71. An Elphaba Like No Other (with Myra Ruiz)

Summary

Sentimental Men: Episode 71 - An Elphaba Like No Other (with Myra Ruiz) Summary

Released on May 16, 2025 by the Broadway Podcast Network

Hosts:

• Quincy Brown
• Kevin Bianchi

---

Introduction

In Episode 71 of Sentimental Men, Quincy Brown and Kevin Bianchi delve deep into the world of musical theatre by spotlighting Myra Ruiz, the renowned Brazilian actress celebrated for her versatile portrayals of Elphaba in Wicked. This episode offers listeners an intimate look into Myra's journey, the nuances of performing Wicked in Brazil, and the broader landscape of Brazilian musical theatre.

---

Myra Ruiz's Journey with Wicked

Discovering Wicked
Myra shares her early connection with Wicked, reflecting on how pivotal moments like listening to Defying Gravity during her school years in São Paulo inspired her passion for musical theatre.

"[25:16] Myra: I always listened to the cast recordings and Defying Gravity made me feel powerful during awkward teenage moments."

Auditioning and Securing the Role
The path to becoming Elphaba wasn't straightforward for Myra. She recounts the emotional rollercoaster of multiple auditions, initial setbacks, and the eventual triumph that led her to secure the coveted role.

"[36:12] Myra: The first audition was heartbreaking, walking the streets crying, but the subsequent callbacks paved the way for me to land the role."

---

The Brazilian Theatre Scene vs. Broadway

Growth of Musical Theatre in Brazil
Myra provides a comparative analysis of the theatre landscapes, highlighting Brazil's burgeoning musical scene since the 2000s and its unique cultural inflections that differentiate it from Broadway.

"[27:49] Myra: Brazil has become the third or fourth biggest musical theatre producer globally, thanks to our deep love for music."

Challenges and Opportunities
She discusses the logistical differences, such as the spread-out network of theaters in Brazil versus Broadway's concentrated district, and how this impacts productions and performers.

"[17:12] Myra: Unlike Broadway, Brazilian 'Broadway' is scattered across various cities, making rehearsals and performances more challenging."

---

Different Productions of Wicked in Brazil

Replica vs. Non-Replica Productions
Myra has portrayed Elphaba in three distinct productions of Wicked in Brazil: the original replica, the first non-replica in 2023, and the latest non-replica in 2025. She elaborates on the creative freedoms and constraints associated with each format.

"[48:15] Myra: Each production had unique directions, sets, and costumes, allowing me to explore different facets of Elphaba."

Technical Aspects: The Flying Mechanism
A significant highlight is the discussion on the technical evolution of the flying scenes. Myra details the transition from a traditional cherry picker to a sophisticated harness system that enhances both safety and performance quality.

"[57:12] Myra: The harness allows for more dynamic movements during 'Defying Gravity,' making the experience more immersive for the audience."

Emotional and Physical Demands
Performing while suspended adds layers of complexity, both physically and emotionally. Myra shares her strategies to maintain vocal strength and emotional authenticity despite the technical challenges.

"[59:07] Myra: Singing while flying requires finding new muscle support, like squeezing my butt cheeks, to maintain vocal control."

---

Dubbing the Wicked Movie

Process and Challenges
Myra discusses her role in dubbing the Brazilian version of the Wicked movie, emphasizing the need to stay true to the original performances while adapting them to Portuguese.

"[50:19] Myra: We had to maintain the inflections of Cynthia and Ariana while ensuring the lyrics worked seamlessly in Portuguese."

Connecting with Original Performances
She expresses a deep connection with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande's portrayals, finding inspiration in their performances to enhance her own.

"[51:14] Myra: Dubbing was a special experience; it felt like I was connected to Cynthia and Ariana, almost like friends despite the distance."

---

Audience Reception in Brazil

Growing Fanbase and Cultural Impact
The Wicked productions in Brazil have transcended traditional theatre audiences, attracting new fans inspired by the movie adaptation and the dynamic performances of actresses like Myra.

"[53:07] Myra: The movie brought in new audiences who previously hadn't engaged with theatre, making Wicked a cultural phenomenon here."

Interactive Performances
Brazilian audiences are notably interactive, often singing along and engaging spontaneously during performances, which contrasts with the more reserved Broadway etiquette.

"[52:17] Myra: Unlike Broadway, Brazilian audiences actively participate, singing along and making every performance feel like a communal celebration."

---

Building a Theatre Career in Brazil

Financial and Structural Challenges
Myra candidly discusses the financial instability of pursuing a theatre career in Brazil, where actors often juggle multiple roles and side projects to sustain themselves.

"[72:34] Myra: It's impossible to live off theatre alone here; actors need to diversify their work, like dubbing and side projects, to make ends meet."

Lack of Established Support Systems
She highlights the nascent state of unions and support structures in Brazilian theatre, making it a challenging environment for up-and-coming performers.

"[72:09] Myra: Unlike Broadway, Brazil lacks strong unions, making it harder for actors to find support and stable opportunities."

---

Future Aspirations and Reflections

Broadway Dreams
While Myra has achieved tremendous success in Brazil, she harbors aspirations to perform Wicked on Broadway, envisioning a Latina Elphaba bringing her unique flair to the iconic role.

"[74:35] Myra: I've dreamed of performing on Broadway and winning a Tony every night before bed. It would be incredible to bring a Brazilian perspective to Elphaba there."

Personal Growth and Artistic Evolution
Throughout her multiple portrayals of Elphaba, Myra reflects on her personal and artistic growth, finding her unique voice and adapting the character to better fit her cultural context.

"[44:59] Myra: Each production allowed me to find my own voice as Elphaba, blending original directions with Brazilian cultural elements to create a more authentic performance."

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• On Discovering Wicked:

  "[25:16] 'I always listened to the cast recordings and Defying Gravity made me feel powerful during awkward teenage moments.'"

• On Auditioning:

  "[36:12] 'The first audition was heartbreaking, walking the streets crying, but the subsequent callbacks paved the way for me to land the role.'"

• On Technical Challenges:

  "[57:12] 'The harness allows for more dynamic movements during Defying Gravity, making the experience more immersive for the audience.'"

• On Dubbing the Movie:

  "[50:19] 'We had to maintain the inflections of Cynthia and Ariana while ensuring the lyrics worked seamlessly in Portuguese.'"

• On Building a Career:

  "[72:34] 'It's impossible to live off theatre alone here; actors need to diversify their work, like dubbing and side projects, to make ends meet.'"

• On Future Aspirations:

  "[74:35] 'I've dreamed of performing on Broadway and winning a Tony every night before bed. It would be incredible to bring a Brazilian perspective to Elphaba there.'"

---

Conclusion

This episode of Sentimental Men provides a comprehensive and heartfelt exploration of Myra Ruiz's illustrious career as Elphaba in Brazil. Through her experiences, listeners gain valuable insights into the challenges and triumphs of performing in a vibrant but challenging theatre landscape, the intricacies of cross-cultural adaptations, and the relentless pursuit of artistic excellence. Myra's story is not just about a role in a musical but about passion, resilience, and the universal power of storytelling through theatre.

---

For more engaging discussions about musical theatre and beloved performers, tune into future episodes of Sentimental Men on the Broadway Podcast Network.

Transcript

[Quincy]

Hi, y' all.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

This is Kristin Chenoweth. Hi, I'm Gloria Stefan. This is Sara Bareilles. Hi, I'm Patti LuPone. This is Lin Manuel Miranda.

[Quincy]

You're listening to the Broadway Podcast Network.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I keep trying to be Audra and.

[Kevin]

Patty, like the angel and devil on your shoulder, literally.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald all day, every day in my life.

[Quincy]

I'm Quincy.

[Kevin]

And I'm Kevin.

[Quincy]

And this is Sentimental Men.

[Kevin]

We're here to talk and maybe scream about our favorite women in musical theater.

[Quincy]

So tell me, Ernest, how much have.

[Kevin]

You seen of me cinematically? The roms, the comms, the rom coms.

[Quincy]

The dramas, the trauma Ds, the straight DVDs. No, really, Ernest.

[Kevin]

No. You know what I'm obsessed with is that was rude. That was really rude.

[Quincy]

What's the. I've been listening to the cast recording, which is good. I. I will say, I'll go on record and say in seeing Death Becomes her live.

[Kevin]

Huh?

[Quincy]

I had a hard time appreciating the score, okay. But in listening to it on cast recording, I am finding it very, very enjoyable. Clever and well done. And I'm wondering if I'm having a hard time understanding people when I see shows now because scores like you think your hearing's going that or the sound on Broadway is bad. AM I Patti LuPone now?

[Kevin]

Maybe it could be a little beach. It could be.

[Quincy]

I feel like in the, like the shows, kind of every musical I've seen this season, I haven't really appreciated the score in real time. Maybe happy ending I saw and I loved, but the score didn't sit with me. And then I became obsessed with the cast recording. I was listening to it in Korean before the Broadway one came out. Anyway, all to say, I've been obsessed with the Death Becomes her cast recording in the last week.

[Kevin]

Do you feel like it also maybe has to do with, like, in the theater, you're taking in so many other things, like you're taking in the visual of the production you're taking in, etc. Etc. So then being able to just like focus on.

[Quincy]

I also think in like, Death Becomes Her's case. It's a very wordy, fast score, which is just tough in real life. But then when you're listening to it with pristine mixing and everything, you can catch a lot of the wordplay and comedy for sure.

[Kevin]

I agree with you there. It's a very witty set of lyrics.

[Quincy]

Yeah. Speaking of Death Becomes her, should we talk about the Tony Award nominations for which Death Becomes her is nominated yes.

[Kevin]

My takeaways about the Tony nominations. I'm not necessarily surprised by any of the shows that were, like, the most nominated shows. Mm. My main thing that I was ruminating on when the nominations came out was like, wow, this season was so busy that, like, days had gone by and I would be like, oh, this show that didn't get any nominations that I completely just, like, forgot about because it was. This season has felt so long and so packed full of stuff that it's like. I wish in some cases that the Tonys were more like the Oscars, where the categories can get bigger than the fixed amount of nominees, because I do feel like this was a season where, like, we really could have afforded some additional best musical nominees, best actress nominees.

[Quincy]

What's interesting is, like, everyone's been saying that, but then I'm like, last season, everyone was saying we had a million musicals open, and it was the most.

[Kevin]

Packed season ever, which maybe is just the new normal, because things don't run.

[Quincy]

As long these days, so everything can just flood in because the business of Broadway sucks, and you need to make a million dollars a week to run, and no one can do that, and no one can afford tickets, but the tickets have to go up because the running costs go up, and this business model is failing.

[Kevin]

Yeah.

[Quincy]

Smash should be nominated for Best Musical.

[Kevin]

Okay.

[Quincy]

Robin Herder should be nominated in the leading category.

[Kevin]

Say it louder.

[Quincy]

That was my take. Everything else, like, yeah, everything kind of played out the way that, you know, you would expect it to play out. What category would you say are you the most excited about?

[Kevin]

Ooh, what category? I mean, I have been on the tip of my seat. Not the tip, the edge of my seat. About the Best Actress race, like, since last summer, did it turn out the.

[Quincy]

Way you thought it would?

[Kevin]

Yeah, more or less.

[Quincy]

I was nervous about Hilti getting in because I felt like the smaller awards were not recognizing her.

[Kevin]

I was very curious going into, like, awards overall, how death becomes her, how the two ladies were gonna. Were they gonna cancel each other out? Were they both gonna break into categories? Was one over the other? Because that really is like, an Elphaba Glinda situation where it's like, these are two equally sized roles that, like, maybe one over the other. The. Like, maybe the plot would consider one of them a main character over the other, but size wise, they really. It really is a two header. So bummed that Idina wasn't nominated. That's what I'm talking about. Like, we could have used some extra nominees this year when Idina gets Shut out.

[Quincy]

When Sutton Foster gets shut out.

[Kevin]

No, Sutton Foster. It's tight. These are the girlies who get Tony nominations for thinking about being on Broadway. Like, yeah. No Adina. No. Sutton also is another one. It was like two days later where I was like, wait a second.

[Quincy]

Then I wonder if Mattress was running now, if there would be.

[Kevin]

Yeah.

[Quincy]

Differences in these nominations. Are you team Audra or team Nicole or team Jennifer or team Jasmine or team Megan?

[Kevin]

Ask me in a week when we've seen. After we've gone and seen.

[Quincy]

Oh, yeah, we're seeing Gypsy.

[Kevin]

We're seeing Gypsy today and I'll see Sunset soon after.

[Quincy]

Oh, my God. You haven't seen Sunset either.

[Kevin]

No, I know. Quincy, don't. Don't make me feel bad about it.

[Quincy]

I have a hot take.

[Kevin]

Yeah, tell me your take.

[Quincy]

I think the best actor category I'm. I might be most excited about because it's such a crapshoot in my mind. I think Jeremy Jordan should win. I kind of feel like Jonathan Groff is going to win twice in a row.

[Kevin]

That would be a slay.

[Quincy]

I just feel like he's getting such stellar notices and the momentum is there, even though Floyd Collins, I thought, was really beautiful and Jeremy's giving a really fantastic performance and deserves a Tony Award at this point. But yeah, I kind of think Jonathan Groff might pull off a two years in a row. Has that ever happened before?

[Kevin]

It would not be in the same category. Right. Was he supporting for Merrily?

[Quincy]

No, he was lead.

[Kevin]

He was lead. I couldn't remember. That would be a big slay. I do think Nicole, if I'm going off the zeitgeist, if I'm just going off of, like, my vision, almost like a prophecy. It does feel like this is Nicole's year. The buzz around it, like, this is her debut. This is like she waited her whole life. She trained for, however many years old she is to get to this moment is an interesting story in the way that Audra is more like, this is a victory lap for her. Like, this is like another step in her, like, incomparable career. So they really are coming at the award from two different.

[Quincy]

I think. I think Audrey gets actress and Sunset gets revival. I think Alt is campaigning. Nicole is campaigning harder, for sure. But it ultimately, I think is campaigning for the show.

[Kevin]

And that's interesting.

[Quincy]

Yeah. I think Audra gets actress and Sunset gets revival.

[Kevin]

I think Sunset gets. Or I think Nicole gets actress, Gypsy gets revival, and I think Joy gets actress because people are going to say, I'm not voting for Audra. I'm going to vote for Joy. Overall, I'm very excited for the Tony Awards. I think that this batch of shows is gonna make for a fun night of viewing, like the performance.

[Quincy]

Cynthia Erivo's hosting.

[Kevin]

Cynthia Erivo is hosting. Maybe we'll get the Wicked trailer during the Tonys.

[Quincy]

No. Did you see this? June 4th in theaters. Theaters are running the Wicked movie again with the premiere of the For Good trailer before.

[Kevin]

No, I did not see that.

[Quincy]

Which to me, I'm just Wicked marketing has really been top tier from day. And, like, this is such a smart idea to put the first movie back in theaters. Totally play the trailer before. So people definitely have to go. Like, it's just all really Chef's Kiss, in my opinion.

[Kevin]

It's great. Can I get it on my AMC app? Because I already paid for that.

[Quincy]

Yeah. June 4th. I wonder if we're gonna get it online simultaneously or if you truly have to go watch that thing in the theater. I'm sure we'll get bootleg versions quickly.

[Kevin]

But yeah, maybe it'll be like a day later or something.

[Quincy]

Yeah, so we'll do that on June 4th.

[Kevin]

It's that time of year again. We've got our leaks out of Cinemacon.

[Quincy]

Except for you failed us this time. We haven't gotten a video leak this year. We've just gotten written descriptions.

[Kevin]

No video leak, unfortunately. But we also have the. The new poster and we have a description of the trailer. The trailer opens with cracking windows around Galinda in the Emerald City. Elphaba, I know you're here. Just come out before the monkeys spot you. Says Ariana Grande. This is between us, the wizard. And I says Sophia Erivo. I. I would scream. I would scream. That's incredible. I can hear the line. Deliveries. You know what I mean? Like, it's just. And that's going to be our new. Like, you're green. I am. Like, that's gonna be this for us this year.

[Quincy]

Okay, keep reading.

[Kevin]

Okay. Sorry, I thought we were gonna, like, talk as we went. I'm sorry.

[Quincy]

Maybe I just want to keep hearing.

[Kevin]

Prince Fiyero leads a squadron that is searching for Elphaba. Elphaba writes, our wizard lies in the sky with her broomstick. Fuck yeah, she does. That is so.

[Quincy]

That's gaggy.

[Kevin]

That's why you make a movie out of this, to add shit like that. An angry mob with pitchforks. The song for Good plays. I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason.

[Quincy]

Sing it.

[Kevin]

I've heard it said that people Come into our lives for a reason, sings Ariana Grande. Cut straight to who can say if I've been changed for the better? Says Elphaba. Then they harmonize together. We see an overhead shot of Dorothy walking the yellow brick road with Fiyero and Bach and the class pet in their Act 2 forms. Because I knew you, I have been changed for good. The pair sing together. Trailer ends with Cynthia Erivo saying, well, I'm off to see the Wizard. Another moment with which I would scream.

[Quincy]

I can't wait to hear that line reading.

[Kevin]

Yeah, I'm off to see the Wizard.

[Quincy]

I think it's going to be more indignant than that.

[Kevin]

Additional details from variety. Elphaba is seen studying the sacred text known as the Grimory. Glinda can be seen adjusting her crown as she is taken under the wing of the wizard and Madame Marable. Another line reading. I can already hear in my head. The Wicked Witch can't ignore us forever. Morrible growls. The Wicked Witch listen can't hide forever. The footage also features glimpses at Glinda and Fierro's wedding, the terrifying flying monkeys, and shot of the foursome going down the yellow brick road. You're the only friend I've ever had. Elphaba admits to Glinda. And I've had so many friends. Glinda replies, how is she gonna say that line? But you're the only one that mattered. Can I get dark for a second?

[Quincy]

Well, so also, we changed that last line. We tweaked it.

[Kevin]

Yes, it has been tweaked.

[Quincy]

Yeah. You can't get dark for a second because it seems like this movie is about to get dark for a second.

[Kevin]

Well, so I was at work the other day thinking about this and you know in the show they like sing for good. Everyone's wiping their tears and then Elphaba's like, I gotta go. She pulls the, the like thing across and then she goes and melts. Whatever that moment is in the movie. Do you think she's gonna turn back and give Ariana one of these? Oh, and then she'll do this. And then. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Crying. Yeah, I can see it already in my head.

[Quincy]

That's cute.

[Kevin]

It'll destroy me.

[Quincy]

This got me really excited.

[Kevin]

Me too.

[Quincy]

I feel. It feels like they're giving us a lot in. Didn't one of the write ups say that we also hear no good deed in the trailer?

[Kevin]

Really? I didn't see that.

[Quincy]

It feels like they're giving us a lot to work with. Which also I'm like there's a lot to expand upon in Act 2. So I imagine because they're giving us all the like textbook parts of Act 2, there's so much more that we aren't seeing that they must be sitting on.

[Kevin]

I think too based on how faithful part one was. If I were the people like deciding these things, like you would want to make sure that we felt like part two was going to be as faithful. So like I can see and like based on these descriptions, I don't think it will be. No, I know. That's what I'm saying though. It's like we're. They're like showing us all of the things that are like look like here's the stuff you recognize. Here's for good. Here's the. The I only have one friend joke, you know, to give us for good.

[Quincy]

Is kind of a wild move.

[Kevin]

I know. I mean I guess it's the title of the movie. So they're. They're gonna have to use it.

[Quincy]

And there's two new songs.

[Kevin]

I'm just like, I'm very excited for the music of part two. The new songs are gonna fit each of them obviously because they're for them. But just like having now like really absorbed their performances from part one. Cynthia is gonna destroy no good deed in the most complimentary way.

[Quincy]

Ariana's gonna fuck up. Thank goodness. Fuck up also in the most complimentary way.

[Kevin]

And then like we're gonna have the blessing of the two of them singing for good.

[Quincy]

And two new songs.

[Kevin]

And two new songs.

[Quincy]

And Wicked Witch of the east on cast recording finally on soundtrack. Finally. I hope Wicked movie. Don't leave that off the soundtrack.

[Kevin]

Do not. We've been mad about it the first time for 22 years.

[Quincy]

And maybe March of the Witch Hunters with all the former stage Elphabas in London.

[Kevin]

It's like I want, I want all of it. As long as you're mine. Let's not skip over that. That's gonna. I. I mean that's gonna be the bisexual awakening of an entire generation of little theater babies.

[Quincy]

I hope we get Jonathan Bailey chest.

[Kevin]

Well, you know it's like if they were gonna give it to us in part one, they'll surely they'll give it to us in like if they were going to add a gratuitous moment for feels like at the very least we should get. Yeah, we should get open shirt for as long as kind of sad cuz.

[Quincy]

This, this like movie era is coming to an end soon.

[Kevin]

Don't do that.

[Quincy]

Don't it's just felt so far on the horizon for so long, and now it's like, yeah, but remember last year how, like, once it started, once it kicked off, it was whirlwind and then done. There was no time to stop or think or look around. And it feels like we are about to. On June 4, we are about to enter that whirlwind again. And then it'll be over. And then they'll announce Wicked Part three, Alfie the prequel. And then the Peacock Limited series, Fanny and Shen Chen. Kevin, who are we talking to today?

[Kevin]

Ah, Quincy. Today we are talking Tamira Ruiz from Brazil.

[Quincy]

The.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

The.

[Kevin]

The Brazilian Elphaba. The Brazilian Nadina Menzel. I'm gonna go ahead and say it.

[Quincy]

Wow. It's like, really insane. A lot of you have been asking for this interview for a very, very long time. And we are very excited that it is finally coming to fruition.

[Kevin]

And what's crazy to me is like, I think we. Last episode we were talking about, like, we can't believe how long we've been doing this podcast. And this is a moment where I'm like, we've been doing this podcast long enough that this woman has done two different productions of Wicked for us to have spoken to her about.

[Quincy]

And two literally different productions.

[Kevin]

Different productions. Yeah.

[Quincy]

Because she has done a replica, the original replica production of Wicked in Brazil and then came back in 2023 to do a non replica production, which is where we all saw that. Those bootleg videos of her crazy flying scene in Defying Gravity and is now back in Brazil in 2025 doing Wicked Again in a different non replica production than the last non replica production.

[Kevin]

A non. Non replica.

[Quincy]

She has played Elphaba in three different. Different capital D, different productions of Wicked.

[Kevin]

Yeah. And on top of that, not to, like, get ahead of her resume. And on top of that, and on top of that, she has. She did the. The dub, the Portuguese dub for the Wicked movie, these. Which is just like another layer of like, she has this singular association with the role that like, not every actress.

[Quincy]

She's probably. God.

[Kevin]

Can claim. She.

[Quincy]

She's gotta be probably laid down on the street for her.

[Kevin]

Imagine the Brazilian gaze.

[Quincy]

I know.

[Kevin]

Yes. Like Lizzo's at pieces. Who cares? You know what I mean? Like to imagine. Imagine she walks into a gay bar. You're in Brazil, she walks into a gay bar. They start playing Defying Gravity. Yes. Like, she's gotta be the diva to these.

[Quincy]

She's so sweet and humble. We've already done the interview and she was so sweet.

[Kevin]

And humble and really, like, honestly, very similar vibe to when we talked about to Ariana was like, I. So many times when we spoke. When we were talking to her, I was just like, oh, you're just. You're a theater kid. Like, you're just a theater kid whose literal dreams came true.

[Quincy]

She was quoting Patti LuPone and Audrey McDonald.

[Kevin]

Yes. You, like, mentioned something at one point. She's like, oh, from the Variety interview of Patti LuPone. Yeah, she like. She's. She is us. She is a sentimental man.

[Quincy]

Okay, wait, go through her whole resume because her resume is sent men coded.

[Kevin]

It sounds like we wrote her resume as fan fiction. So, okay, her resume in 2010. This is all in Brazil. In 2010, she's in Mamma Mia. In the ensemble understudying Sophie. Already check. Mamma mia. Baby. In 2012, she was in Fame, which maybe the least sent men coded thing on her.

[Quincy]

I don't know. Fame.

[Kevin]

Yeah, I mean, I know.

[Quincy]

I know fame is a thing.

[Kevin]

I know.

[Quincy]

Fame.

[Kevin]

Yeah.

[Quincy]

I gotta go back. Back to school. Oh, yeah. Is that Fame?

[Kevin]

No, that's Grease, too. What's interesting. Okay, now I'm thinking about this because when we talked to her, she told us that she went to PPAs, which is a performing arts high school, famously, the rival performing arts high school to The Fiorello H. LaGuardia School, where fame.

[Quincy]

Takes place and where Julia Murney went. Right?

[Kevin]

Yes. Yeah, sure. Is that a fact?

[Quincy]

I think so.

[Kevin]

Oh, yeah, that's right. She did go there. Hmm. Okay, cool. Anyway, so then, literally, like a loading sign above my head, 2012 and 2013, she was in the ensemble of Shrek, understudying Fiona. In 2014, she was Nina and In the Heights in 2015. This is hysterical because she would have been like, 22 at this point. In 2015, she was Sarah Gina in Nine, the Italian baby. In 2016, she opens the Replica production of Wicked in Brazil. Principal Elphaba off the bat, Notor no standby. In 2019, she was on the TV show Des Encantros. In 2020, she was the.

[Quincy]

Come, my darling, Homeward bound I am found show yourself, Step into the bower Grow yourself into something new.

[Kevin]

In 2020, she was. She was the Portuguese dub for frozen two for the. The voice of the mom. What's her for?

[Quincy]

Evan Rachel Wood.

[Kevin]

Evan Rachel Wood, former Audrey and Little Shop. Yes. Yes. I always forget she can, like, sing. Sing.

[Quincy]

You mean her vocal. And show yourself doesn't do that for you.

[Kevin]

But I just. But it's like. Because that's Not. I don't think of that as her because I'm not like seeing her. Anyway. In 2022, she played the role of Eva Peron in Evita. In 2023, Mrs. Wormwood in Matilda. Also in 2023 in the first non replica production in Brazil, back as Elphaba. So that's like a full. How many years later? Like seven years later, she comes back to the role in a non replica production. 2024, Elle woods and Legally Blonde.

[Quincy]

I mean, is this the first Elphaba? Elle?

[Kevin]

We've talked to Lucy Jones, but other. But these are the only two I can think of.

[Quincy]

Okay.

[Kevin]

An El Faba. El Faba also in 2024, dubbing, as we just discussed dubbing the Wicked movie. And then 2025, she hung up the broom and she picked it right back up. We're back in wicked as Elphaba 12 years after her original run in a second and separate non replica production.

[Quincy]

Seems like whenever Brazil has a musical theater show to put on, they just call up Ms. Mira.

[Kevin]

It's like I said, she is the Brazilian Adina.

[Quincy]

A truly insane resume. And just crazy that she's played Elphaba in so many different variations.

[Kevin]

Yeah, yeah. It's funny because it's like, you see, like I can't think of a good example right now, but like, you know how there's certain actresses who. It's like anytime a regional theater is doing like waitress, it's like, oh, it's gonna be one of these four. Because like they just do it everywhere. It's like wild for, for like your calling card to be Elphaba, like in the professional production. Right. Like a production gets denounced and the whole country probably presumes it's going to be you. That's like astounding. That's a real level of power.

[Quincy]

It's really cool.

[Kevin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Quincy]

This was a really great conversation. I'm excited for you all to hear it.

[Kevin]

Me too. It was fun to talk to somebody in a theater community outside of our.

[Quincy]

Own and just learn how that all works.

[Kevin]

Well, not to spoil the episode, but like, she. There was one point where she's talking about being in one show and auditioning for another and having to like fly back and forth and even just realizing like, oh, it's not like Broadway, where if you're in a Show, you're within 10 blocks of all of the other shows. Like the quote unquote, Broadway in Brazil is like a spread out network of theaters, not a district in a singular city. Well, I was so excited for this conversation, and now I'm excited for y' all to hear it.

[Quincy]

Let's get into it.

[Kevin]

Let's get into it.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

All right.

[Quincy]

Mira Huiz, thank you so much for joining us on Sentimental Men.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Thank you for having me. I'm so excited.

[Quincy]

You are our first non English speaking international Elphaba on the podcast.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Wow. What an honor.

[Quincy]

So we start every interview by asking, how did Wicked the musical come into your life as a person? What is your first touch point with the show?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Okay, so. Well, I was a theater kid. Like, I had really big anxiety when I was a teenager, as, like, teenagers do. And my mom put me in this musical theater workshop that was happening. I didn't know anything about it. I was a dancer. I was a ballet dancer. Where did you grow up in Brazil? Here in Sao Paulo. I lived in for a while when I was little, I lived in Washington, D.C. because my parents are journalists, so they went to. To work there. That's how I learned to speak English. And so I was a theater kid. And then she put me in this musical theater. And I always say that I was like, I found Jesus. That's what. Because I used to dance and I used to do some acting. I didn't take any singing lessons back then. But then when I found musical theater, I mean, they did Mary Poppins, and I was like, what is this world? And I started listening to as you do, like, when. Especially in Brazil. There's no Broadway here. So I used to listen to the cast recordings and I used to listen to Define Gravity and all the Wicked songs on the way to school on the school bus. And I just remember the power that defined Gravity made me feel as I was, like, going to school. And it's such an awkward moment in life. And so Define Gravity helped me with that. And I remember listening to it, like, over and over and over again without ever thinking that I didn't even dream of playing it. I didn't even dream of doing Broadway back then.

[Kevin]

Because at that point, there was not even assurance that there that the show would come to Brazil. So it's. Did it even feel like an option for you at that point, or it was just not on your radar at all?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

No, not at, like, I was 16 years old. And then when Wicked, like, actually came to Brazil, I was 22. So that was like six years. It's not a lot, but it's still. It's still a long time. Yeah, a lot of things changed. And then. But then when I started doing musical theater and I started sort of getting in the musical theater Brazilian world. I remembered them talking about Wiccan, and they say it's never going to be in Brazil. Like, we don't have the cast for it yet. We don't have. We're not. We don't have the singers for it. We don't. We're not there yet. In terms of. We were actually. We were. But people were like, because it's such a huge hit, we were like, I don't know who's going to do it, who's going to. Who's going to play Elphaba, who's going to pick Linda? So there's a whole thing. And then, like, a couple of years later, it was like, it was me. But. Yeah.

[Quincy]

Can you tell us a little bit about the theater scene in Brazil and maybe how it's different and similar to the New York theater scene?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

We've had musicals in Brazil, like, since the 70s. We have. We have this great actresses who used to do musicals, and. But then we didn't even have, like, the proper microphones, and it was just all. We did it. We had hair. Bibi Fejera, who's one of the biggest musical theater stars in Brazil, she's been doing it for ages, and she really started it. But, like, really big musicals started coming to Brazil in the early 2000s. I think Les Misahav was the first one. And I have this friend of mine who told me she auditioned for it, and people didn't have the proper material to audition. So she auditioned to Les Mis, she sang Janis Joplin.

[Quincy]

A natural fit.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I was like, we had no structure for that. But then very quickly, musicals became a hit in Brazil, and then it just grew and grew and grew to a point where, like, I think we're the third or the fourth biggest musical theater producers in the world. So it's a big. It's not close to Broadway, of course, but it's a big thing here, I think, because music is such a big part of Brazilian life. I don't know if you saw the Lady Gaga at Copacabanas.

[Quincy]

Crazy.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Like, we do. We like. We like music, we like singers. Come here. And they always say performers that, like, Brazil is, like, one of the best places to perform because we're, like, very passionate. So I think musical theater has that, because even though it's not in our culture as it is for Americans, we like music, and music really speaks to our soul. And I think that's what happened because, like, now we have a lot of musicals, and it's. It's a big Thing here.

[Quincy]

And you studied theater in New York, right? How did that happen?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Yes, so when I started doing. Studying theater here, but just like, as a hobby, as for, like, anxiety, like I said. And then my dad went to live in New York because he was a journalist and he was working there. And I found out about the school that was called ppas. Professional Performing Arts School. Yeah, yeah, if you guys know that. And I saw it online and I was like, oh, wow, what a dream to go to that school. But you have to audition to get in. I was just getting into lessons. I didn't know anything about anything. So I went there and I got an audition, like, by myself. I emailed and I did. I was like 15 years old. It's kind of crazy to think about it. And then I got an audition. I went to Barnes and Noble. I found this one minute monologue book. It just went through it. I was like, oh, this is fine. I memorized a one minute monologue. I sang on my own from Les Mis. And I went on audition and the director said right away, like, oh, okay, so you could start on Monday.

[Quincy]

Wow.

[Kevin]

Just like that.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Yeah. No, I was horrible. It's not like I was like a huge. I don't know why he did it, but. Well, maybe he saw some potential.

[Kevin]

I don't know for sure.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

But I was just starting out and then I did start school on Monday and then I learned so much. Because even though, like I said, here we have a lot of musical theater being there, the school is like, right next to Times Square. So I was like a huge theater kid theater fan going into, like, a school. And then I remember, like, the kids who were playing Billy Elliot at the time, they went to that school because it's the school where a lot of theater, the kids who need more flexibility with their time, the Broadway kids go there. So to me, it was like being Disneyland of Broadway. And I learned a lot and I started getting into lessons. And what was the question?

[Quincy]

How you ended up in New York?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Oh, yeah. So that's how I was. I went to school there. And then later I came back to Brazil and I started doing some musicals. I got into Mamma Mia. Which was my first musical. I understudied Sophie. That was such a. And it's the actual. Like, we have franchises. I don't know how you say that in English, but, like, musicals that actually, like, have the set and the costumes, everything, they come straight from Broadway here. It's like the same thing. That's how we could. Yeah, the replica. Yes.

[Quincy]

Yeah.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

So it was a Mamma Mia replica and I played Sophie. But then I still needed more. I felt like I needed to study more and more. So I went to New York again and my dad was still living there at the time, so that was like something that was accessible. And I went to Lee Strasbourg just for acting.

[Quincy]

Wow.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

For me, acting is just such a huge part of it. So, so important that we don't forget about the acting and musical theater. Because here sometimes when we. When kids study, they focus on the singing and not the acting. And so I went. I wanted to. Okay, so I really wanted to study acting. And I think that was a big difference, especially in getting Elphaba later. I think that that really helped me.

[Kevin]

Do you feel like your background as a dancer has helped you at all with Elphaba?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I think background as a dancer helped me with everything in life. Just the discipline that it gives you. And I went to a very strict. The Royal Academy of Dance, like the. The part of that here in Brazil. So I had teachers from there. And I think the discipline that it gives you, even though sometimes it can be a little too much, especially with like, body image, and gave me a little. Some trauma. It did give me some traumas that are now sort of solved. But the discipline of it all and how it's like, always be on time, always do your. The discipline part of it.

[Kevin]

Yeah.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Helped me with the work ethic. And it's. There's nothing like it. When you see someone who's an actor first and a dancer first. I think the dancer in that part, I feel like it stands because it's just very professional.

[Quincy]

So when was the first time that you saw Wicked live?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

It was when I was 16. I was living in New York, going to school there. I always listened to the music and everything and my dad took me to see it.

[Quincy]

And remember who you saw.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I've seen Wicked like six times now. I can't remember who the. I do remember it was a comedian. She was on snl. It wasn't Anna, because I know who.

[Quincy]

Nicole Parker.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

It was Nicole Parker. Yes.

[Kevin]

Excellent.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I saw Nicole and it was great because she was funny and that was like such a great. It's such a great thing to add to Elphaba. We can get on that later, but, like. Because sometimes. So I remember really, really liking the character. And then when Defying Gravity happened, it's like such a cliche to talk about it, but I really, really, at the end, I have photos of that moment actually when it. When at the end of the moment, I Turned to my dad and I said, that's what I want to do with my life. That's what I want to do in life. I really did say that. Not literally. That's not what I didn't mean literally.

[Quincy]

But you did.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I just meant. I just meant like I want to move people like that. And then I really remember. That was a turning point for me. Watching Define Gravity was a really big turning point for that teenager. But little did I know that it was going to be literally defying Gravity.

[Kevin]

Yeah.

[Quincy]

You are the Brazilian Elphaba. Walk us through how the first time, the first time you booked the role, how did that happen? I imagine Wicked finally coming to Brazil was a big deal and everyone was going in for it. Tell us about how that happened.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Okay, so when I was doing nine, I was playing Saragina in nine, which is like a weird casting to cast me. But then they had the movie, they had Fergie, so it was like a 20 year old girl doing like a. Anyway, so I was playing, I was doing nine and then I started sort of had like, started making it, like booking bigger roles for the first time. Like I was doing ensemble and understudy for a long time, which I think is such an important part of doing theater, is just really understanding how important it is to be in the ensemble and do the work and be an understudy. How much that teaches you about everything else. I was doing that and then the auditions for Wicked came and then they sent me the email and here it's like, since it's like smaller, they already sent me the, like, you can audition for Elphaba straight away. Like, I didn't have to do an open call or anything, right. So I started auditioning. Just. I didn't really feel any pressure. I didn't even think I could get it. But I, at that point I really dreamed about having. Booking the role.

[Quincy]

And you had already established yourself as like a Brazilian belcherist theater actress at that point?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

No, just a little. I had done Nina and In the Heights. That was. I was starting because I was so young, like, and there were a lot of other actresses who were bigger in the. The Gotcha, who had more, I think, more chances of booking because they were more experienced and they had done all of these other big roles and they were really talented. So I didn't really think that was an option for me. So I started auditioning and the first audition that I went in, actually the first one was before the, the American director came. It was for a Brazilian. They did like the first the first cuts. That was horrible. I started. I left crying. I remember walking the street crying. Just saying, like, that was so bad. I'm so embarrassed.

[Quincy]

Do you remember what you had to do in the audition?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I think I just sang wizard. And I was something like wizard and I. I don't. It was just wizard and I or Defy Gravity. But for some reason, I was really, really nervous, so that was very bad. Left. Left crying, walking the street. It was like a scene from a movie. Like, listening to, like, I'm the worst actress in the world. And then when the next audition came. Her name is Fran. She was an associate director. And I remember she. After I finished the whole. We had to do wizard and I define gravity. I'm not that girl. The lion cub scene. And I think that's it. It was like those four things every time. And we did that for a whole month. It was like a really, really big period. A lot of. I went in. I had, like. I think I had, like, eight callbacks.

[Kevin]

Wow.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

It was a lot. Because they have had a workshop. I think they really had to test to see who had the, like, the endurance for that. So that first audition, I remember she. I did it. And then she got up from the. What do you call that? Where the director sits? She got up from her chair, and then she came over to me, and then she wrapped her, like, her arms around me, and then she walked me to the door. And that's not something you do, especially when you have. Like, you're not a star. Like, I wasn't. I was like, no one. No one knew me. And there was no reason for her to get up. So I thought. I think I did something good. So she got up, she hugged me, and she said, so next time you come in on your next call back, I want you to do this and this. And she. So she gave me specific notes, but, like, while hugging me. So I felt like something. Something very different from what I heard from my other friends were just like, oh. She heard me saying. And she said, thank you. Bye.

[Kevin]

Right.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

So that was. That was it. So I said, something is different, but as a Capricorn, I'm very like, don't think any. Don't. Don't, like, get in too much. But I was a little. I was starting to build something. So then. But I was doing a show in Rio, and then I. So I had to fly back to Rio and then back to Sao Paulo. It was a crazy, crazy experience because I had to fly back and forth all the time to do the show. There and then to audition here, that was really, really hard. And then I remember when I went back to Rio, the girls, some people were talking in the dressing room, and they said, well, I think you have really good ch. Being like, a second cover. And they said it as, like, a really great thing.

[Kevin]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

A compliment. But I was like. But, like. So I just kept quiet. But I said, I don't think I'm up for a second cover. I think I'm actually up for the real thing.

[Kevin]

Yeah.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

But anyway, so that person said that, and it really stuck with me. And I said, that's not really true. But I was like, yeah. And then because they said, because probably one of the, like, the veterans are going to play it. One of the more experienced. Of course that would make sense. So I went in again and again and again and again. It got to a point where it was just like, me and three other two other actresses. But I remember that one of the auditions, I made, like, I made the. Some people who are there cry with my. I think it was not that girl or something. I feel like I saw tears in the room. So I also thought, well, I think I'm doing something right. And then I. On my last audition before the final callback, I kind of didn't do. I didn't do very well. I, like, I took a step back, and I just. I don't know if I was nervous, was doubting myself, but it was not a good audition. So I got a call from the casting director right before the final callback. She said, what happened to you? You weren't so good today. Like, you weren't. She was sweet. She was like, something. Something was off today. And I said, I don't know. Maybe I was tired. Maybe I was sabotaging myself. I don't know what happens. And then she said, come tomorrow for your final callback, and just with fire in your eyes and come to book it. You have really, really good chances of that. And so I just, like, took a breath in, and then that was the final callback. And then I remember that was really good. And I got the call on the same day a little later that I got it.

[Kevin]

And what was that like after this long, arduous flying all the time auditioning, you said seven or eight times, what did that feel like to finally get the prize?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

It was almost like a relief. I didn't even celebrate. I was like, oh, like, it's over. Thank God it's over, because it was so such a draining thing. But it's good to prepare me for what was to come after, which was actually playing the role. The auditions were already setting the tone for what my life was going to be like the next years.

[Quincy]

Yeah. So it sounds like you learned the role in English. Just having grown up a fan of it and then seeing it on Broadway and then having to do it in Portuguese. What was it like, essentially relearning the role.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Another thing. I was really young. I was 22. I think I was the second youngest Elphaba ever to. To play it. I think the youngest was the Mexico, Dana. Yeah.

[Kevin]

Yeah.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

And I was, I think, the second youngest. Something someone told me that. I'm not sure if that's true, but I think so. It's so. It's such a young. It's. You're so immature, and I wasn't that immature because I'm a Capricorn. But you. There's nothing to prepare you for what's to come. So that was just fun to say about that.

[Quincy]

Even vocally, to start learning the role when you're that young. I imagine it sits differently in your chords now than it does did then.

[Kevin]

Yes.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

No. I'm definitely more in control now. I was not. I had some bad vocals in my. In my early days, and that's all right. But I had really good days. But then some days I was. I didn't have that much control over my technique as opposed to now, which I really feel like I'm in my best era. But that was really, really hard. Yeah. Because singing in Portuguese, it's so, so hard because we. We speak from a different part of our instrument. Our voices are much like. More here, more to the back. And then singing especially alpha, but you really need to use your mask and. But then Americans, you guys speak here. You're like. Your voices. It's in the right place for belting. Our voices are like. Our voices are right for bossa nova, which is like. It's like all the way here. So I had to. So I used to practice in English and then try to mimic the sound in Portuguese and find the place with the Portuguese vowels. So that is really a hard time. That all of Brazilian perform is not just Alphabet. We have when trying to. It's easy for us to sing a song in English and then we get to Portuguese. It's like, I don't know what I'm doing.

[Quincy]

I've always wondered that. Because even the words and sounds that you have to make are going to be different.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Yeah. Now that I have, like I said, more technique, I feel like my voice just. I Can make it sit in the. In the. The mask more. So I can just like, when once it's there, I can put all the vowels. I can. I. I already adjust automatically, but like 10 years ago, I didn't know how to do that, so I had to work vow through vow to like how I'm going to do. So the end of wizard and I. The wizard and I. So it's I, I. It makes. Makes it go here. It's. And then. So it's just.

[Quincy]

Oh, it's back.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

It's not. Yeah, it's back. So. But then you have to do. You saw. You have to adjust this instead of sa. You have to sing. It's going to sound the same, but you have to adjust vowels as you do in English as well. For some. For singing. For some. But here you have to do it in a lot of. In a lot of notes.

[Kevin]

Yeah.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

So that was a whole. A whole thing of adjusting that. And. And honestly, I adjusted throughout playing Alpha because I played it three times now in different seasons. So I. I've been. I've been adjusting it as I go.

[Kevin]

Yeah. I was gonna say even like learning the show the first time after being so familiar with the original cast recording and then coming back the second time, coming back the third time, letting go of the habits you pick up is challenging regardless. But to then do it with the same role at three different points in.

[Quincy]

Three different productions, it's so crazy.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

It is crazy. It is.

[Kevin]

It's astonishing. It's. It's incredible.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I think I kind of. I just thought about something kind of a metaphor that I've been letting go as I go as, like, as like years go by and I play Elphaba more and more, I feel like I've been finding my own voice as the character does. I've been finding my own voice and as a performer to like, let go, especially of like, of seeing so many alphabets do it. Of course you. You start, you kind of. You have them in you, and it's a great thing. And I still have all of these great performances from Xena, from the cast recording, and all of the alphabets that I saw. But the best thing as a performer is to really find it yourself and put your own heart into it. And I had a really difficult time with that because the original production, 2016, we had Lisa, our director, associate director. She was amazing, and she came here and she taught me the world and she. They have very, very strict and strong choices that we needed to make, but all the choices were so good and they made so much sense that I'm not even complaining. And I still carry them with me. I wouldn't be able to play Elphaba without that original direction giving me really the everything that's happening with these characters inside their minds and inside their. Their souls and everything. So that was really important for me to have and I'm so grateful that I had to. That I was. That I was able to be in touch with the original direction. But then especially as being like a 22 year old, I kind of. What's the word? Made it a little stiff. Sometimes too stiff. Does that make sense?

[Kevin]

Yeah.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

My performance was a little like too. I had. I had heard too much in my head going, this is what's happening. This was happening. And then throughout.

[Quincy]

And I have to do this.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

You have to. Yeah. Not just physically, but mentally.

[Quincy]

Yeah.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

And then now I've been finding more things, especially in the humor, especially in how. And. And here I do have to make a transition because Brazil, we have different humor, we have different physicality. Different things work here and I have to find it. And Fabi, who has played Glinda in the first Wicked, she's amazing. And she did. She was my age when she played and she was my age now in 2016. So I think she was more of a. She had more of that. I want to do. I want to put some Brazilian twist in my Glinda. And that really worked. And now I feel like I'm in that moment as well to like put my Not Brazilian thing, but like my, my mirror, my, my. I'm coming out more in the. In the world more than ever, but still keeping the. The original and everything and all the. The directions that were given to me throughout the years. And I feel like I'm in my most free Elphaba.

[Quincy]

So just for our listeners, the first time you did Wicked, it was a replica production. And then the second time it was a non replica. And this current run you're doing as Alphabet and Wicked is also a non replica, but it's different than the last non replica.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Exactly. So three completely different directions, direct three directors, three different sets, three different costumes, everything's different.

[Kevin]

And then on top of that, with the dubbing of the film, which we can come back to this. But then that I would imagine also had some very rigid guidelines for you to work within, because I saw a.

[Quincy]

Spanish dub in Madrid and it felt like they were instructed to copy the inflection and riffs that Cynthia and Ariana did. Yeah, let's talk about the movie now. And Then we'll go back. Tell us about that process.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Oh, the movie was so, so, so, so special because Cynthia and Ariana. I did see an interview that Cynthia talked about with you guys, how she played an Alphabet that was a little, I think, stronger and had more power since the beginning of the show. And the original direction, like I said, was very much for her to be like, nope, she had power, but she was like, more. She was supposed to be very aggressive and pissed off and angry and. Which I do think she is. But Cynthia put it in a place where inspired me, and I brought that a little to this because sometimes it bothered me how Elphaba was like, being thrown around so much in the first place. Half of the first act in wizard and I, we do see her power and we see her what she's. It's the moment where we get to the audience can, like, start liking Elphaba.

[Quincy]

Yeah.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

But the other moments, I felt like she was just being thrown around. And then Cynthia brought a power to it, which really, really inspired me. So we did. When we did the dubbing, we did have to maintain everything that they did. The inflections here, we can change them a little. We don't have to speak the exact musicality that they speak. It has to work in Portuguese.

[Kevin]

Right.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

So Americans end everything up. So, I don't know, let me think something. I am so. And she's like, you're green. And she goes, I am. And here I had to say, someone goes, I am sosing. Because that's what works in Portuguese. That's how we speak when we try to be ironic or something like that. So we did. We had an amazing director, Andrea, who. But also, we have to be. We have to maintain what Cynthia and Ariana did in terms of their choices. And, yeah, we can't totally change it. But that was so special to do because it was like I was so connected. I had to watch them on a screen for hours and hours and hours doing the dub. So I really felt connected to them. And I felt like we're friends. They don't even know who I am. They don't even know I exist.

[Kevin]

But they definitely do. Yeah.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

It was such a crazy and fun experience, and they did such an amazing job, I think.

[Quincy]

Did you have to do Cynthia's lythe limb? I'm not that girl riff down?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Yes. And I do it on the show now. I do it on Wicked. Yes, yes. Because I thought it was so beautiful. It is so. In Portuguese, it's nan vai se me. And I do that And I think it's just so. Because it was one of the most beautiful moments for me. So I wanted to keep that in the. I don't do the defined gravity, though, because that's so like her.

[Quincy]

Yeah.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

And it's hard, but I might do it one, one or two some. Some days. But, like, that part I really wanted to keep as, like, a part of her with me that I bring.

[Kevin]

Because how do you feel like having now been in the show, on stage before the movie and after the movie, do you feel a difference in the audience reaction or the reception to the show?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Yeah. Rakute in Brazil was already like, a crazy, crazy hit. Like, I don't know if you've seen the. The. The Last Day of defying gravity on 2016. Haven't seen the video. So there was that. And then that was. 2016 was like, everyone sang along and it was very spontaneous and. But it was. And it was a big hit, but it was inside a bubble, our wicked Brazilian bubble, 2023, that already expanded a lot. And it was like a bigger, even bigger hit. And we also had an ending. And also a lot of people see videos of, like, people recording the last Defying Gravity and singing along. That was just on the last show. And I always see, like, Americans go like, what is this? This is. No, that's not theater etiquette. That's not how. And we always try to. Like, that was just the last show.

[Kevin]

It was a special treat for the last show.

[Quincy]

Meanwhile, on Broadway, everyone's recording bootlegs on their phones and posting.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

And so on the end of 2023, we did. We did the whole show. And then we came back and we did Justifying Gravity one last time so that the fans could stand up and sing along. It was so fun.

[Quincy]

Oh, that's cool.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

And record and screen. It was like a concert. I felt like Justin Bieber. And then. And then now after the film. It's crazy. It's like, crazy because a lot of people who are not even. They're just starting to be fans. And it's a great thing because it's bringing new audiences to the theater. Especially here in Brazil, we don't have that much of a big theater culture of, like, going to the theater and then knowing the etiquettes and knowing it's a whole culture. And we don't have that here as much. We do. It's not as much as Broadway. So I think the movie is bringing a lot of people who have never seen. Have never been inside a the. And that is so, so Great to have a lot of new people. But it's. It's kind of big. Like I get. I get stopped on the street like every. Almost every day.

[Kevin]

Wow.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

And I'm not a celebrity. It's not like I'm. But I don't go out without someone asking, going, mirror, mirror, can you take a picture with me, please?

[Kevin]

Yeah.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

And it's so fun because it really became a part of our culture now. And it's a. It's a big hit where like in 2023 I could go on the street and no one, like no one would recognize me. And here without. Because of the movie. Not just the movie. I think. I don't know what it is. I think it's just also because of. It's the third time that Wicked is Brazil. I think Wicked is in Brazil. I think more and more people are just becoming fans of the show. So it is a crazy, crazy hit now.

[Quincy]

So let's talk about these non Replica productions. Firstly, do you have any insight into like how or why a non Replica production gets okayed to be done?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I think Stephen Schwartz has to be behind everything that's happening. From what I know he has to prove everything. All the sets, all the costumes. He was here all. He was here 2016, 2023. And he was here when we. When we open 2025. So that was so great to have him here.

[Kevin]

Yeah.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

And. And he's of course he's there to. To make sure that we or no director doesn't lose themselves and like just trying to make it different probably to just to do it differently. So he's making sure that the heart of the show is there, which always is, especially because me and Fabi are so. We have so such love for these characters. I think we help with like. Yeah, so I think we help with that. And also all the casts that we had were so amazing and just really got into the story. So from what I understand, Schwartz approves it, but then once they approve it, the directors have like. They're free to like direct the scenes how they want, but I don't know how it would be without having two Glinda and Elphaba who don't have the original direction in their hearts. So we do, but we do change. We do change things, but not a lot because everything makes so much sense in the original that why make change it? Just to change it. But when we do change things, it's more to make it, I think, more of ourselves or more to the Brazilian culture.

[Quincy]

Yeah. Did you have to re audition each Production.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

No, we were invited for the 2023 production to come back. And then this time as well, we would just.

[Quincy]

That's amazing.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

They didn't have to audition.

[Quincy]

So you are just Elphaba.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Yeah. Someone's doing awake. They're like, oh, get the Alphabet, please.

[Quincy]

Okay, so you're flying. And defying gravity shook the world. It felt like the first time those bootlegs started to come out. Can you take us through the logistics of how you fly in the non replica production?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Listen, if Elphaba wasn't hard enough, now I have to wear a harness. And in 2025, I have to wear a harness throughout the entire second act because we also fly. A no good deed.

[Kevin]

Oh, my God.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

That's. That's a hard part. Let's talk about the hard part. But like, so for defying gravity, we. I have to wear harness and then I get clipped. Then I fly. But we don't have time. We only have time to put the harness on safely with like the time that we need during one short day.

[Kevin]

In that last change.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

So when we leave, we do that quick change. We also leave another part of the number where they're doing the who's not. That part. I leave and then I have like 30 seconds to put the harness on. And then we have a dress that's all like adapted to like, it needs to have two big holes on each side because the harness is a thing that you clip here and here, but it's big and it's heavy, like weighs a lot. And then. So we put a cover in the. In the dress here so that during all of one short day. And then the. When we see. When we meet the wizard and then all the beginning of the defined gravity before I actually fly so that you don't see the whole thing, like the big harness there all the time. So that was something that we figured out in 2023. And then we kept this time and then addresses a clip that right before I get. I go in to get clipped. I just open it and then it goes down and then it reveals the actual thing that they need to hook it on.

[Kevin]

Oh, that's.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Is that the level of technicality that you wanted to know about?

[Quincy]

And then what does it feel like when you are. Because they zoom you around the theater. It's. It's not like the cherry picker where you're just up and down.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

No, it goes up and then it kind of moves. Swivels.

[Kevin]

Oh, my God.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

And then it goes for one time and then it swivels again. And then it goes right at the highest note.

[Kevin]

Yeah. Talk to us about singing while suspended as opposed to standing on a platform.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I've had my days. It's not always easy. So I had. I had to adapt that part because you don't have your support. You don't have. But then I learned really getting technical with it. I learned that squeezing my butt cheeks gives me sort of the support that I need. So when I fly, my legs are going back because. And also they wanted to Me. Wanted to have me actually on a broom.

[Quincy]

Right.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

So that was a. Also a fun part with it. So you. When you. I do. It's not her. She has nothing to do with it. I'm the one you want. Right. Before that, they clip this and they also clip the broom on my back.

[Kevin]

Oh, so you don't.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

So that it supports the weight and so I don't drop and like maybe kill someone. So that was such a hard part to tech. We spent like a lot of time to like make it perfect and so that it doesn't take a lot of time and ruins the stuff scene. And right now we're even faster with it. So then we clip the broom and then this part, I hold it. Wait, what was the question again?

[Kevin]

Singing while you're in. In the harness. Like that. Which we've. I've seen a lot of clips of Cynthia Erivo talking about this same thing of like, when you're not standing, you have to find other muscles to tense.

[Quincy]

You probably have the closest of the stage Alphabet's closest experience to Cynthia's Defying Gravity experience.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Yeah, totally. When I heard her, everything, all the interviews that I saw her, I was like, I know. I know what she's talking about. I totally know it. And I have to do it Wednesday through Sunday. It's like, God, and I'm not Cynthia Erivo.

[Quincy]

Guys, what was your reaction the first non replica when you found out that that was going to be happening for the flying portion instead of the cherry picker?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I was so excited. Honestly, I was excited because we had time to. We actually. We took our time for me to get comfortable with it. And also something that helped is when I need more support because there's like a thing here on my belly. Sometimes I actually lean forward because it helps me. So I keep finding those places to support me. And I. That's what I. And you need time for that. So now it's my. As my second time doing it. I'm very comfortable with it. I didn't. Because it's even. I want to say it's even better. It's not even better than singing sanding. Of course it's not. But there was also a hard thing with the original because the platform is so small.

[Quincy]

Right.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

And it's not like you have that much support either.

[Kevin]

Right.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

You can't like to be like this.

[Kevin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

So up here, you're like. You, like, have to be very expensive. And your feet down there like this. And that kind of sucks too.

[Quincy]

Right.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

So it's not that much harder with the harness. What was. Sometimes it gets a little scary sometimes when I realize, like, I'm so up high and.

[Quincy]

Right.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Something like when I'm. If I'm on a day where I'm a little more anxious because of something else. Usually that day in Defying Gravity, when I go up, my belly sort of turns. Like, I feel like a little. Some butterflies. But most days it's just fine because I'm so excited to see the audience reaction.

[Kevin]

I was gonna say, can you see the audience more completely?

[Quincy]

It looks like you get close to them.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

So close. Like, if they stand up, they could maybe. I think they could touch my hands or my. Or my feet. So we made it safe so that that doesn't happen. But. So Defying Gravity before was a song that was really, really scary for me to sing in 2016, the first time. I don't know why I was so young. It's such a huge hit. It's so hard. And right now, it's the one that I expect the most. Just saying because it's so much. It's not about me, it's about how it really. I really feel like I'm gonna take the audience, not just me and the lighting and the whole cast and the set and the flying. We're gonna take everyone on such a huge trans, like, transformative journey. Yeah. Some people said, like, oh, I think that the flying takes away from the actual performance of the actress and the singer that I just want to see her belt out to find gravity in that sense. Yes, you do maybe miss, but it's a different. We do miss that, but we gain so much with the flying to the audience.

[Kevin]

It enhances it.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

It really. And no video can do justice to what really. No video can do justice to what a moment that is. And I see every. I see the eyes of people in the audience every night, and it almost makes me cry because it really is really special. It was special to me when I was 16 years old, when I was a theater kid. Yeah. And right now. Yes. It's my job. And sometimes it's like I'm so tired doing it and everything. It's so, so stressful. But when I look at people's eyes and there are so many different reactions. Some people are like, just. They can't move. Some people are just like. They have a physical thing where they want to reach up. And some people just grab. I see people grabbing someone, like, their friend's hands, and they just watch it like this. And some people are just laughing. They're like, what the hell is happening? And some people are just crying so hard. So it's so amazing to be a part of that and to be the voice of that moment. And it's just an honor.

[Quincy]

And it's also like Wicked. The original version of Wicked that we have was created in 2003. If you were to do Wicked today, that is how you would do Defying Gravity. It wouldn't be a cherry picker today, you know?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Quincy]

And I imagine there's something to the spectacle of it, of the flying and the logistics of you getting in it that kind of takes you out of your head when you're performing it. Just because there's so much going on.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Exactly. It makes me less anxious because it's about so much more than just my vocals or just my. What I'm going to do with my performance. Wizard and I, though it's. It's Is that Wizard and I made it became the hardest song for me to sing. Because it's always been.

[Quincy]

In your version, they cut even the section when the ensemble comes in and makes fun of you. Like, it's just you the whole time. Right. Or the 2023 version.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

That's 2023. Well, we have in 2025 and wizard and I, it's. There's a little moment in the beginning where we. It's almost like Hamilton satisfied. And what's that song that we're like. She rewinds the thing. Yeah, we have a rewind moment and we're like. We replicate the scenes that just happened before where, like, the father gifts Nessa something and doesn't give anything to Elphaba. Someone bumps into me, and then someone bumps into me and drops a book. And when I go to pick it up, they look at me and they get. And they just run away. And then when we start wizard and I, the wizard and I, people come. Come in and I say, so when I meet the wizard, my whole life will change. And then the guy who.

[Quincy]

Thank you for the live transitions.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

The guy who. Who was scared in the first Scene. He gives the book back to me, and I have the wizard next to me. And who's this? He's this. It's a lot of spoilers, but he's a statue in the beginning of the show. And then the statue comes to life. He's a statue that comes to life. And I sort of pretend he's the wizard. And then I give. So when I meet the wizard, my whole life will change. And then he gives me the book. And then he's like, wow. It's kind of a. Like a. It's a very silly and kid moment where she's, like, showing the audience, like, this is gonna happen to me. And she said, then I meet the wizard. No, wait, she talks about the father. No, father is not proud of you. So my father comes and gives me a gift. No sister act ashamed. And then my sister is right back there. So I'm taking the audience to, like, everything that's gonna happen differently. And that just happens for, like, all those three lines. And then everyone leaves again, and it's just me alone on the stage. So we have that little. It's so sweet. And it's a very childlike moment where she's really like, guys, this is. This is what could happen. And. Which is what the song is about.

[Kevin]

Right. But it's cool that we get to see that, like, vision, almost like a prophecy that she has, because in the Replica productions, we're seeing her reality, not her. Her dream life. Yeah, that's really.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Yeah. And Ronnie. Ronnie, our director, who had that idea. And then it was. I always also look forward to that moment. But then, as I was saying, compared to Define Gravity, it is all about. It's such an important moment for the audience to understand Elphaba, because in other moments, she's being. Sometimes she's being a little stubborn. Sometimes she's being a little, like, too much. But we understand that she's hurting and that she's. We understand everything that's going on. So wizard and I, for me, is so important. So I feel that pressure that I used to feel in defying gravity in 2016. I feel that pressure now with her and I for people to really, really understand and like her. But then I also saw Audra McDonald saying something about, stop trying to make the audience like you. I saw her. I saw her saying that, like, a couple weeks ago. And I was like, oh, yeah.

[Kevin]

Should work on that.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Because I really was like, people, you need to like Elphaba. This is the moment for you guys to understand. But of course, you also have the entire show for that. But for me, I really wanted people to understand what's happening with her, so I felt that pressure. But then I look forward to doing that, to doing wizard and I every day.

[Quincy]

On the other hand, Patti LuPone says that she always picks someone in the audience to win over before she starts a show. So.

[Kevin]

And.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

And I. And I do the exact same thing.

[Kevin]

Really.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I saw that. The Variety interview. Right. I saw that. And she says, because I keep trying to be Audra and Patty, like the.

[Kevin]

Angel and devil on your shoulder.

[Quincy]

Exactly.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Literally. Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald all day, every day in my life. Because I. I also have this thing where it's like I. I can only see the front rows, but I always find this one guy who's like this. He doesn't react to anything. And I play the whole thing for the. For. That's why all actors need therapy. Because why do. Why do I want the approval of that one guy who clearly. Maybe he just doesn't like to. Maybe he loves it, but he just doesn't show it. But then why do I have to be the entire show going like, laugh, laugh. While you're not laughing?

[Quincy]

Are you. We have to ask the question, are you a wizard and I Defying gravity or no good deed Alphabet. And it can mean whatever you want it to mean.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I'm definitely at a no good deed moment in life because in this. In terms of. Not in terms of, like, I'm not doing anything good. Again, like, to hell with that. But in the. In terms of like, as a woman, when you find your voice and when you learn to say no and when you. I'm in that process still, there's a price when you find your voice. There's a price that you have to pay. I. I want to say as a woman, but I think everyone feels that. But as a woman, there's a price that you pay when you start putting yourself out there and. And saying no to things and having a voice. People don't like that sometimes. And then people start sort of putting you in a place where, like, oh, she's not the same. Or like, she's. She's not accommodating my needs anymore. And that makes me angry. And then. But I'm not. I'm just politely putting my. My voice out there. And so. And it makes me angry to see how sometimes it does. It's not that easy to be yourself and to have your own voice and to have your ideas, and it makes. And so I love doing no good deed because it's the anger that I feel as a woman sometimes, you know.

[Quincy]

Did you start your Elphaba journey as no good deed?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

No, no. I started as, like, definitely wizard. And I.

[Quincy]

Interesting.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

And I was so. I was. I could do no good. I was. I. I had anger built in me. In me for an Ogadid when I was in 2016, when I was so young. But it was from other things in life that were happening at the time. But I didn't fully understand. I didn't fully understand what. What that was like. When you're. Like when you go through an emancipation as a woman and you go through that and not always you get the result that you wanted and that your attention was set to. And how infuriating that can be.

[Quincy]

Yeah.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

And how that makes you want to. Sometimes as an actor. I do want to quit a lot of times being. Being very honest with you guys especially. It's very hard being an actor here in Brazil. The opportunities are hard. They really count a lot of people. We don't have the same rights. We don't have. We don't have a union that. We do have a union that's starting to be more strong, but it's not that strong.

[Quincy]

How financially stable is it to build a theater career in Brazil?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

It's not. It's. It's impossible to live off of just theater in Brazil. So either if you live. If that's all you do, you're either rich, supported by your parents, or. Or you have to do a lot of things to come. I don't know how it is on Broadway, though, but we have to do. We have to do dubbing. We have to do side shops, have to do dubbing. We have to produce your own things. You can't. You can't wait for people to, like, find you and say, oh, now here's a. We see you, Mira, you're a star now. Like, you have to really build that. And it's sometimes very tiring because, you know, not only have to do, like, I'm not only doing Alphabet, but I'm also doing another project that I want to do after. Like, I can't just focus on the moment. I have to be thinking about the whole, like, the whole thing, the whole My whole life as, like, you can't really live in the moment and just be like, oh, I'm fine. And I don't know how it is on Broadway, though, can you? On Broadway, it's better, right?

[Quincy]

I think it's similar for a majority of people on Broadway. The difference is, I Think there's probably an upper echelon that some people can reach where they can kind of just be stars and do that, you know?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Quincy]

You remind me a little bit of Wilhelmine Verkayk, who did Elphaba in Germany and Holland and London, and then she came to Broadway to do Elphaba. Do we have aspirations to do the role on Broadway?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Oh, God. Wow. I don't even. Yes, but, like, I don't even know if I can dream that high.

[Kevin]

We're dreaming it for you then.

[Quincy]

We're starting the campaign now.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Okay. Hi, producers. I'm here.

[Quincy]

That would be so exciting.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

That would be. That would be. I mean, of course I've dreamed of doing Broadway. I've dreamed of winning a Tony every day before I go to bed. That's what I do. So definitely something that I would love, love, love to do.

[Kevin]

Yeah, we would love that too.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

And it would be cool to have, like, to have a Latina playing Alphabet from, like, actually from Brazil and who doesn't have English as their first language. Yeah, that would be amazing.

[Quincy]

This has been so amazing. Thank you so much for doing this. We're so excited to talk to you.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Thank you so much. It was really, really an honor to be interviewed by you guys. I really. I watch all the videos and it's. It's really great.

[Kevin]

Thank you.

[Quincy]

You've been listening to Sentimental Men.

[Kevin]

We'd like to say a big thank you to everyone at the Broadway Podcast.

[Quincy]

Network and a special thanks to Mikayla Reynolds and Julia DiMarzu, our photographer and logo designer. You can find Sentimental men on Instagram, TikTok and Xentmenpod, or you can email.

[Kevin]

[e-mail] till next time.

[Quincy]

I'm Quincy.

[Kevin]

And I'm Kevin.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Foreign.

[D]

Hello and welcome to the Cheese Wheel Podcast, your new favorite podcast about hyper fixations gambled on a wheel. In this podcast, we are covering anything that we want to talk about, but the problem is we don't know what we're covering every week, and it's something new every time. And I am joined by two of my co hosts. Andrew DeWolfe.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Hello. Hello. I'm happy to be here.

[D]

And Liz Eston.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Hello. Also very happy to be here.

[D]

And this show is weekly, and every time someone else brings something to the table that's a little bent, we're gonna be covering anything and everything, including Chaperone's new album, Spy Kids, and the film version of Waitress. We're gonna have a new episode every Friday, and you're gonna see the vast arrays of interests we might have. Andrew, what might be one of your choices?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

Oh, I mean, I could pick something like, I don't know, famously bad movie Miami Connection, and we could have a good time watching something that I love that's kind of terrible. Or I could pick something incredibly good, like. Like Jacob's Ladder, which is my favorite.

[Kevin]

Movie of all time.

[D]

Incredible. And Liz, what about you?

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I don't know. I go something like A Walk Hard, the Dewey Cox Story, so I can talk about my favorite comedy since Jess didn't let me do it on the old podcast.

[D]

Well, funny you bring that up. In case you're wonder wondering what happened to Musicals with Cheese? We ended that show, but the show's still here and living on in season one. So if you want to go back and listen to our backlog, that's still here. But right now, we're just the cheese wheel. Please keep on listening. We got a lot of fun stuff to come, and we hope that you like what we're doing.