The legendary Kristin Chenoweth debuted on Broadway in Steel Pier and went on to earn the esteemed Tony Award for her role in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Her Broadway credits are prolific, and she has a busy and active film career. She is charming, charismatic, astonishingly talented and brightens every stage. A mere 4’11”, her extraordinary four-octave voice makes her a giant in the musical arena. She lends her time and talent to an array of philanthropic causes, which includes the Kristin Chenoweth Arts and Education Fund. She’s an advocate for arts programs, especially in her home state of Oklahoma where she holds a Broadway Bootcamp every year at the Performing Arts Center in Broken Arrow. She’s a force of nature and Travelgirl is honored and proud to welcome her back to the cover of our magazine.
Her busy career includes a co-starring role in Schmigadoon! which premiered July 16 on Apple TV. Produced by the legendary Lorne Michaels, this parody of iconic Golden Age musicals is a six-episode musical comedic series and co-stars Keegan-Michael Key, Cecily Strong, Alan Cumming, and Fred Armisen, among others. Schmigadoon! engages the audience in the story of a couple embarking on a backpacking trip designed to reinvigorate their relationship. On the way they encounter a magical town where everyone there is living in a studio musical from 1940s. The musical numbers and the comedic spots are charming and the couple realizes they must stay here until they actually find “true love”. Two episodes will be available when the show launched July 16 and new episodes will debut each Friday for four additional weeks.
She’s also starring in National Champions, the STXfilms sports drama directed by Ric Roman Waugh. Based on his play and written by Adam Mervis, the movie explores the challenges of college sports and the treatment, equality, respect, and compensation of its athletes. The drama comes to a head just before the big game. Chenoweth plays the wife of the college coach, and co-stars with J.K. Simmons, Timothy Olyphant, Uzo Aduba, and Jeffrey Donovan.
Chenoweth, an inductee into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, as well as the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, launched a Broadway Bootcamp in her home state back in 2015. Aspiring actors from all over the country audition to be part of the bootcamp and 50 are chosen. She recruits her famous friends to help out and at the end of the camp, they put on a show.
According to Kristin, “The Bootcamp has been very, very important to me. I feel like the Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center has done a great job in bringing professional talent and shows to the area and encouraging young people to enjoy the arts. The BAPAC wants to grow the Center into an actual school where children in my home state can also be fed and enriched with an afterschool arts program. I am teaching master classes a couple of times a year at BAPAC; I also concertize there.”
This year students from 34 states and eight countries participated.
She is passionate about the camp. “This will be my legacy; I really want to encourage people to check it out online and feel free to donate. The NEA [National Endowment for the Arts] and the arts programs all over, but especially in Oklahoma, are really suffering and I want to do whatever I can in my home state for kids who want to be in the arts,” she says.
The program isn’t just singing; it includes dancing, acting, graphic design, writing, directing, song writing, book writing. This inspirational and mega-talented star continues to make a difference. Her Broadway Bootcamp and her Arts and Education Fund lead the way. www.officialkristinchenoweth.com to donate and learn more.
