By John Dobberstein, Editor
When Kristin Chenoweth’s Broadway Bootcamp kicked off this week in Broken Arrow it represented the 10th year of helping kids become their best selves in performance.
It also brought Chenoweth full circle back to her childhood days and discovering performing arts as a way to find her voice and be seen.
“I’m petite. I have a weird speaking voice. I was never taken seriously until I sang,” the Tony Award-winning actress told the Sentinel Tuesday. “And wouldn’t it have been great to have a camp like this where I could find my people, my kids, my tribe, if you will, so I could be with like-minded (people)?
“You know, not all not all of us play football. And believe me, I love sports. Go Thunder. Arts has the power to change lives. And with cuts in schools and that not being taken as seriously, I had to step up.”
When the theater at the Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center was named after her, Chenoweth planned on bringing in Broadway shows with mani of her friends and stars, but her father challenged her to “think bigger.
“And that’s when I started thinking about how I felt growing up and how I would have loved something like this. And that’s what gave me the spark,” she says. “And of course, we know it begins with a spark, a germ of an idea that turns imagination to reality.”
Chenoweth sees that children today have their own struggles that are different than the 1980s, when the electronic age was just beginning and the pressures of social media and the Internet weren’t present.
“And I want to be there for them,” Chenoweth adds, “but I also want to help them be the best young artists they can be.”
The Broadway Bootcamp wraps up at 7 p.m. July 26 at the BAPAC with the 10th annual Kristi Awards, where Bootcamp members will show off their talents.
The show is free and open to the public but tickets are required, and can be purchased at https://tinyurl.com/38mtma33.
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