Outside of her prodigious talent, Kristin Chenoweth had a fairly normal childhood. She told Beltline to Broadway, "I just sang in my choir, did drama, was a cheerleader, you know, student council, the normal kid stuff." While Biography notes that she majored in musical theater at Oklahoma City University, her first dream was to be an opera singer, and she even earned a master's degree in opera performance. Chenoweth was all set to achieve her dream, telling Talkin' Broadway that she even auditioned for the Met, where she won the Most Talented Up and Coming Singer Award.
She was preparing to head to Philadelphia's Opera Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, but her career took a detour when she decided to go to a musical theater audition in support of her friend and "to see what a New York audition is like." Chenoweth ended up learning what auditioning is like — and then some. After waiting in line for several hours, she finally got her turn. "I sang an opera piece," she told NPR, "which is inappropriate for a show called 'Animal Crackers,' about the Marx brothers. Welcome to my brain!"
To her surprise, she got a call-back and then landed a supporting role in the production, successfully launching her career. Of her decision to give up her opera dreams for musical theater, she told Beltline to Broadway, "It just changed, and I listened to my gut."
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEpaCsrF6YvK57lWpva29mZMGpsYyupa2nnJl6tb7UrZ9mp5ZiuLO10q2gp2WTnbKvu9aeq6Fn