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American Morning
Kristin Chenowith Invades Airwaves and Radio Waves
Aired May 30, 2001 - 10:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. I'm Michael Okwu in New York. Music filled the Air last night in Modeno, Italy as Luciano Pavarotti and some of his celebrity friends gathered to raise money for Afghan refugees. Hollywood's glamour couple, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, joined the tenor in his hometown for the concert.
Singers Tom Jones, George Benson and Barry White joined Pavarotti on stage for some unusual duets. The deep-voiced White sang his hit, "You're My First, My Last, My Everything." Douglas and Zeta-Jones said it was more than just a night of glitz and glamour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL DOUGLAS, ACTOR: We're going to build, I think, it's about 20 schools because illiteracy is a big issue, big problem and a couple of medical centers. So, we're here to help.
CATHERINE ZETA-JONES, ACTRESS: The amount of talent that gets together for one night, I mean, Luciano is an inspiration, people do forget. We go on with our lives, and we forget that this is one of the ongoing -- one biggest crisis right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OWKU: With a new TV show debuting next week on NBC and a new album out in stores, Kristin Chenowith will soon need no introduction. In her show, appropriately entitled "Kristin," she plays a small-town girl with hopes of becoming a Broadway star, which, as it turns out, mimics the Tony-winning actress' real life.
CNN's Lori Blackman caught up with this "SHOWBIZ TODAY REPORTS" star of tomorrow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LORI BLACKMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What you are looking at right now is a caricature of Kristin Chenowith, and sitting beside me is the real woman, so we can compare the likeness here -- the woman, the character.
KRISTIN CHENOWITH, ACTRESS: I tried to get the flip, but it wasn't really working, and I am very tan in that shot. I was thinking about it the other day, because I was walking down Hollywood boulevard in L.A., where they have the stars, and I thought, well, I sort of have the equivalent to that in theater. I have a caricature at Sardis. It's like a dream come true for any actor.
BLACKMAN: The next two weeks for you are quite tremendous. You have -- and this is almost unheard of -- you have an NBC show called "Kristin" debuting next week, and this week, you have your album, called "Let Yourself Go."
CHENOWITH: Actually out in stores today. It's, you know -- it's something I never planned on. People are always asking me, "So you wanted to do TV and then you wanted to do a record"? No, I just wanted to work and be a working actor. Believe me, if it were that easy, I'd call up Steven Spielberg right now and say, "Now, I'd like to do film."
(MUSIC)
BLACKMAN: You have a duet on this album with Jason Alexander.
CHENOWITH: Yes, it's funny. He had seen me in the play "Epic Proportions," the comedy, and he found me on opening night and said, "What are we going to do together? You're, like, from another time. I want to work with you." And I said the same thing to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "KRISTIN")
CHENOWITH: I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank you for giving me this job. I promise, you will not be disappointed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKMAN: New TV show on NBC called, oddly enough, "Kristin," and oddly enough, about an aspiring Broadway actress from Oklahoma.
CHENOWITH: It's a real stretch for me.
BLACKMAN: Is this you? Is the character you?
CHENOWITH: You know what, obviously, there's a lot of personality traits that are me in the character, but I'm definitely playing a character. I mean, she goes to New York, she doesn't have that good of luck, so she has to get a real job. Meanwhile, she is not going to forget about her Broadway aspirations. There is going to be plenty of opportunities for me to sing and dance on the show, too.
Hopefully the television work will bring a larger audience to the theater. That's one of the reasons to continue doing it. I remember one person said to me, "You won a Tony and you're leaving?" I didn't think of it that way. I thought that's the goal.
BLACKMAN: Lori Blackman, CNN Entertainment News, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OKWU: Is it me or are they sisters? Anyway, I've got to get some more rest. In just one hour, we'll talk with another Broadway star, Nathan Lane, nominated for a Tony for his role in "The Producers," He'll also co-host this weekend's award show. We'll hear from him at 11:35. In New York, I'm Michael Okwu.
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