Opera Chic

Everything's Coming Up Chenoweth

While gearing-up for a May 3rd Carnegie Hall concert, the singer-actress stopped by Conan recently for voice lessons. Watch the classically-trained soprano teach Conan how to go deep, low, and open up the voice with a Schicchi 'O mio babbino caro' (which comes out as 'O mia bambino cara')! Heat of the moment and all...

Chenoweth's back to Carnegie Hall for the first time in a decade with an early May, one-off concert, The Evolution of a Soprano, which spans Broadway, musical theater and opera, and promises 'works popularized by amateur soprano Florence Foster Jenkins'. The Oklahoma native has previously sung operatic fare in Bernstein’s Candide at Lincoln Center and at the Washington National Opera’s 50th Anniversary Gala, among other events.

Glitter and Be Gay, Literally (The "Glitter" Part, At Least): Kristin Chenoweth FTW

Congrats to our favorite under-5-foot-tall soprano, Kristin Chenoweth, for her Emmy Award win earlier tonight in Los Angeles. The actress won for "Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series" on ABC's Pushing Daisies as Olive Snook. Victorious, she nevertheless battled a line-up of worthy contenders: Jane Krakowski for NBC's 30 Rock; Kristen Wiig and Amy Poehler for NBC's Saturday Night Live; Vanessa Williams for ABC's Ugly Betty; and Elizabeth Perkins for Showtime's Weeds.

If the petite actress ever gets sick of television, she's duly prepped for the opera stage: She had her Metropolitan opera debut in January 2007 with a solo concert, and we were looking forward to her March 2010 appearance for the revival of John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles -- where Corigliano was so taken with the pint-sized soprano that he was rewriting the role of Samira to fit her light lyric cords -- but budget cuts sunk the production and Gelb pulled it from the roster. Eh...we saw her live in the New York Philharmonic's semi-staged Candide back in the day, and it's still tiding us over. Cutest Cunegonde Ever.

More pictures of the little lady under the cut...

Kristin Chenoweth Loves Anna Netrebko, Pink Martini

Kristin Chenoweth loves Anna Netrebko, Pink Martini, sends shoutout to Florence Birdwell:

KC: Florence Birdwell is my biggest inspiration! She not only taught me to sing technically, but taught me to sing from the soul about what a song actually means. Don't sing it if ya can't mean it! My favorite singers are a wide variety:

I love Dolly. I love Reba. I love Julie Andrews and Judy of course. I love Sandi Patti and Amy Grant. I love Allison Krause. I love Eminem too. I absolutely love the opera star Anna Netrebko. And I love the lead singer from the group Pink Martini.

Ready 4 Primetime Crossover Stars: Groban & Chenoweth

Not that we endorse corny, cranked-out award shows, but we couldn't help notice some of America's Greatest Popera Crossover Stars making their way down the red carpet for tonight's 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, happening right now at the Los Angeles NOKIA Theatre.

Above & below is scruffy Josh Groban (posing above with D-Lister Kathy Griffin), who knows how to work the carpet. omg heh.

~*~
(omg it's Kristin Chenoweth!)

Chenoweth @ Conan O'Brien

And teh obsession continues, on Conan. Flickr set here.

Posting without comprehending: The Apple Tree on NYC's Broadway

Opera Chic has been on lock-down since returning to the US and A, receiving flocks of relatives and friends that have congregated to welcome back their wandering Odysseus. Today I managed a few hours to myself, and like a ninja, I broke-loose and stealthily whisked into Midtown Manhattan to get a Broadway fix.

I chose The Apple Tree, but it was kind of rotten and mealy! ahahaha looks like somebody got owned (it was me).

The Apple Tree (starring Kristin Chenoweth) at Roundabout Theatre Company (Ye Olde Studio 54) was originally on b'way forty years ago (1966), and only ran for one year...but they probably should have just sealed it up in a time capsule and sunk it to the bottom of the Hudson River. It was painfully dated, stale, and plagiaristic: every convention was borrowed heavily from its contemporaries, the other major broadway hits from the 1960s.

The narrative was presented in three completely disjointed, isolated vignettes, but all were about the relationships between men and women. Oh. great. yawn.

The first story was a moldy and pedestrian battle-of-the-sexes. It was inspired by Mark Twain's "The Diary of Adam and Eve"...but if poor Mark Twain knew that his work would later be the foundation for such fodder, I'm sure he would have never published it. The second tale was a geographically confused story of a princess who holds the fate of her forbidden lover in her hands, and was based on Frank R. Stockton's cliffhanger "The Lady or the Tiger?" The third interlude was the tale of a mousy chimney sweep by day, and a a Jayne Mansfield-esque star by night. THE LAMENESS IS CALLING FROM INSIDE TEH THEATER. GET OUT NOW!

Brilliant Chenoweth made a clever choice to sign the contract for this run, as it hopefully yields lots of profit while exercising almost no vocal strain (the protaganist's score has a range of like two octaves at the most). The only appeal is Chenoweth's skillz. Whatevs. A very generous NY Times review is here.

Regardless, I'm still bubbling because it's amazing to be back in NYC...the pulse, the speed, the light. And Opera Chic promises that his week will be filled with opera and symphony (-20 broadway). Stay close!

(This is an image of the stage backdrop for The Apple Tree [it's an apple tree] that was implemented instead of a curtain.) 

PANIC AT THE OPERA! Kristin Chenoweth and Paris Hilton Appearing At Your Favorite Opera Venues

Today is a fluffyprettypony post...because my posting styles are as fickle as the morning dew.

Tonight is Kristin Chenoweth's recital at NYC's Metropolitan Opera House, where I suspect half the audience will be teenaged scensters, who experienced their first girl-crush on the pint-sized piccola via the ubiquitous fame/cult that has illuminated her spunky Glinda in Stephen Schwartz's Wicked on Broadway. Tonight's Kristin Chenoweth: Live at the Met performance will be the actress's solo debut at the MET Opera house, where she will be backed by a 12-piece orchestra and a handful of dancers.

Actress and Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth is no stranger to the stage, and had made her mark in the NYC Broadway scene with, well, way too many performances to name. Her lyric soprano was previously heard in in NYC a few years ago at Avery Fisher Hall, with Marin Alsop conducting the New York Philharmonic in Leonard Bernstein's Candide. Chenoweth's "Glitter and be Gay" Cunegonde was memorable, and and has become a popular mainstay of her repertoire.

Chenoweth always goes on the record concerning her love of opera, and has a master’s degree in Opera Performance from Oklahoma City University to prove it. The anecdote is that Chenoweth (who stands without stilettos at like 4-foot-something) was told early in her career that such a petit woman would never make an impression as a credible opera singer. Well, Chenoweth shows everyone wha'ts what, as she was invited by Gelb to return to the MET in 2010, to interpret Samira in John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles.

As a weekend treat, and in adherence to the skanky/sex4y that has plagued Opera Chic as of late, I've uploaded a couple of hi-res (but heavily airbrushed) shots from FHM Magazine's March 2006 issue, where Chenoweth adequately modeled a pink bikini. You can find the photos here (possibly NSFW).

vvvvv

From Austria, official this week: At a news conference in Vienna on Wednesday, Austrian businessman Richard Lugner, a 74-year-old entrepreneur, announced that 25-year-old Paris Hilton has accepted his invitation to attend the Wiener Opernball soirée with him (and his wife Christina seen below) on Thursday, February 15th 2007. Kinky.

Every year, Richard Lugner entices a trashy/hawt celebrity to attend one of Vienna's most prestigious social event of the year at the Vienna Staatsoper. Previous escorts have included Pamela Anderson, Ivana Trump, Sophia Loren, and Farrah Fawcett, cuz that's how he rolls.

The 25-year-old socialite will arrive in Vienna with her parents and three girlfriends...but has recanted her original decision to take recently departed BFF4e&e Britney "TEH ANIMAL" Spears after their late December 2006 break-up.

Chenoweth

   

chenoweth /that is all.