Girl Talk

In her latest tour, Kristin Chenoweth pays homage to the ladies

By Cara Rosner / Photography courtesy of Mark Owens

Emmy and Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth has traveled the world performing but holds a special place in her heart for UConn’s Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, where she’ll soon return.
“I just loved the last time I was in Storrs, Connecticut,” she recalls. “All the college kids came and that really jazzed me up and inspired me. It was actually one of the better shows I’ve ever done.”
The powerhouse vocalist will return to Jorgenson with her “For the Girls” tour at 8 p.m. March 27. Her latest album, which also is called “For the Girls,” was released in September and is Chenoweth’s tribute to female singers throughout history – particularly some of those she admires most. Ariana Grande, Dolly Parton, Jennifer Hudson and Reba McEntire are some of the friends and collaborators who join her on the album.
“I just wanted to pay tribute to the music I grew up with and the music my mom loved,” says Chenoweth. “And, you know, it gives me permission to go all over the map with singers, from Dolly Parton to Dinah [Washington] to Edyie Gormé. I think music is becoming, especially album making…there are no more rules. It used to be you had to stay in one lane, but this gives me permission to be in all lanes.”

Chenoweth’s career has encompassed film, television, voice-over and stage roles. She won a Tony Award in 1999 for her role in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” and was nominated for two more – in 2004 for her turn as Glinda the Good Witch in “Wicked,” and in 2015 for her role in “On the Twentieth Century.” She also won a Theatre World Award in 1997 for Outstanding Broadway Debut, as well as two Drama Desk Awards and two Outer Critics Circle Awards (1999 and 2015).
She also appeared on the television show “Glee,” for which she was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and a People’s Choice Award. In 2009, she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in “Pushing Daisies.” She became a New York Times bestselling author with her 2009 memoir called “A Little Bit Wicked” and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015.
Most recently, the busy actress appeared in the Hallmark Channel film “A Christmas Love Story” in December, and she is set to star in the Netflix film “Holidate” later this year.
To celebrate the release of her “For the Girls” album, she returned to Broadway in November for eight performances at the Nederlander Theatre.
Those who come to see her perform at the Jorgensen can expect a mix of new material and old favorites, Chenoweth says.
“We’re definitely going to do a tribute from the music of ‘For the Girls’ and I’m so excited to bring in my singers and put on a real show,” she says. “It’s going to be a lot of music from the record, and a lot of what I did on Broadway.