Kristin Chenoweth Books ABC Pilot 'THE REAL FAIRY GODMOTHER'

Sounds like it has a lot of potential. Here's hoping it gets picked up!

 

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Kristin-Chenoweth-to-Star-in-ABC-Pilot-THE-REAL-FAIRY-GODMOTHER-from-Zadan-Meron-20171011-facebook

Updated On: 10/11/17 at 01:56 PM

K-Chen strikes me more often lately as a female Peter Pan...she never seems to have grown out of her girlish/spoiled/high-pitched period as an actor. I've long wished she would push herself to try a role that is completely out of her element, but not even her television appearances get that chance.

Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "K-Chen strikes me more often lately as a female Peter Pan...she never seems to have grown out of her girlish/spoiled/high-pitched period as an actor. I've long wished she would push herself to try a role that is completely out of her element, but not even her television appearances get that chance."

I think Chenoweth is smart enough to realize that she is a character actor. What's she going to do to push herself? Play Medea? Mother Courage? Nobody would buy that. And the truth is there aren't many existing dramatic - even musical theatre leading roles she's really right for. It's nice that she has industry execs who are willing to create for her. Even one short lived season  of this is a very nice paycheck and raises her visibility. Maybe she will finally be able to get that Tammy Faye musical up.

I think Chenoweth would probably love to play something like Lady Macbeth but I think she is smart enough to know she' s not right for the role. That's the hallmark of a professional.

God no, I don't want to see her as Lady Macbeth or anything that extreme...but more along the lines of a comic relief role, maybe, in a drama. I don't know, just...something that isn't farce-like.

I think an issue is that since she went to Hollywood and became a bigger name post-Wicked, she has branded herself in a way that's sort of irreversible. It's like an extreme version of what she was when she started out. I think she could have actually taken other sorts of roles and worked to change her direction somewhat, but it seems her real life persona has just taken over and she's sort of stuck being cornered in these types of roles. I mean it has worked out for her and maybe if she wasn't so distinctive then she wouldn't have had the success that she had despite her incredible talent.

I do remember when she tried to tackle on more serious roles like in The West Wing or when she played that suicidal prostitute in that indie film that no one saw, but I think they didn't play to her strengths as much. I do think April Rhodes in Glee was a role that took advantage of her personality but also allowed her to stretch a bit and show different sides to her acting but not too much for it to be unbelievable.

I'm a bit skeptical that this will even be picked up by the network.

I really feel that Kristin's best work was in GCB. It was the perfect vehicle for her (and Miriam Shor and Jennifer Aspen) and it ended much too soon. For Kristin, it was nice to see her in a supporting role without all the splash and "hey look at me" demeanor that's her normal bag of tricks. And it had a lot of facets she could play (sexy, bitchy, backstabber, puritan, mother, business woman, etc.), in addition to her usual sweetness. She's just such a unique talent that it's difficult to find a role that truly demonstrates her range. Even when she played Maleficent, she was all sweetness - one didn't think she was evil in the slightest. I'd hoped as she matured beyond Wicked, she would find roles with more depth, but she just seems to be typecast. Someone please write a vehicle for her that displays her depth!!!

You inspired me to look up some clips of her in American Gods and you're right, she was really good there. It played to her strengths but actually called for her to play a real character i.e. not herself.