Cast Away

Catching up with would-be AVA alum Kristin Chenoweth.


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Published: Jan 30, 2007

Theater/opera

AND AWAY THEY GO: Four busloads of protesters get ready to hit D.C. on Saturday for the first major anti-war rally since the midterm elections.

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K ristin Chenoweth was competing in the Miss Pennsylvania contest when she enrolled in the Academy of Vocal Arts in the spring of 1992. K. James McDowell, the school's executive director, remembers her as an attractive, petite blonde, then age 23. "We said that we'd give a scholarship to anyone who was a finalist in state competitions sponsored by the Miss America Pageant — pending an audition."

"It was a successful audition and we offered her a four-year scholarship," says McDowell. That September, however, Chenoweth's parents wrote saying that their daughter had a theater opportunity and asked if the AVA would extend its offer for a year. McDowell said OK. "That was the last we heard from her or her family," he reports. "She made a choice, and when you look at her success it's clear that she made the right choice."

Flash forward 15 years. Chenoweth made her Metropolitan Opera debut Jan. 19 in a sold-out concert, to be followed by a starring part in the opera The Ghosts of Versailles — unprecedented for someone with no professional opera experience. It was the idea of Peter Gelb, the Met's new general manager, who's looking to attract Broadway audiences. He describes himself as "a big fan of Kristin" and he recorded two of her solo albums when he ran Sony Classical Records.

Says Chenoweth, "My parents moved from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania and I fell in love with the state, and since I was runner-up in the Miss Oklahoma Pageant the year before, we had hopes of winning Miss Pa. I won talent, and came in second runner-up. It was disappointing then, but anyway the pageants taught me a lot: mainly to compete with yourself, and learn to have opinions on current events."

Chenoweth balances girl-next-door cuteness with an appeal that earned her a spot on FHM magazine's list of "100 Sexiest Women 2006." The hardest-working woman in show business, she starred on Broadway in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Wicked and the current revival of The Apple Tree, plus movie roles and a dramatic part in TV's The West Wing. She also gave permission to ex-boyfriend Aaron Sorkin to write her into his Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. One of the characters, Harriet Hayes, is based on Chenoweth. "I said OK. I was happy to give him that gift. And I watch every week because I'm supportive of Aaron; whether we're together or not, I love him always. I think it's a genius show." A musical version of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein comes to Broadway in the fall and Chenoweth is rumored to be the female lead.

The closest she's come to Philly since 1992 was Charlie Brown's pre-Broadway tour, which stopped in Wilmington in 1999.

"I feel bad that I had to turn down AVA," says Chenoweth. "but an opportunity came up unexpectedly. I helped a friend move to New York and, while I was there I thought I'd go on an audition even though I wasn't a member of Equity. The director, Charles Repole, said, 'You're unique' and offered me a job." Her stage debut was singing and dancing in Animal Crackers at the Paper Mill Playhouse.

She says she'd love to come back and sing at an AVA gala someday if her schedule allows. So far she has not answered AVA's invitations. "It's really hard doing eight shows a week [with The Apple Tree] and I sing a high D every time," she says. "So my people tell me I have to turn down other invitations and give myself vocal rest."

(s_cohen@citypaper.net)