In , Chenoweth was nominated for a second Tony Award for originating the role of Glinda in the musical Wicked. Chenoweth sang gospel music as a child in Oklahoma and studied opera before deciding to pursue a career in musical theatre. She has also appeared in five City Center Encores! Chenoweth had her own sitcom, Kristin , in , and has guest-starred on many shows, including Sesame Street and Glee , for which she was nominated for Emmy Awards in and Chenoweth also wrote a memoir, A Little Bit Wicked.
A performing highlight of her childhood was a solo appearance at the Southern Baptist Convention national conference at the age of 12, where she performed the Evie song "Four Feet Eleven". The chorus begins, "I'm only 4 feet 11, but I'm going to Heaven" Chenoweth is 4 ft 11 in cm in height. While there, she auditioned for the Paper Mill Playhouse production of the musical Animal Crackers and was cast in the role of Arabella Rittenhouse. She turned down the scholarship and moved to New York to play the role and pursue a career in musical theatre.
After Animal Crackers , Chenoweth continued to appear in regional theatre productions, such as Babes in Arms at The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis , [ 22 ] and Phantom as Christine; she also toured in Germany in this role , [ 23 ] playing roles in Off-Broadway productions like Luisa in The Fantasticks [ 10 ] [ 24 ] and Kristy in Box Office of the Damned both in Sally was not present in the original production.
After this, Chenoweth split her time between stage and TV or film roles and released her first solo album, Let Yourself Go In , she performed in the City Center Encores! From December to March , following a Encores! She hosted the Drama Desk Awards ceremony. Chenoweth played Lily Garland in a Broadway revival of On the Twentieth Century , opposite Peter Gallagher , which began previews on February 12 and opened on March 12, , for a week limited engagement through July 19, , at the Roundabout Theatre Company.
The vocal vocabulary she deploys here ranges from jazz-baby brass to operatic silver, often in a single number, and she switches among them with jaw-dropping ease.
