Scott Ellis On Kristin Chenoweth In ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: 'So Unique'

Kristin Chenoweth's frequent collaborator discusses ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY!

The new Broadway revival of ON THE 20TH CENTURY starring Kristin Chenoweth and Peter Gallagher is currently in previews and the director of the production, Scott Ellis, discusses his ongoing artistic relationship with Chenoweth as part of a new interview now available to view.

Ellis shares of his first meeting with Chenoweth, "I didn't discover her, but I did cast her in her first Broadway show, "Steel Pier." I saw this little petite girl come in and I literally said, "Who the hell was that?" She was so tiny, and this voice-most people with those voices don't have that kind of comedy. They're not asked to do it because most of those roles that you sing in are ingenues, and ingenues are not written funny. They're written virgins. That's why she was so unique."

Furthermore, Ellis adds of a bit of stage business involving Chenoweth being lifted like a barbel by Andy Karl, "Andy's big and she's small and he came in one time carrying her and I said, 'Do this' [curling her like a dumbbell] and then I said 'Smoke to the same rhythm,' and it was funny."

Plus, Ellis opines of how to make a revival unique, "You have to try really hard to push that out of your head and say, 'What is this role and who do I think can bring some special quality to it?' That's all you can do you."

The official description of ON THE 20TH CENTURY is as follows: "It's nonstop laughs aboard the Twentieth Century, a luxury train travelling from Chicago to New York City. Luck, love and mischief collide when the bankrupt theater producer Oscar Jaffee (Golden Globe® winner Peter Gallagher) embarks on a madcap mission to cajole glamorous Hollywood starlet Lily Garland (Emmy® and Tony Award® winner Kristin Chenoweth) into playing the lead in his new, non-existent epic drama. But is the train ride long enough to reignite the spark between these former lovers, create a play from scratch, and find the money to get it all the way to Broadway? On the Twentieth Century is the hilarious Tony-winning musical comedy from the creators of Sweet Charity (composer Cy Coleman), Singin' in the Rain (lyricist-librettists Betty Comden and Adolph Green), After Midnight (Tony-winning choreographer Warren Carlyle) and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Tony-nominated director Scott Ellis), back in the spotlight nearly 40 years after making its Broadway debut. Grab your ticket and hop onboard this fun-filled musical journey to The Great White Way!"

More information on ON THE 20TH CENTURY is available at the official site here.

Check out the original article on the matter here.

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