Kristin Chenoweth - Early Life

Early Life

Chenoweth was born in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa. She was adopted when she was five days old by Junie Smith Chenoweth and Jerry Morris Chenoweth. She has stated that she is of one quarter Cherokee ancestry. At an early age, she performed gospel songs for local churches. 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 (150 cm) in height).

After graduating from Broken Arrow Senior High, where she participated in school plays, Chenoweth attended Oklahoma City University, where she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta (Beta Omicron) sorority. She earned a BFA degree in musical theatre and a master's degree in opera performance, studying under voice instructor Florence Birdwell. It was Birdwell who suggested to Chenoweth that she add an "n" to her first name. While at OCU, Chenoweth competed in beauty pageants, winning the title of "Miss OCU" and was the second runner-up in the Miss Oklahoma pageant in 1991. In 1992, Chenoweth participated in a studio recording of The Most Happy Fella.

Chenoweth participated in a number of vocal competitions and was named "most promising up-and-coming singer" in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, which came with a full scholarship to Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts. Two weeks before school started, however, she went to New York City to help a friend move. While there, she auditioned for the 1993 Paper Mill Playhouse production of the musical Animal Crackers and got the role of Arabella Rittenhouse. She turned down the scholarship and moved to New York to do the show and pursue a career in musical theatre.