New York, NY (October 19, 2006) – In her first public performance at the Metropolitan Opera, Tony Award-winning vocalist Kristin Chenoweth, will grace the Met’s stage for one dazzling night of music and dance in Kristin Chenoweth: Live at the Met. Renowned for her performances in the hit Broadway shows Wicked and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, as well as for her other stage, television and film appearances, Ms. Chenoweth will perform a solo concert of signature songs, new selections, and opera arias, supported by dancers and a 12-piece orchestra. Directed by Kathleen Marshall and music direction by Andrew Lippa, Kristin Chenoweth: Live at the Met begins at 8:00 pm on Friday, January 19. Tickets are available beginning Friday, October 20, and range from $50 to $200. Information is provided online at www.metopera.org or by calling Met Ticket Service at (212) 362-6000.
Ms. Chenoweth is only the second musical theater performer to be presented by the Met, following Barbara Cook’s sold-out solo concert debut in January, 2006. Ms. Chenoweth will return to the Met stage to perform the role of Samira in the Met’s production of John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles, scheduled to open in March of 2010. Considered by Corigliano to be a “grand opera buffa,” The Ghosts of Versailles is an opera in two acts to an English libretto by William Hoffman, suggested by the play La Mère Coupable (The Guilty Mother) by Beaumarchais. First commissioned by the Met in celebration of its 100th anniversary, the production debuted on December 19, 1991, with Marilyn Horne as Samira.
“I have always had the dream to sing at the Met, where the greatest stars in the world have given some of the most renowned performances in history,” said Ms. Chenoweth. “I am humbled that I now have this incredible opportunity and I am thrilled to have the chance to sing in this magnificent place.”
“Although Kristin is a Broadway star, she was first trained as an opera singer,” said Peter Gelb, the Met’s General Manager. “We’re eager to have her perform on the Met stage, both in this special concert and in our later revival of Ghosts of Versailles. In fact, John Corigliano was so taken with the idea of casting Kristin as Samira in Ghosts that he is re-writing the role to fit Kristin’s beautiful lyric soprano voice.”
Kristin Chenoweth holds a graduate degree in opera performance from Oklahoma City University, specializing in lyric coloratura repertory. While still a student, she won a “most talented up-and-coming singer” award and scholarship in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, but turned down the scholarship for her first off-Broadway role. She made her Broadway debut in a production of Moliere’s Scapin, starring Bill Irwin. During the 1998-1999 Broadway season, Ms. Chenoweth performed the role of Sally in the critically-acclaimed revival of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown—winning Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In October 2003, she debuted as Glinda in Wicked, which earned her a Tony Award nomination. Ms. Chenoweth is featured in several concert and soundtrack albums, and has recorded two albums of vocal arrangements, titled “Let Yourself Go” and “As I Am.” She has appeared in numerous feature films, including “Bewitched,” “Running with Scissors,” and the soon-to-be-released “Stranger Than Fiction” and “Deck the Halls,” and is best known to television audiences as Annabeth Schott in NBC’s long-running series, “The West Wing.” She returns to Broadway this year as Eve in The Apple Tree, opening on December 14.
Kathleen Marshall is an award-winning choreographer and director, having earned Tony Awards for Best Choreography for the 2006 production of The Pajama Game, the 2000 production of Kiss Me Kate, and for the 2003 production of Wonderful Town, for which she was also nominated for a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical.
Andrew Lippa is a composer, lyricist, musician and producer. In 1999, he contributed three new songs to You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and created all new arrangements. Lippa wrote the book, music and lyrics for The Wild Party in 2000, which won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical and earned Lippa the 2000 Drama Desk Award for Best Music.
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