Kristin Chenoweth Pays Tribute to Spiritual Roots in As I Am, Her Latest Album

Tony Award-winning singer/actress Kristin Chenoweth reaches back to her spiritual roots for her new album, As I Am. These roots were set down long before she began a career that most recently has taken her from Broadway’s Wicked to The West Wing. For the new recording, Chenoweth covers a wide range of inspirational material, from contemporary hits to traditional hymns and gospel favorites. The album is produced by Chris Harris, who has worked with such artists as Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, and CeCe Winans. The recording was released on April 5, 2005.

Long before she embarked on her busy career in theater, films, and TV, Kristin Chenoweth was a deeply committed young woman who grew up singing in a Southern Baptist church in her native Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. She loves the music of her faith – from the hymns she sang in church to the powerful new sounds that have carved an entirely new niche in contemporary pop music – and it has always been a part of her creative life. As I Am is a celebration of that music, with producer Chris Harris creating arrangements for the 12 tracks that revisit some well-known music and also take full advantage of the operatic range of Chenoweth’s soprano voice.

In addition to covering recent uplifting hits from some of her favorite singers such as Faith Hill (“It Will Be Me”), Trisha Yearwood (“The Song Remembers When”), Amy Grant (“There Will Never Be Another”) and Sandi Patti (“Upon This Rock”), Chenoweth introduces “Borrowed Angels,” a touching new ballad by Oscar nominee Diane Warren, and Jerry Wise’s tenderly reassuring “When You Abide in Me.” She also brings a new flavor to enduring classics like the traditional “Poor Wayfaring Stranger,” the hymn “Just As I Am,” and the exuberant “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee,” based on Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.” She samples a wide range of contemporary gospel sounds, as well, from Bill and Gloria Gaither’s gospel classic from the 1970s “Because He Lives” to Mercy Me’s best-selling “Word of God Speak.”

A hidden bonus track offers a bit of a departure from the rest of the album – the charming “Taylor the Latte Boy,” a wistfully comic song about a girl who falls in love with her Starbucks barista. The song has become a favorite of Chenoweth’s fans in her concert appearances.

Though she had her first performing experience singing in church, Kristin Chenoweth went on to study at Oklahoma City University as a lyric coloratura soprano, earning a bachelor’s degree in musical theater and a master’s degree in opera performance. When she entered the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, she was awarded a prize that led to a full scholarship for post-graduate study at Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts. En route to Philadelphia, she auditioned for an Off-Broadway show and got the part, which led her to forgo the operatic training and concentrate on the theater.

Chenoweth’s meteoric rise on Broadway began with her Tony Award-winning featured performance in the 1998 revival of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. She again won accolades on Broadway in the comedy Epic Proportions and, in 2004, received rave reviews and yet another Tony nomination for her starring performance in the season’s blockbuster musical Wicked. She also sang the role of Cunegonde in the New York Philharmonic’s 2004 concert performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, which Great Performances broadcast on PBS in January. In 2003, she co-starred with Matthew Broderick in ABC’s TV adaptation of the classic musical The Music Man, after playing the part of Lily St. Regis in ABC’s TV movie of the musical Annie.

In addition to a continuing role as Annabeth Schott in the NBC series The West Wing, Chenoweth will appear with Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell in the upcoming film version of the classic TV series Bewitched and with Steve Martin and Kevin Kline in a revival of the Pink Panther films.

In the coming months, Chenoweth will be singing concerts at different venues around the U.S., including pops performances with symphony orchestras and concerts with her own combo. She will also be recording the voice part for Disney’s new animated take on Rapunzel.