Dark Monday • Kristin Chenoweth & Anna Kendrick

As we come up on New Year's Eve, I was thinking of what music might be right for the occasion. It was through this process that I decided there might not be too many songs from Broadway shows that might say for me what I'd like to say to all who stop by this blog than "For Good" from the musical 'Wicked'. The show had music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman, based on a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire. It is a prequel to 'The Wizard of Oz', giving insight into the was the relationship between the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good. The song I feature here talks about how people (or witches) touch out lives, and change us "For Good". This is Kristin Chenoweth, Broadway's original Glinda, and Anna Kendrick, performing at a 'TrevorLIVE', raising funds for the Trevor Project. This is Kristin and Anna winging "For Good".

'TrevorLIVE' is a signature semi-annual event of The Trevor Project, the nation’s leading provider of crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. TrevorLIVE brings together top entertainers and corporate leaders to support Trevor’s life-saving, life-affirming work for LGBTQ youth in crisis. For more about the Trevor Project, visit the official website. You can also 'like' them on Facebook, and 'follow' them on Twitter.

Kristen Chenoweth • 100 Easy Ways

The extraordinary Kristin Chenoweth has won both a Tony and an Emmy, and that should come as no surprise to anyone who has been enchanted by her talent. After all, we've seen her showcased in shows like 'Glee', 'The West Wing' and 'Pushing Daisies', and Broadway hits like 'You're A Good Man Charlie Brown', 'Promises Promises', and her showstopping turn as Glinda in 'Wicked'. In February of 2013, she performed in 'Dames of Broadway...All of 'Em!', part of the Lincoln Center's American Songwriter Series. During the course of the show, she took on some of the great characters of the Broadway stage, from 'Babes in Arms' to 'Sweeney Todd'. She also chose to include Ruth from 'Wonderful Town' in the show, as she takes on a great song from the show with music from Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Betty Comdem and Adolph Green. This is a clip of her singing "One Hundred Easy Ways" from 'Wonderful Town'.

I have to say, not only is Chenoweth insanely talented, she is also a very cool chick. She has never allowed her strong faith to stop her from supporting equality for all. For more about Kristin Chenoweth, visit her official website. You can also 'like' her on Facebook and 'follow' her on Twitter. If you enjoyed this song, I will be featuring more from 'Wonderful Town' tonight in my 'Dark Monday' post.

Dark Monday • Kristin Chenoweth

In tonight's tribute to Broadway, I bring with me the glorious Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth. In an appearance on Dancing With The Stars, she sang a medley of songs with a grace and confidence few could muster. She began with "Maybe This Time" from Cabaret, written by the brilliant team of John Kander and Fred Ebb. She seamlessly put that together with "I Could Have Danced All Nigh"t from My Fair Lady, written by the celebrated team of Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner. And Chenoweth pulls it of with flair.



Chenoweth is proven star, having won both a Tony and an Emmy for her work. And from the clip above, you can understand why. For more about Kristin Chenoweth, visit her official website.

GLEE Returns After Superbowl

Glee will be returning with new programming with a special episode immediately following the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 6, 2011. At this point, it is scheduled for 10:30PM EST, following a half-hour Post-game show on Fox. The episode is called The Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle.

To get us back into Glee-worthy shape, I thought I would just run a couple of my favorite songs from the show, with some of the spectacular guest stars they have been able to book. One of those great stars is the incredible Neil Patrick Harris, who went toe to toe with Matthew Morrison on Dream On.



Jonathan Groff is an incredible singer, and a fantastic actor. He is also on hot boy. I was lucky enough to see he and Lea Michele in the Broadway production of Spring Awakening, where they were both mind-blowingly good. So it was thrilling to hear he was cast on the show, and would be reunited with Michele. But one of my favorite performances by Groff was his outstanding cover of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.



Lea Michele certainly has been able to sing circles around many a person on the show, but it was fun to see young Charice give her a run for the money on Telephone by Lady GaGa.



Not only is Kurt going through what many a gay boy has gone through in the tortured times we call high school, as well as having the father many wish they could have, but he also kicked off what could be seen as a mini-craze, and gay men throughout the world was doing their own videos to Beyonce's song Single Ladies, made broadcast-ready by Chris Colfer.



On one episode, the show had an interesting discussion of religion & spirituality, which culminated in a cover of One of Us, a song by Joan Osborne, written by Eric Bazilian of The Hooters. It is a great song, and they did a really nice job of it.



And for a while, Kurt was the only gay kid on what could be seen as the gayest show broadcast since Buffy. This season, however, he was joined by another gay boy, Blaine. Sure, he might be singing for another school, but Blaine is handsome, talented, and oh-so-in-control. Here he is being played by Darren Criss, singing Teenage Dream by Katey Perry.



When it comes to guest stars, if you can get Neil Patrick Harris and Kristin Chenoweth to come on the show, you know you are doing something right. I mean, there are two incredibly talented performers, so I thought in my final clip, I would offer up Kristin singing the Burt Bacharach/Hal David medley, One Less Bell To Answer/House Is Not A Home with Matthew Morrison.



Be sure to catch the new episode immediately following the Superbowl on Fox!

Sunday Morning with Kristin Chenoweth

Hey, I know I just posted about Ms. Chenoweth last Monday, (if you missed it, click here) but there was a few videos I was dying to use that I just didn't have the room for - there was so much good music from which to choose! So, without further ado, here is Kristin Chenoweth singing The Girl in 14G. Her vocal abilities are most definitely on display, and are amazing. The song can be found on her 2000 album Let Yourself Go, which you should rush out to buy!



From the same album, you can also find If You Hadn't But You Did. The song was originally from the 1951 musical Two On The Aisle.



And here she is singing Glitter And Be Gay from Leonard Bernstein's brilliant operetta, Candide.

Dark Monday - Kristin Chenoweth

With a talent for being cute as a button or sexy as any woman living, Kristin Chenoweth has the vocal abilities that far outshine even her electric smile. Currently on Broadway in the show Promises Promises, Chenoweth first came to be known as five-year-old Sally Brown in the musical You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown in 1999.

My New Philosophy


For that performance, she won her first Tony Award. It is certainly not the last of those that have or will come to her. In October of 2003, she opened in a musical few knew too much about, an interesting take on the Wizard of Oz called Wicked. She co-starred with the magnificent Idina Menzel and together they blew the audience away night after night. Both Kristin and Idina were nominated for the Tony Award, with Idina taking home the trophy that night.



In 2007 she costarred in the whimsical and quirky Pushing Daisies, once again wowing audiences with her impeccable comic timing and astonishing voice. Her portrayal of Olive Snook brought her acclaim as well as the 2009 Emmy Award despite the fact ABC had canceled the show. Here she sings Hopelessly Devoted To You, originally from the musical Grease.



This year, the producers of GLEE were smart enough to snatch her up and give her a recurring character, April Rhodes. Although in her last appearance, she left with a rather determined attitude to make it on her own, I certainly hope she returns, for the enormity of her talent shone so bright in ever minute of her time on the screen, but perhaps never as greatly as when she and Will [Matthew Morrison] performed One Less Bell To Answer/A House Is Not A Home.



As I said in the opening, she is now appearing on Broadway opposite Sean Hayes in the Burt Bacharach/Hal David musical Promises, Promises. She also received attention when she wrote a response to a deplorable Newsweek article about gays not being able to 'play straight', using Hayes as an example. Her words, written by strong Christian woman sounded as clear and strong as any song she had sung to date, being a clarion bell for human rights. Here she is with an excerpt from the show, singing I Say A Little Prayer.



To learn more about Kristin Chenoweth, check out her official website here. You can also go to the official website for Promises Promises here, and maybe order your tickets to catch her live! You can also purchase her 2001 album release, Let Yourself Go, on iTunes here.

GLEE TV - Latest Scoop

Scott Huver of People Magazine Online is reporting about some plot twists and guest stars, making me very excited about what could be coming once the show heads back to the air in the spring. Some of the highlights include:



CASTING SEARCH
FOX executives have revealed that in February, the network will begin scouring the country for undiscovered talent between, ages16 to 26, to fill three new roles in the show’s newly announced season 2. The search will be documented in a multi-part reality special, which will culminate in the unveiling of the new cast members on Glee’s season premiere in the fall.

“We were going to do a nationwide search regardless,” FOX president Kevin Reilly told reporters Monday, noting that some of the original cast, like Chris Colfer, were discovered that way. “So we decided to let the audience in as a part of that. There will not be formal voting. The audience will not decide, but the audience will certainly participate. They will give us their opinions on who they want and who they like.”



READY FOR ROMANCE?
When Glee returns April 13, will choir director Will (Matthew Morrison), who was distraught after discovering his wife Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig) faked her pregnancy, be on a fast track to romance with guidance counselor Emma (Jayma Mays)? Not so fast, says Mays, who attended FOX’s Winter TCA party. “[Series creator] Ryan Murphy said that it’s his job as a writer to keep us apart,” she says.



CHOIR DRAMA
Meanwhile, the show choir’s internal dramas will continue to heat up McKinley High. Dianna Agron tells PEOPLE her ex-Cheerio character Quinn is “still pregnant and just focusing on moving past the ‘woe is me’ moments of being pregnant, so it’s fun again! She’s back to her old spunky ways and we’re learning so much more about all the characters, whether it be at home with their families or in the school.”



GUEST STARS GALORE
In addition to more of Kristin Chenoweth, who appeared earlier this season as former glee-club star April Rhodes, the cast is excited to be joined by Idina Menzel and Olivia Newton-John. Of former Wicked star Menzel, Cory Monteith says, “I haven’t gotten to meet her yet but she’s around. I could sense her extremely talented presence somewhere on set today.” But will Menzel being playing the birth mother of Rachel, as has been speculated due to her strong resemblance to series star Lea Michele? “No, not Lea’s mom,” declares Gilsig cryptically. “It’s going to be interesting.”

And Jane Lynch reveals that the show’s arch villainess, Cheerios coach Sue Sylvester, will perform a duet with another amazing guest star: “I have two songs this season,” Lynch says. “One is ‘Let’s Get Physical’ with Olivia Newton-John.”

Dark Monday -Wicked

Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth starred in the Broadway musical Wicked. They were both beyond spectacular. Wicked essentially gives you the backstory to The Wizard of Oz. But it is much more than that, for it is about being different, not fitting in, and how the majority can injure the minorities.



Idina Menzel play Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and shows how a green young girl goes from innocence to wicked through life's trials. Idina must have really had to act here, since that lucky woman is beautiful, has a gorgeous voice, and is married to Taye Diggs, who she met while both were in the original cast of Rent on Broadway. She gave girth to a son in September. Here she sings the amazing song Defying Gravity.



Kristin Chenoweth played Glinda, the Good Witch. Glinda's path is one of redemption, as she starts out a rather shallow and self-involved character and grows to become so much more. Kristin is immensely talented, as could be seen on both Pushing Daisies and Glee. She won the Emmy this season, and just went to Washington, DC, to participate on the March for Equality. In this clip, she sings Popular.



The show is an incredible show, and has opened throughout the world. In the Melbourne production, Anthony Callea [a favorite of mine] played Boq, the munchkin in love with Glinda, the same role American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert played in the American touring company. It is still running on Broadway, as well as touring. To find out if it might be playing near you, you can check out the official website here.

Great TV - GLEE - Rhodes Not Taken promo

Pictures posted on FaceBook by the GLEE Team.

Kristin Chenoweth guest stars tomorrow night on GLEE, joining the glee club. I am so excited, I can't say! Kristin sings Maybe This Time from Cabaret. And she is gorgeous! The LA Times had this backstage video. Enjoy.

 

GLEE is on your Fox station, Wednesday evening 9PM/8PM Central.