Kristin Dawn Chenoweth, born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth, is an American actress and singer who has appeared in musical theatre, film, and television. In 1999, she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown on Broadway. In 2003, she received wide notice for originating the role of Glinda in Wicked, including a nomination for another Tony. Chenoweth also starred in Promises, Promises (2010) and played Maleficent in the ABC television series GCB (2012).She is known for her role as April Rhodes in the musical comedy-drama series Glee.
Kristin Dawn Chenoweth was born in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, on July 24, 1968. Her mother, Junie Smith Chenoweth, is a retired beauty queen and community theater actress who now runs the Jenks beauty pageants. Her father, Jerry Chenoweth, is a retired high school teacher and college professor who now serves as the minister of First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow. She has an older brother named Marc and two younger sisters named Andrea and Kristie. Chenoweth's mother was of Dutch and German descent and her father is of Welsh ancestry. She was raised in her mother's Methodist faith.
Chenoweth credits Oklahoma for "nurturing her love of singing". While attending Broken Arrow Senior High School, she performed in school musicals, operettas, and Oklahoma! productions. She competed in beauty pageants, winning the title of Miss Broken Arrow in 1986. She then attended Oklahoma City University, where she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority and studied musical theatre. Chenoweth's break came in the form of an offer to perform the role of Glinda the Good Witch in the musical Wicked. She was cast in the role in the original Broadway production, which opened in October 2003.
Chenoweth's first professional job was as a backup singer to Michael Feinstein at Feinstein's Supper Club in New York City. She has performed in musicals on and off-Broadway, regional theatre, television shows, and films. She sang gospel music as a child in her local church.
In 1999, Chenoweth made her Broadway debut originating the role of Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. For this role, she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
Chenoweth originated the role of Glinda in Wicked in October 2003, for which she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 2004. She reprised the role of Glinda in the Broadway production's Los Angeles sit-down engagement, which ran from February 10 to April 16, 2005 at the Pantages Theatre. In June 2005, Chenoweth recorded her first solo album, As I Am. The album featured songs written by Chenoweth, along with tracks she wished she had written herself, including "Taylor the Latte Boy" and "I'm a Stranger Here Myself". She performed two of the tracks on The Oprah Winfrey Show in May 2006.
Chenoweth sang gospel music as a child in her hometown of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. She studied opera before being cast as Glinda in Wicked. In her 20s, she worked as a cabaret singer in New York. She has been an outspoken supporter of Christian causes and is active in animal rights activism.
As of 2019, Chenoweth has released seven studio albums and one EP. She is also a four-time Emmy Award winner, and two-time Tony Award winner.
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