Kristin Chenoweth on "Pushing Daisies," Playing Dusty, and Christianity

Photo courtesy TNT

Infectious is a good word to describe the energy of Kristin Chenoweth. Whether she’s chatting about her love of Broadway, her recently cancelled ABC dramedy Pushing Daisies, her charitable causes or the Christmas holidays, it’s impossible to not feel a little intoxicated by talking with her. This is probably no news to her long-time fans but also explains why her career is hotter than ever before.   

With her new holiday CD, “A Lovely Way To Spend Christmas,” and her appearance on TNT’s Christmas in Washington special on December 17^th (8/7c), it’s easy to see why the holiday is Chenoweth’s favorite.

When we asked how the songs she’ll be performing on the TNT special were chosen she said the producers, “listened to the album and they picked them for me. And I love the songs they chose for me but I’m a little disappointed that I don’t get to do “Do You Hear What I Hear?” which is my favorite track on it but … who knows what everybody else is doing that has to fit into the program. I’m excited to do the classic “I’ll be Home For Christmas” and then, of course, “What Child is This?” is beautiful so I think doing it with a full orchestra — that’s not going to suck.”

Photo courtesy TNT

On the subject of the long-anticipated biopic of legendary singer Dusty Springfield that Chenoweth has been attached to for some time, she is happy to provide an update. “I just received a new draft of the script and we’re still moving forward.”

Though the project is still some time away from actually lensing (she didn’t have a shoot date to offer) Chenoweth  is clearly passionate and determined to see the film made. When asked if Dusty’s relationship with women would be a part of the film, she stressed, “Absolutely. I won’t do the film without that part of her life included.” 

One of the other reasons she feels so strongly about audience learning more about Springfield is, “People aren’t aware of all the great music she put out there. There’s so much more than ‘Son of a Preacher Man.’”

With her undeniable talent stretching across many mediums, Chenoweth had a hard time choosing her favorite because, as she admitted, “the answer is always different because it depends on my mood. I think for me, I love, obviously, Broadway. There’s nothing like performing in front of a live audience and also losing yourself in a character.

Chenoweth (left) with Idina Menzel in Broadway's Wicked

Photo credit: Franke Micelotta/Getty Images