A year after earning her master’s degree in opera performance — her signature soprano flourish affectionately called the “Cheno Note” comes with training! — Chenoweth was cast as socialite Arabella Rittenhouse in a 1993 production of Animal Crackers, a musical comedy originally written for the Marx Brothers.

The production at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse helped launch her career and lead to Off-Broadway roles in the boy-meets-girl classic The Fantasticks, the cheeky musical revue Box Office of the Damned in 1994, and a revival of Moliere’s Scapin in 1997.

Kander and Ebb’s 1997 musical is set during a Depression-era dance marathon. Chenoweth made her Broadway debut as Precious McGuire, a contestant in the grueling competition, and waltzed away with a Theatre World Award. Steel Pier marked the first time director Scott Ellis cast her, but not the last.

In the 1998 Off-Broadway production with Lincoln Center Theater, Chenoweth served up her signature mix of humor and heart as waitress Nancy D. The musical by William Finn (music/lyrics) and James Lapine (book) follows a composer who reevaluates life and art after being diagnosed with a brain condition.

Based on Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comics, Clark Gesner and John Gordon’s musical follows the everyday adventures of the cartoon kids. Chenoweth’s comedic performance as Sally Brown — including the standout song “My New Philosophy” — in the 1999 revival earned her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

Set in the 1930s on a massive film set in the desert, Larry Coen and David Crane’s comedy spins around a biblical motion picture plagued by chaos. In her first Broadway play, Chenoweth let loose with her comic chops as Louise, the film’s assistant director and love interest in this fall 1999 run.

Chenoweth starred as Daisy, a quirky woman with ESP and a dual identity, in a February 2000 concert staging of this Burton Lane (music) and Alan Jay Lerner (book/lyrics) musical that dives into psychiatry and past lives. Chenoweth's role was originally played by Barbara Harris on Broadway and Barbra Streisand in the film.

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever was part of New York City Center's annual Encores! musical series, and Chenoweth has appeared in four other Encores! productions: Strike Up the Band, The Apple Tree, Music in the Air, and Stairway to Paradise.

Bubbly Glinda and green-skinned Elphaba go from rivalry to friendship in Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's musical prequel to The Wizard of Oz, based on Gregory Maguire’s novel about the future good and wicked witches. Chenoweth earned a Best Actress Tony nomination as Glinda, while co-star Idina Menzel won as Elphaba. Both actresses pop up in a cameo in Part 1 of Jon M. Chu's movie musical adaptation.

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Chenoweth has appeared in two TV musicals, starting with ABC’s 2003 adaptation of Meredith Willson’s beloved musical set in small-town Iowa circa 1912. Chenoweth played Marian Paroo, the librarian, opposite Matthew Broderick as con man Harold Hill.

Yes, they “got trouble” in River City, but there was no issue with Chenoweth’s lilting, lovely “Till There Was You.” She showed a whole different side of herself as scheming TV producer Velma Von Tussle in NBC’s 2016 live broadcast of the '60s-set musical Hairspray.

Created by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, The Apple Tree explores human desire and choice in three witty, warm-hearted chapters drawn from stories. Four decades after Barbara Harris’s Tony-winning star turn in the musical, Chenoweth played Eve, Princess Barbara, and Ella, letting it rip in the roles in this 2006 Broadway revival that grew out of an Encores! presentation. Her take on the song “Gorgeous,” about transformation, is a knockout.

Playing April Rhodes, a former high school chorus star returning to help the title glee club, Chenoweth earned two Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy nominations in in 2010 and 2011. (09 (The year before, she won an Emmy for Pushing Daisies.) In an unforgettable scene in the Fox series, she showed how Burt Bacharach and Hal David songs are perfectly suited to her. Look, and listen:

In this 2010 revival of Burt Bacharach, Hal David, and Neil Simon's 1968 musical based on the film The Apartment, Chenoweth got bittersweet. That goes with the territory as Fran Kubelik, a mistreated mistress. The songs "I Say a Little Prayer" and “A House Is Not a Home" were added for Chenoweth, and Sean Hayes also starred.

Chenoweth lit up the stage as film star Lily Garland in this screwball musical by Cy Coleman, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green, set aboard a luxury train. The farcical plot follows bankrupt producer Oscar Jaffe (Peter Gallagher) as he schemes to lure Lily to a role. Directed by Scott Ellis, the 2015 revival earned Chenoweth her third Tony nomination.

Chenoweth plays Jacqueline “Jackie” Siegel, a former beauty queen‑turned‑socialite whose ambition to build America’s largest private home during the 2008 recession collapses in dramatic fashion. The musical reunites her with composer Stephen Schwartz and is based on Lauren Greenfield's award‑winning documentary of the same name. The St. James Theatre is Chenoweth's castle, and we're all just living in it.

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