazzled us with holiday classics old and new for her Holiday Concert with the LA Opera Orchestra under the musical direction of Mary-Mitchell Campbell. The entertaining evening celebrated the season with an entertainer who knows how to share the spirit of giving joy to others from the depths of her soul.
After starting the evening with “Silent Night,” Chenoweth shared how great it was to be back in her old home of Los Angeles and singing on the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage for the first time in her career. And while she wrangled the audience with perfectly performed songs, she also shared stories about her life starting from being chosen for a Carnegie scholarship that took her out of a small town and started her rise to Broadway fame.
During the evening, we heard heartwarming stories about her parents, life in Oklahoma, her love of all things Chick-fil-A, her devotion to Jesus and Christianity (which often went on like a revival meeting), as well as her take on current events. Commenting on the possibility of aliens were sending drones to search for signs of intelligent life, she wanted to tell them, “Don’t go to New Jersey” – then teased us West Coasters with, “But I won’t tell you what they say about California!”
When she shared about how her hectic life as an entertainer, which had her believing love would never be part of her life, Chenoweth shared how she met her husband, musician Josh Bryant, at her niece’s wedding in Oklahoma when she arrived to sing with his band. After remaining friends for a year and a half, the two met again at her nephew’s wedding, at which time he told her, “I’d like to court you.” And after he showed up at her next concert, their romance really took off after having dinner at a Waffle House.
Then right after Chenoweth released her For the Girls album, the two isolated together during the pandemic and then went on to marry in Dallas in 2023. It was a heartwarming true story for any romantic.
Josh then joined her from the wings to accompany her on guitar. I was so drawn to them. And the two highlighted their playful natures during Act II when Josh joined his wife onstage for a dance, picking her up in his arms (she is only 4’11”) and twirling her around the stage. It was a treat to see inside the wonderful and loving life such a powerful and busy entertainer has created for herself, allowing us to see from where all the love she channels into her songs is generated. This was especially true during her rendition of “Memories.”
Accompanied by two backup singers, Chenoweth seated herself on a stool by the piano, often allowing the other two to sing on their own as well as blending perfectly with her purely marvelous voice during “You Don’t Own Me,” a song Chenoweth wishes she had written. Other selections during the concert included “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman” (“even with all the Botox,” she joked), the rousing “I’m a W-O-M-A-N,” “Requiem,” “Because I Knew You,” “People,” “Oh, Holy Night,” and the inspirational “Christmas Lullaby” as an encore.
Known for her ability to hit a high-C, which she did more than once during the evening, Chenoweth shared how seeing Julie Andrews twirling and singing on the hill in The Sound of Music inspired her to become a singer. But it’s not all as glamorous as you might think, especially after hearing her experience performing in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade five times, once sharing a float with the Care Bears who were all taller than her, or the time she caught her hair on fire.
What I most enjoyed about the evening was getting to know the real person whose incredible voice has opened doors around the world, as well as listening to selections from her career as well as holiday favorites. Her heartfelt message that “God loves you all the same, just as I love my chicken from Popeye’s” reminded me that the everyday woman under all the glitz, costumes and make-up is just a regular person like us. “Music is a great uniter,” she shared, a fact that came into focus when she sang her star-making hit “Popular” from Wicked and invited the audience to sing along. And no doubt she does the same performing it in many languages around the world, some of which she shared with us.
But perhaps Chenoweth is most proud to have brought Broadway to Broken Arrow with the creation of the Kristin Chenoweth Performing Arts Center which offers her theater program, Broadway Bootcamp for 8th-12th graders as they navigate the world of performing arts through master classes in acting, singing, and dancing as they prepare for a future as performers and artists. It also offers quality entertainment to audiences never before seen in the small town. It was her dream to bring such a place to her home town which she wishes had been then when she was growing up isolated from the professional world of entertainment.
I was so pleased to spend a few hours celebrating music, love, and the life of all-around delightful entertainer Kristin Chenoweth, whose storied career in musicals like Wicked and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown as well as TV hits like American Gods and The West Wing, and movies galore, made the evening a stunning celebration of the holiday season for me!
for more info and tour dates, visit Kristin Chenoweth
