Kristin Chenoweth discusses New Year’s Eve show at Smith Center

Kristin Chenoweth wouldn’t mind a “sit-down,” or what we might call a “residency,” at Reynolds Hall.

“Let’s just say I told Eddie, my manager, ‘Please, can I ever have a sit down at The Smith Center?’ ” Chenoweth said during a phone chat this week. “I just remember the places that stick out in a positive way, rather than a negative way. I have been treated so well there, I just love the place and (Smith Center President) Myron Martin. I can’t wait to see him.”

Chenoweth is playing 7:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve at The Smith Center. It is the actress-singer’s third NYE performance at Reynolds Hall. She performed the first in what would be a New Year’s Eve tradition of headliners at Reynolds Hall in 2013, returning in 2017.

The actress and singer portrayed Glinda in “Wicked” and Sally Brown in “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” on Broadway. She was nominated for a Tony in the former, winning the award for the latter. She has co-starred in network series “The West Wing,” “Pushing Daisies” and “Glee.” This year she is in the ensemble cast of AppleTV+’s musical-comedy series “Schmigadoon!” Her Reynolds Hall show will sample from her 2019 album, “For The Girls,” and a tribute to such favorite women artists as Dolly Parton, Jennifer Hudson and Reba McEntire, all of whom appear on the album.

Chenoweth is also planning to perform from her new Christmas album, “Happiness … Is Christmas!” at The Smith Center.

Highlights from our conversation:

Johnny Kats: I have to ask, given the climate right now, are you going to make a call to not even perform on New Year’s Eve? Is that even in the dialogue right now?

Kristin Chenoweth: It’s not in the dialogue yet. But I’m gonna be there with a mask on, and hand sanitizer if I have to. We‘ll spread the audience out if we have to.

We have seen a lot of shows shut down just the past few days. I was in New York a couple weekends ago and saw “Company,” and was at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the the Comedy Cellar. They were packed. It seems like it all shut down just after that.

Exactly. Last Monday night, I was at the Metropolitan Opera doing my solo Christmas show, and all this started happening … But we will do it safely. And, because I’m a New Yorker, I have had a lot of loss because of COVID. I’m very cognizant of what is out there. That being said, I want us to figure out how to continue to navigate how we live with this. I’m afraid it is not going anywhere.

You will find a way.

Oh, I’ve already figured out what I’m going to be saying in my show, and what it’s going to look like. I’m bringing my whole band, two singers with me. Because this year, and the year before that … can I just say it has been really sucky (laughs)? So I want to bring in this new year with hope and joy. And that’s what we’re gonna do.

How much of “For The Girls” are you going to be performing?

We’re gonna play some of that, but I have to tell you, in the past year and a half music has changed in my life. You’ll hear the “Girls” stuff, because I didn’t get the whole tour in, just two months before the shut down. There is some music I’ve discovered, that I’ve written and that I love. Even some ’70s rock that will be in there.

’70s rock? This sounds interesting.

It’s very interesting for me, right? You don’t go, “Oh, Kristin Chenoweth, ’70s rock!” But I love the Doobie Brothers. I’m not sure why I didn’t pay close enough attention, but they’re just super cool. Maybe I’m just a young hippie. But I love the Eagles, Don Henley and there’ll also be stuff from Dolly, some Oprah that I’m going to do. And right now, I’m all about Chris Stapleton. There will be songs people expect, and that people don’t expect.

Well, you will be glad to know the Doobie Brothers are playing Las Vegas in the spring, eight shows at Zappos Theater.

I gotta go.

I would pay just to see you perform “China Grove.”

OK, it’s on the list. But I’m like, “Who wrote this stuff?” I love it. The Doobie Brothers were ahead of their time, in my opinion.

I think you’ve said the climate in Las Vegas makes the city appealing to you. Why is that?

This is going to be weird, but I actually have vertigo, it’s actually called Ménière’s disease, an inner-ear disorder, and I deal with it. But I do very well in Vegas, and also in that part of the country near California. Something just evens out for me.

So you get here early, stay a little longer?

Yes. If I can just manage to … OK, yeah. And so I just, if I can manage to fly there and be okay. I do very well, which is why I’ve been known to then stay several days after. And it’s not to gamble. It’s just not to worry about a vertigo attack. So it’s just that Las Vegas has always done really well for me.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.