Kristin Chenoweth as Passionella.

Kristin Chenoweth wrestles three (actually, it's four) bravura roles in The Apple Tree, a trio of musical short story adaptations.

An interview by Marc Miller

Kristin Chenoweth may have the most infectious giggle of any coloratura who ever lived. Although a serious musician, operatically trained, with a multi-octave range and a repertoire that includes everything from “My Funny Valentine” to “Word of God Speak,” when Chenoweth laughs, she transforms. She's your kid sister, the most popular pledge in the sorority, or the well-liked girl next door. And she laughs often.

The mercurial blonde, Oklahoma-native is a hair under five feet, but she has found many women in that compact space. She's won a Tony Award® on Broadway as the scowling, analytical Sally Brown, with an amazing number of life philosophies for a five-year-old in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. She's been nominated for a Tony Award® for Glinda, the good witch who is a little too convinced of her own goodness, in Wicked. And for television and film, she's played Annabeth Schott, the savvy media consultant able to keep in fast step with the other denizens of The West Wing; Nicole Kidman's nosy neighbor in Bewitched; and Danny DeVito's chipper sexpot wife in Deck the Halls. Not for nothing does Chenoweth call herself “an actress who happens to sing and dance.”

This quicksilver versatility comes in handy as Chenoweth takes on the formidable leading-lady chores in Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's The Apple Tree. The Roundabout production, which expands on a successful Encores! concert version from 2005, reunites Chenoweth with director Gary Griffin but otherwise is newly cast, designed, and polished. The musical-actually three one-act musicals, based on short stories by Mark Twain, Frank R. Stockton, and Jules Feiffer-was a triumph for a Tony®-winning Barbara Harris in 1966, allowing her to play seductress, waif, media darling, and Eve. Now it's Chenoweth's turn. She is-as she made clear when she talked to Front & Center in a phone interview during rehearsals-raring to go.

Kristin Chenoweth as Princess Barbara with Marc Kudisch.

FRONT & CENTER: You grew up in Oklahoma. How does a person get the show biz bug in Oklahoma?

KRISTIN CHENOWETH: I basically grew up singing in church, and I was really into ballet, in a town called Broken Arrow, outside Tulsa. I was an artistic child. But also, I had this very mature voice at a young age. My mom would take me to the shows that came through Tulsa, and I always knew I wanted to be on Broadway even though I'd never been there.

I got my undergraduate degree in musical theatre at Oklahoma State, and then my path changed a little, and I got my masters in opera performance. I was going to be an opera singer and was accepted to a school in Philadelphia, the Academy of Vocal Arts. Then I decided not to go that route at the last minute-when I got a job in New York. I came up here for the first time with a friend and basically went on an audition for fun and got one of the lead roles, at Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey.

You didn't have to suffer?

(Laughing) I didn't suffer from not getting jobs, but I did suffer a little because I was such a fish out of water. And I wasn't making very much money. Looking back, yeah, I was very blessed and very lucky, but at the same time I was doing The Fantasticks off-Broadway for $210 a week, maybe $175 after taxes. I did what everybody does: I had ten roommates.

When did you realize you were naturally funny?

I remember the first time I knew something was up. Tulsa Ballet Theatre had a junior dance program and every year we did The Nutcracker. I auditioned and got to be a mouse; I was probably about seven or eight. In Act Two, when Clara is sitting on the throne, watching all the Sugar Plum Fairies, I also got to be one of the two rabbits who sit next to her. I thought that was really cool. One performance, the dancers were dancing with vines, and right when they were exiting, somebody dropped a vine, front and center. I remember thinking, “Hop how a bunny would do it.” So I hopped up there front and center, picked up the vine with my mouth, and hopped back, and the audience went nuts. And I went, like, “Oh! I understand.” I guess I always approach things from the character, and if it's funny that's even better.

The Apple Tree won't be your first time working with Roundabout...

No. Probably within the first two or three years I was in New York, I was cast in Scapin, with Bill Irwin as director and star. The Roundabout was so gracious, because I opened the show, and then I had to leave a month early to do Steel Pier, and they allowed me to do that. So I've always been grateful to them.

How is this production of The Apple Tree going to be similar to, or different from, what we saw at Encores!?

With a new leading man and a new cast, it makes the show different altogether. They've added things that fit more on a Broadway stage. The costumes are punched up, there are some great stage effects, and John Lee Beatty has done an amazing scenic design. Most obviously, we've had more time. For me, it feels brand new, even though I've sung it before. Even some of the lines feel new because I say them to Brian d'Arcy James, and we're delving deeper into the characters than we were able to before.

“I can’t imagine not being able to sing; I would die.”

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I have had wonderful, wonderful experiences in my career, but you know (and I say this very rarely), this is turning out to be one of the best processes that I've had. Gary Griffin, the director, just gives you permission to go in all sorts of different directions. You may go back to the very first instinct you have. But because of his faith and trust in us, we are able to have faith and trust in ourselves.

I know Brian d'Arcy James just got out of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, but otherwise, I don't usually think of him as doing funny things.

Well, just wait. He's hilarious in this. It's a genius performance. We also just finished Young Frankenstein together in workshop, all three of us: Marc Kudisch, Brian, and I.

You mention Marc Kudisch. This may seem a rude question, but do I remember reading, years ago, you and he were, well, an item?

Yes, we were engaged actually for quite some time. Gary called me and said, we're thinking in this direction, how do you feel about that? And I said, look, I fell in love with him, I know what an amazing actor he is, hire him right now! I have such admiration and respect for him.

You get to play three characters in this musical. Do you have a favorite?

Oh, it's so hard because I love them all. Probably the one I'm having the most fun with is Ella, the chimney sweep girl, because I just think of her as this little ash-ridden peanut. But I'm partial to all of them. Actually, it's four parts, because there's Passionella and Ella, as well as Barbara and Eve. The most delicate piece is “The Diary of Adam and Eve.”

Well, it's the one that makes me cry.

Me too. It still gets to me. The director says, you know, when you sing “What Makes Me Love Him?”you're not supposed to cry (laughs). It's very difficult for me to get there and not go to a place where I could completely lose it because of all the different relationships I've had. My grandpa recently lost his wife of 50-some-odd years, and he said to me, “How do I continue on?” in a very sincere way. I think of him. It's just, to me, maybe the most special, sweet, honest ending of anything I can imagine. I'm moved every time.

Kristin Chenoweth as Eve

Have the authors been around at rehearsals, and have they given any input?

There have been a few tiny additions, and maybe one or two little rewrites. Sheldon is always around, and I adore him. How often do you get to do a revival where the authors are still living? And they're not only living, they're like 10-year-old little boys because they're so excited that the world is going to get to see this show again.

In addition to The Apple Tree, you're working on your Metropolitan Opera House debut this January in Kristin Chenoweth: Live at the Met. What's that program going to be like?

Eclectic. Some of the songs you know me for, of course, because if I don't do them I'll get killed. But I also would like to do more legit material in the second act. The first act will be very fun, and there will be movement, I have two backup dancers. Then the second act will be more serious.

In addition to the six movies you did this past year, including smaller roles in Running with Scissors and Stranger than Fiction, I understand you're trying to put together a biopic of Dusty Springfield. What is it about her that interests you?

Well, she was so complicated. She looked one way and sounded a different way, and people were always surprised by that, and that's me, too. She was very spiritual, but she battled some demons-to be frank, her sexuality, abusive parents, sibling rivalry-and she eventually made it out of sheer determination. So there's a lot to play.

How do you find the time and energy to juggle so many projects?

Honestly, I don't have much of a social life. I just love the work. I can't imagine not being able to sing; I would die. I can't imagine not being able to do a role or put myself onstage. That's what life is for me.

Marc Miller is a copy chief at Business Week and writes frequently about the theatre.

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