Title: Kristin Chenoweth, Lea Michele, & Nichelle Lewis Just Want to Make Art | Three Generations | ELLE
Desc: Kristin Chenoweth, Lea Michele, and Nichelle Lewis are three of Broadway’s brightest lights. In this episode of ELLE’s ‘Three Generations,’ the Tony-winning icon, the powerhouse performer, and the rising star come together for a heartfelt conversation about the highs, heartbreaks, and humor of life on stage. Watch as Kristin reflects on creating ‘Wicked’s’ most beloved duet, Lea shares how she landed her first Broadway role at just eight years old, and Nichelle opens up about the viral moment that changed her life forever. From stage fright to standing ovations, they reveal what it really takes to chase--and keep--the spotlight on Broadway.
#KristinChenoweth #LeaMichele #NichelleLewis #ThreeGenerations #ELLE
Desc: Kristin Chenoweth, Lea Michele, and Nichelle Lewis are three of Broadway’s brightest lights. In this episode of ELLE’s ‘Three Generations,’ the Tony-winning icon, the powerhouse performer, and the rising star come together for a heartfelt conversation about the highs, heartbreaks, and humor of life on stage. Watch as Kristin reflects on creating ‘Wicked’s’ most beloved duet, Lea shares how she landed her first Broadway role at just eight years old, and Nichelle opens up about the viral moment that changed her life forever. From stage fright to standing ovations, they reveal what it really takes to chase--and keep--the spotlight on Broadway.
#KristinChenoweth #LeaMichele #NichelleLewis #ThreeGenerations #ELLE
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PeopleTranscript
00:00You want to know what Audra said to me?
00:01You've never lived until you've died on Broadway.
00:04I will die eight shows a week.
00:06When we do music theater poorly, you know,
00:09then we should get made fun of.
00:10This is a little rated R or L.
00:13I was about to give up.
00:14I called my mom.
00:14I said, I'm coming home.
00:15Don't put the two of us together.
00:17Can't read, can't drive.
00:18Can't do math.
00:19Listen, I'm right there with you.
00:20I gotta get your phone number today.
00:22We're gonna be on a group text now.
00:23I love that.
00:24The ladies who lunch at Lincoln Center.
00:26LPL.
00:26Lincoln Center, the city's new cultural hub.
00:32Something to sing about.
00:54Hi, everybody.
00:55Good morning.
00:56When I was in Spring Awakening, it's so funny.
00:59I should talk about it today, but.
01:00You should.
01:02Hi, gorgeous.
01:03You guys are matching.
01:05We didn't even know it.
01:07Turned to Jonathan Groff and I was like, my next show,
01:09I want it to be the happiest show I've ever done.
01:12Four months later, we were doing Glee together.
01:14I did.
01:14That's so cool, though.
01:15That's so sweet.
01:17Oh, my gosh.
01:17Can it be quiet?
01:20Can it be quiet?
01:21I'm so excited to be here today with y'all.
01:23Me, too.
01:24Okay.
01:25Ooh, me and Michelle.
01:26I can't wait and Michelle.
01:28It's so good to be here with you guys.
01:30I'm honored.
01:30And thank you for welcoming us into your soon-to-be home.
01:33Oh, my gosh.
01:34Like, I can't even believe it.
01:35Are you excited?
01:36This is such a blessed space.
01:38Like, this is so, right, Kristen?
01:40I mean, I can't even count the times I've played here.
01:43Wow.
01:44You're going to have the best time.
01:45This is hallowed ground, right?
01:47It's so sacred.
01:49It really is.
01:49I'm looking at this baby right here.
01:51And I'm thinking about when I met you.
01:53Yeah.
01:54Well, I was aware of you for so long because you've been in the business a second.
01:58And, but you were this big.
02:01Yep.
02:02I met you the very first time.
02:04I remember we were backstage at something.
02:07I was singing, I think, with you, Jackman.
02:08You were with a then-boyfriend who shall remain nameless because it doesn't matter in the story.
02:13Yes, they all shall.
02:14But I thought, who is this cute little thing?
02:17And then they said it was you.
02:18And I met you that night.
02:20And then later we would work together in glee.
02:23My first day we were singing Maybe This Time.
02:27And they had played me your part in it.
02:29And I thought, oh no.
02:31I have to be that good.
02:33Maybe this time I'll win.
02:40You were so great.
02:42And then we just got close doing the show and through the business to say that I'm proud.
02:48And then you, okay.
02:50Hey, we met backstage briefly at a Black United event, right?
02:54Yes.
02:55But how I know your name was from the Wiz.
02:58Because the word got out in this town.
03:01I don't know if you remember, Lee.
03:01Oh, yeah, I remember.
03:02That there's this young girl and she's amazing.
03:05And so now here we sit and I'm going to be the lucky one to get to come see you in ragtime.
03:11Music from those hands could catch you like a spell.
03:16Oh, my gosh.
03:18I'm like, I can't even believe that I'm like in this seat.
03:21Like, it's actually so insane to me that I just am here with you guys.
03:24Like, even right now listening to you guys talk, I'm just like, this is crazy that I'm even here with two people that I watched so much like growing up my entire life.
03:34So it's just an honor, like seriously to be here.
03:37Yeah, thank you.
03:38We met in the most fabulous way, literally.
03:43What happened?
03:44We met at the Met Gala, Kristen.
03:46At the Met Gala.
03:46Yes, we met at the Met Gala.
03:48Of course.
03:49Walking through the exhibit.
03:50And it was only you and I, well, you had the rest of your cast was with you and I was with Jonathan Groff.
03:56Yeah.
03:57And we bumped into each other and you looked so beautiful.
03:59And now, so I said when we saw each other, we can only meet in the most fabulous.
04:05In the most glamorous way.
04:06And here we are today at this.
04:09But let me say, Kristen Chenoweth was nominated for a Tony Award for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
04:16I'll cry.
04:17And Kristen sang My New Philosophy.
04:19Oh, my God.
04:20And I recorded it on a VHS and I practiced it at home over and over and I watched her Tony performance
04:28over and over and over and over and I sang that song over and over and that's the first time I
04:34laid eyes on Kristen.
04:36Wow.
04:36And over the years, I mean, you know, I called you during Funny Girl when I needed you and when I needed advice.
04:42What a performance that was.
04:43And Kristen always answers the phone and I don't know what I would have done without you
04:49throughout the years, whether it's just someone to look up to or and then having the honor
04:55of having your phone number in my phone.
04:57I mean, that's incredible in itself.
05:00I got to get your phone number today.
05:02Yeah.
05:02You're going to make me cry.
05:03We're going to be on a group text now.
05:05Yes, we need to do a group text.
05:07Can we?
05:07Yes.
05:08That's it.
05:08We'll call it the Three Amigos.
05:09Lincoln Center ladies.
05:10Yes, the Lincoln Center ladies.
05:11We're here, bruh.
05:12The ladies who went to Lincoln Center.
05:13We're here, bruh.
05:13We're here, bruh.
05:14We're here, bruh.
05:15That's so cute.
05:16Yes.
05:17I love that.
05:18When I think of home.
05:21I remember the first time that I was getting my call to be on Broadway and just thinking
05:29back to like everything that I did that year.
05:32It was such a chaotic year for me.
05:34I'm sure.
05:35The life of being a working actor in New York City is just like so, so hard.
05:40The auditions were not doing what I needed them to do.
05:43Obviously, we all know that you hear more no's and you hear yes's.
05:46Yes.
05:47So, for me, in that moment of time, I was actually thinking about going home.
05:52I was about to give up.
05:53I called my mom.
05:54I said, I'm coming home.
05:55And she was like, no, you're not.
05:56And I was like, I am.
05:57I'm not done.
05:58And then I remember I took one last job and I said to myself, I was going to go on TikTok.
06:04And I was like, I'm going to give it one last go.
06:15I remember getting the call to audition for The Wiz.
06:18So, they saw me on TikTok and that's why they called me in.
06:21And it's just really crazy to me that I'm here in this moment because the journey was so hard.
06:26So hard.
06:27Sure.
06:28And to be here is like, just, it's beyond my wildest imagination.
06:33I hope young artists are listening to you talk about that last push and not giving up.
06:37Yeah.
06:38All of us feel that at some point in our lives.
06:40Like, we know this is what we are meant to do.
06:42Yeah.
06:43The gut tells you.
06:44Did you guys feel that way as well?
06:46Yeah.
06:47Well, you came out of the womb and they handed you a Broadway concert.
06:49Right.
06:50I had my heels on.
06:51Yeah.
06:52I don't know how to do anything else.
06:53I can't drive.
06:54I don't do math.
06:55I can do this.
06:56You don't know how to drive?
06:57I can.
06:58I'm just a speed demon and I get tickets.
07:00Oh, I see behind the wheel a little fierce.
07:03Kristen behind the wheel.
07:04You know what?
07:05You know what?
07:06I can, here's the wheel and here's my face.
07:08Move.
07:09That's so funny.
07:10Crazy.
07:11My Broadway debut was in a play.
07:12Oh.
07:13Moliere, Scopin.
07:14It's ironic that we're here because the audition, I believe, was here even though it was a play.
07:19Really?
07:20Wow.
07:21Just to kind of leapfrog off of what you said, not giving up.
07:25I was working out in the region and doing some great work there, but I told my agent, oh, I don't want to audition for a play.
07:31I want to be my Broadway debut to be in a musical.
07:34Like I was going to get it.
07:35Like I never thought that I would ever get that job.
07:38To me, doing a play for my first time on Broadway.
07:42Oh, I love that.
07:43It was really cool because it wasn't as I expected it would be.
07:47What about you, baby?
07:48Oh, my.
07:49I know this answer.
07:52I grew up in the Bronx.
07:54My mom was a nurse.
07:55My dad owned a deli.
07:56I'd never sung in my entire life.
07:59I didn't even know I could sing.
08:01And I had a best friend at the time who loved performing and loved musical theater.
08:06And she would take me to see Broadway shows occasionally.
08:09She took me to see Phantom of the Opera.
08:12Of course.
08:13And that was the first show that I remember sitting through and just being like, I can't
08:18put this into words.
08:19I can only explain this feeling that I'm feeling where it's just this cord, this pull.
08:25And a few weeks later, there was an open call for the Broadway show Les Mis.
08:29And my friend wanted to audition.
08:31And the night before, her father had a heart attack.
08:34And her mother called my mom and said, please, you have to take her on the audition.
08:38So I said, well, I'm going to try out, too.
08:41If we're taking her, I'm going to go, too.
08:43Absolutely.
08:44And then my parents said, well, you can't sing.
08:47But they didn't know.
08:48They didn't know.
08:49The truth is, I hadn't ever sung before.
08:52And I practiced in my room a song.
08:55I sang Angel of Music from The Phantom of the Opera.
08:58Oh, my God, Leah. You're kidding.
08:59And I went into that open call.
09:01And when we left, they said to my mom, they were like, who are you?
09:05Does she have an agent?
09:06I had no headshot or anything.
09:08And when we left, I said to my mom, I was like, I think I'm going to get this.
09:12And she said, things like this don't happen to people like us.
09:15And then two weeks later, I was performing on Broadway.
09:18I made my Broadway debut in 1995 in Les Mis on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre.
09:25And here we are 30 years later.
09:28And I'm about to go back into the Imperial Theatre for what will be my sixth Broadway show.
09:34Amazing.
09:35But I'm so grateful.
09:37I can't imagine being anywhere else in my life.
09:40Like, this is where I feel like I am meant to be.
09:43You know, I think about your poor friend.
09:45She's okay. She's good.
09:48Good, good, good. I hope y'all are still friends.
09:50We are.
09:51I love you very much.
09:58Seeing the industry change over all of these decades,
10:02and seeing it through all of the different lenses of being a young girl,
10:08a child into a girl becoming a woman here,
10:12and now being an adult and a mother of two children and a wife,
10:16and seeing things from a much clearer and grown-up perspective,
10:21I think that we can all sense a lot of the changes happening in our world,
10:27and especially in this industry right now,
10:29and being aware of a lot of the cuts and things that are happening.
10:33As a producer now, one of the things that makes me fearful is that we are putting so much money into our shows,
10:44and then the ticket prices are so high that when you're asking a family of four from Oklahoma or the Bronx or Virginia to come, buy dinner,
10:55go to the show, maybe spend the night.
10:59That's very, very expensive.
11:01So I vacillate between a producer and an actor going,
11:05well, we have to charge that because we have all this...
11:08We have to make our...
11:09We have to make the money back.
11:10But then is that going to hurt us in the long run as far as are we going to just do limited runs now
11:18and try to make all the money we can do?
11:20Are we going to do less expensive productions?
11:22Are we going to lower the ticket prices?
11:24Are stars going to take less in their salaries?
11:28Is it going to become much more like, excuse me, the West End?
11:31And it makes me a wee nervous just because I don't want us to shoot ourselves in the foot.
11:37Because I want us to present.
11:39I mean, I'm sure your set's incredible.
11:41Our set is amazing.
11:42I know yours is going to be because I know what they do here.
11:45Right now, I just look to the future and I pray that we do not continue the path that we're going.
11:53Now, I'm not a budget money person.
11:55Like I said, I don't do math, but I have learned a lot about it.
11:58I thought you said you couldn't drive.
12:00Well, I can't do that either.
12:01Don't put the two of us together.
12:03Can't read, can't drive, can't do math.
12:06Listen, I'm right there with you, sir.
12:09Anyway, I just...
12:10It's something that I think about a lot and, you know, we'll see.
12:14We'll see.
12:15We'll see.
12:16What do you think, Michelle?
12:17It's really hard because we do want to share our gifts.
12:20Like, that's what we do.
12:21We're creatives.
12:22And that's how we heal the world.
12:24And that's how we try to give love.
12:27And sometimes it's really hard because the families come and, you know, not as many families
12:33that need that are there in those seats.
12:35And it is important because, like you said, we have to make the money back.
12:39But it's also at what cost.
12:41But also, do you feel that we've come back from COVID fully?
12:44I'm not sure the business has.
12:46I think it's coming.
12:48And I think the business is doing pretty well.
12:50But, you know, when 85% capacity is considered a hit, it's interesting.
12:56Having been on our TV show that spoke so much about the importance of the arts has just
13:03made it for me realizing and understanding the importance of an artist that if we can't
13:08change much, what we can do is just continue to make art.
13:12That's right.
13:13This is what we're supposed to do.
13:15Yeah.
13:16You know, like some people say, do you think you'll ever retire?
13:19I don't even understand that.
13:20You don't know what that means.
13:21What?
13:22I mean, you know, I might do less, but I just can't imagine doing anything else.
13:29I have been changed for good.
13:37I'm trying to think about the stories I can tell without getting in trouble.
13:42Yeah, tell us.
13:43Tell us everything.
13:44Here we go.
13:45We haven't even talked about Wicked yet.
13:46Come on, Kristen.
13:47Tell us everything.
13:48When Dina and I heard, I knew there was a song missing for the characters.
13:53I just kept asking Stephen Schwartz, where's that song?
13:58I don't know if it's Glinda's song.
14:00I think it's the two of us song.
14:02We need that song when we come together.
14:04It wasn't there?
14:05No.
14:06It's for good, obviously.
14:07Mm-hmm.
14:08But it wasn't there?
14:09He knew it, too.
14:10Yeah.
14:11Obviously, he's Stephen Schwartz.
14:13And he came into rehearsal one day, brought Dina and I in.
14:17He played it for us a couple times, and then we sight read it.
14:20And I went, oh, no.
14:22This is the show.
14:23I told Dina, I remember, it ain't gonna matter about anything else other than this moment.
14:30Of course, it's all leading up to this moment.
14:32But if we do our jobs, this is the moment.
14:34And she, of course, knew that she said, you're 100%.
14:37Yeah.
14:38Yeah.
14:39So that's that.
14:40It became a thing all over the world.
14:41Yeah.
14:42Every high school sings it.
14:43Yeah.
14:44Every single time before they graduate.
14:45Yeah.
14:46For good is the song.
14:47Yeah.
14:48Don't you guys think that when a song propels the plot?
14:52When we do music theater poorly, you know, behind nothing and sing for no reason, then we should get made fun of because music theater can be made fun of.
15:03And, oh, look at what they're doing.
15:05They're just breaking into song.
15:06Yeah.
15:07But when it's done the best, it is the most amazing, challenging thing.
15:11Mama, who bore me?
15:14Did you see Spring Awakening?
15:15Of course.
15:16Did you see?
15:17She was like, I wasn't born yet.
15:19I was in grade school.
15:20She was like, I was too late.
15:21I was like, I was too late.
15:22Yeah.
15:23This is a little rated R per L.
15:26I think they can handle it.
15:28Okay.
15:29Yeah.
15:30They can handle it.
15:31So act one ends with my character losing her virginity with the wonderful Jonathan Groff on top of me, literally deflowering me the moment the lights go out.
15:49The end of act one.
15:50Oh, God.
15:51And then we go backstage in this intermission and Jonathan goes, I don't feel good.
15:56And he says, I had some chicken salad.
15:59And I'll tell you both where he had it from because it's actually near your theater.
16:03I'm not going anywhere.
16:04And he's like, I had this chicken salad and I really don't feel good.
16:07And next thing you know, he's in the bathroom and he's so, so ill.
16:11And they're knocking on the door and he's like, I have to go home.
16:14And luckily he had an amazing cover, quickly got into costume.
16:20They made the announcement at intermission, your new Melchior will be played by Jesse Swenson.
16:24And we started act two in the same position, you know, mid lovemaking, just a different man on top of me.
16:32And continued the act into the start of act two.
16:36And Vendla just was a busy gal that night.
16:40And when she got pregnant, we just will never know who the father was.
16:44The audience is probably like, hmm.
16:46She died and we'll never know.
16:48But that is, to this day, one of my favorite stories.
16:51I remember that scene, but I didn't know that happened.
16:53Oh, yeah.
16:54No more chicken salad.
16:56I was an understudy in hairspray and I was understudying little Inez.
17:01Oh, man.
17:02And I didn't, I hadn't gone over really anything because it was just like, you know, they didn't really give you a rehearsal for those things.
17:10Literally, I was on the bus and we were headed to like the state or whatever that we were going to.
17:16And the person that was playing little Inez, she turns around and she's like, I'm going to a dentist appointment.
17:21So you got to get ready.
17:22And I was like, thanks for the heads up.
17:23Right.
17:24I was like, got it, got it.
17:26So I start pulling out all my stuff and I'm like on the bus, like going over everything like a thousand times as much as possible.
17:33And I'm like, breathe, breathe.
17:35It's going to be fine.
17:36Like we get to the state and I'm still going over everything, like going to my room.
17:39Like I can't look crazy on stage.
17:41I can't look crazy on stage.
17:42It's going to be a mess.
17:43And so like I had all my notes.
17:45I took notes down.
17:46I was like, you know what we're going to do?
17:47We're going to have every single freaking number on the stage in order on this book.
17:53And I just like would go backstage and I'd look at the number and I'd be like, four.
17:57That's where I have to go.
17:58Four.
17:59Okay.
18:00Got it.
18:01I would run out stage and I would just go to my spot.
18:03I had never understudied in my life.
18:05It was my first time.
18:06And I was just like.
18:08With a tiny life and great big dreams, she has no clue how to achieve.
18:16Queen of Versailles, I'm going to be belting a ton, but I do have an aria too.
18:21It's a long story, but it's all over the map.
18:23Obviously, I warm up my voice.
18:24I warm up my voice.
18:25I warm up my voice in the shower because I like the reverb.
18:28And I do a lot of soprano warming up.
18:31Backstage before I go on, I do have a dresser that's been with me for a long time and we
18:36know how important our dressers are.
18:37Mo or Momo.
18:39We pray because we both have aligning things.
18:42We pray.
18:43So I have to do all of the things, but whatever I do, I have to pop everything in my body.
18:49I pop my ankles, knees, hips, elbows, neck, wrists.
18:53What do you mean you pop?
18:54Oh, wow.
18:55You're cracking the...
18:56Ugh!
18:57Kristen!
18:58I know.
18:59I can't help it.
19:00What do you mean?
19:01How do you pop everything?
19:02I just pop everything and then I'm ready to go.
19:03It's weird.
19:04I know, I know.
19:05My mother hates it.
19:06She said, please, you're going to get arthritis.
19:08Popping everything?
19:09That is the last thing I thought you were going to say.
19:12I know.
19:13I'm a popper.
19:14What can I say?
19:15Listen, release where you got to release.
19:16Hello, everyone.
19:17That's the show.
19:18Up the ticket prices.
19:19Is that weird?
19:20That's like a special time.
19:21Yeah, I know.
19:22Oh, my God.
19:23I can't stop myself.
19:24Please.
19:25Help us.
19:26Oh, my gosh.
19:27I don't even, like, I don't even know where to start.
19:29I used to do jumping jacks.
19:30Oh, I love it.
19:31It's just really stupid.
19:32But I felt like it would help me.
19:34Look at you going.
19:35Yeah, like, I feel like I just need to warm up my body.
19:38I drink hot water.
19:40What else do I do?
19:41I do my little warm-ups.
19:42I pray.
19:43I always pray.
19:44I listen to gospel music very loudly.
19:46Yeah.
19:47Probably so annoying.
19:48But I have to listen to Lucretia Campbell before I go on stage.
19:51I love her.
19:52I listen to this.
19:53Like, well, I mean, another amazing gospel singer.
19:56My friend, who would be across the way.
19:58He was one of the crew.
19:59We would do jumping jacks together before I went on stage,
20:02because I have the worst stage fright.
20:04You do?
20:05The worst stage fright in the world.
20:06Call me every day.
20:07I'll talk to you before the show.
20:08You do, too?
20:09I didn't know this about you.
20:10Oh, yeah.
20:11So bad.
20:12When does it subside for y'all?
20:14In the car ride on the way home.
20:16Yeah.
20:17And then it comes back the minute I wake up the next morning.
20:19The next day.
20:20Mm-hmm.
20:21Eight shows a week.
20:22It doesn't relax once you get on stage.
20:23No.
20:24Mm-mm.
20:25Not really.
20:26I just have to work through it.
20:27Yeah.
20:28Yes, of course.
20:29I feel you.
20:30It's hard.
20:31Yeah.
20:32It's really hard.
20:33Your body's like, what are we doing?
20:34But you're, you know, you do it.
20:36What I'm learning is to try to turn my anxiety into excitement.
20:40There you go.
20:41And remind myself that if I'm nervous, it means that this is high stakes.
20:48It means this is a gift.
20:49That's right.
20:50And it means this is a challenge.
20:52The minute I'm not nervous is when I should go home.
20:55Oh, that's the way I feel.
20:56You know?
20:57Yeah.
20:58I'm just, I'm looking back in time at both of y'all.
21:02And this is what happens when you go through menopause.
21:05Everything makes you emotional.
21:07But it wasn't so long ago, here I go, that I was you.
21:14And it wasn't that long ago that I was you.
21:17And to say that I'm proud, I can't say it enough.
21:20And you, we haven't been together, but we will be.
21:23Oh, yeah.
21:24Now you're going to make me cry.
21:25Well, because this is what happens when you go through it.
21:27Just too late.
21:28No, we look too good.
21:29We look too good.
21:30We can't.
21:31I'm going to die trying.
21:32You want to know what Audra said to me?
21:34You've never lived until you've died on Broadway.
21:37Oh, that's true.
21:38And now that you...
21:39That's a good one.
21:40I will die eight shows a week.
21:42So that's it.
21:43I believe.
21:44What a good job.
21:46This is so fun.
21:57This is so fun.
21:58This is so fun.
21:59This is so fun.
22:00This is so fun.
22:01This is so fun.
22:02This is so fun.
22:03This is so fun.
22:04This is so fun.
22:05This is so fun.
22:06This is so fun.
22:07This is so fun.
22:08This is so fun.
22:09This is so fun.
22:10This is so fun.
22:11This is so fun.
22:12This is so fun.
22:13This is so fun.
22:14This is so fun.
22:15This is so fun.
22:16This is so fun.
22:17This is so fun.
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