Kristin Chenoweth, Lea Michele, and Nichelle Lewis Sit Down for Three Generations of Broadway

Kristin Chenoweth, Lea Michele, and Nichelle Lewis are plotting a group text. “The Lincoln Center Ladies…The Ladies Who Lunch at Lincoln Center!” Michele says, pitching a name for the chain. “LCL!” Chenoweth chants to giggles from the group.

The three Broadway stars have linked up for Three Generations of Broadway, the third episode of ELLE’s new series that brings women of a given genre together for a cross-generational chat. They’re seated in the lobby of the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center a few weeks before a revival of Ragtime opens. “This is hallowed ground,” Chenoweth says.

Ragtime is the first Broadway show to open at Lincoln Center under its newly appointed artistic director Lear deBessonet, the first woman to be in charge of programming in the performing arts center’s history. Lewis, who exploded onto the Broadway scene after a showstopping performance in The Wiz, stars as Sarah, a young woman who runs away from her lover, Coalhouse Walker Jr., when she learns she’s pregnant. It’s the role that won Audra McDonald her third Tony Award. “You want to know what Audra said to me?” Michele asks. “You’ve never lived until you’ve died on Broadway.” Lewis retorts: “I will die eight shows a week.”

Michele returns to Broadway this season in a revival of Chess as Florence Vassy, who is caught in a love triangle between Aaron Tveit’s Freddie Trumper and Nicholas Christopher’s Anatoly Sergievsky. The former Glee star’s theater run comes on the heels of a wildly acclaimed turn as Fanny Brice in the recent revival of Funny Girl. Wicked’s OG Glinda and Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth is back on Broadway as well this year, starring as Jackie Siegel in The Queen of Versailles, a new Stephen Schwartz musical based on the documentary of the same name. In the show, she wears sparkly dresses, delivers punchy one-liners, and showcases her vocal prowess.

In the video above and the highlights below, the three women discuss the state of Broadway, their “show–must–go–on” moments, and their stage debuts.

Dress, Retrofête. Shoes, Prada.

On their connections

Kristin Chenoweth: I met you, [Lea, when] we were backstage at something. I was singing with Hugh Jackman. You were with a then–boyfriend, who shall remain nameless because it doesn’t matter in the story. I thought, Who was this cute little thing?

Later, we would work together in Glee. My first day we were singing “Maybe This Time,” and they had played me your part in it. I thought, Oh, no, I have to be THAT good. You were so great. Then, we just got close doing the show and through the business.

And then you, [Nichelle], we met backstage briefly at a Black United event. But, I knew [what] your name was from The Wiz. The word got out in this town that there’s this young girl and she’s amazing. Now here we sit, and I’m going to be the lucky one to get to come see you in Ragtime.

Nichelle Lewis: I can’t even believe I’m in this seat. Even right now, listening to you guys talk, this is crazy that I’m even here with two people that I watched so much growing up, my entire life. It’s just an honor to be here.

KC: You belong here.

Lea Michele: We met, [Nichelle], in the most fabulous way. We met at the Met Gala walking through the exhibit. The rest of your cast was with you, and I was with Jonathan Groff. We bumped into each other, and you looked so beautiful. I said, “When we see each other, we can only meet in most fabulous and most glamorous ways.” Here we are today.

But let me say, Kristin Chenoweth was nominated for a Tony Award for You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Kristin sang “My New Philosophy,” and I recorded it on a VHS. I practiced it at home over and over. I watched her Tonys performance over and over and over and over. I sang that song over and over. That’s the first time I laid eyes on Kristin. I called you during Funny Girl when I needed you, and Kristin always answers the phone. I don’t know what I would have done without you throughout the years.

On their Broadway debuts

NL: I remember the first time that I was getting my call to be on Broadway. The life of being a working actor in New York City is just so, so hard. You hear more nos than you hear yeses. In that moment of time, I was actually thinking about going home. I was about to give up. I called my mom and said, “I’m coming home,” and she was like, “No, you’re not.” I was like, “I am, I’m done.” I took one last job, and I said to myself I was going to go on TikTok. I remember getting the call to audition for The Wiz. They saw me on TikTok, and that’s why they called me in. It’s just really crazy to me that I’m here in this moment, because the journey was so hard. To be here is just beyond my wildest imagination.

KC: I hope young artists are listening to you talk about that last push and not giving up.

NL: All of us feel that at some point in our lives. We know this is what we are meant to do.

KC: The gut tells you. My Broadway debut was in a play, Scapin. I was working out in the region, and doing some great work there, but I told my agent, “Oh, I don’t want to audition for a play. I want my Broadway debut to be in a musical.” I never thought that I would ever get that job. To me, doing a play for my first time on Broadway, it was really cool, because it wasn’t as I expected it would be.

LM: I grew up in the Bronx. My mom was a nurse. My dad owned a deli. I’d never sung in my entire life. I didn’t even know I could sing. I had a best friend at the time who loved performing and loved musical theater, and she would take me to see Broadway shows occasionally. She took me to see Phantom of the Opera. That was the first show that I remember sitting through and just being like, I can’t put this into words. I can only explain this feeling, this pull.

A few weeks later, there was an open call for the Broadway show Les [Misérables]. My friend wanted to audition, and the night before, her father had a heart attack. Her mother called my mom and said, “Please, you have to take her on the audition.” I said, “Well, I’m going to try out, too, if we’re taking her. ” My parents said, “Well, you can’t sing.” They didn’t know. The truth is, I hadn’t ever sung before. I sang “Angel of Music” from The Phantom of the Opera. When we left, they [asked] my mom, “Who are you? Does she have an agent?” I had no headshot or anything. I said to my mom, “I think I’m going to get this.” And she said, “Things like this don’t happen to people like us.”

Then two weeks later, I was performing on Broadway. I made my Broadway debut, in 1995 at the Imperial Theatre, and here we are 30 years later. I’m about to go back into the Imperial Theatre for what will be my sixth Broadway show. I can’t imagine being anywhere else in my life. This is where I feel like I am meant to be.

KC: I think about your poor friend. I hope y’all are still friends.

LM: We are.

On “For Good” from Wicked

KC: I knew there was a song missing for the characters. I just kept asking Stephen Schwartz, “Where’s that song?” We need that song where we come together.

LM: It’s “For Good,” obviously, but it wasn’t there?

KC: No. He knew it too. He came into rehearsal one day and he played it for us, [Idina Menzel and myself], a couple times. Then, we saw it, read it and I went, “Oh no, this is the show.” I told Idina, I remember, “It ain’t going to matter about anything else other than this moment.” She, of course, knew that. She said, “You’re 100 percent right.”

NL: It became a thing all over the world. Every high school sings it, every single time before they graduate.

KC: When we do musical theater poorly, then we should get made fun of. “Oh, look at what they’re doing, they’re just breaking into song.” But when it’s done the best, it is the most amazing, challenging thing.

Full look, Michael Kors.

On her “show-must-go-on” moment in Spring Awakening

LM: This is a little rated-R for ELLE, but act one ends with my character losing her virginity with the wonderful Jonathan Groff on top of me—literally deflowering me the moment the lights go out. Then, we go backstage in this intermission, and Jonathan goes, “I had some chicken salad, and I really don’t feel good.” Next thing you know, he’s in the bathroom and he’s so, so ill. They’re knocking on the door, and he’s like, “I have to go home.” Luckily, he had an amazing cover who got into costume. They made the announcement at intermission. We started act two in the same position, mid-lovemaking, just a different man on top of me. Wendla, [Michele’s character in Spring Awakening], just was a busy gal that night. When she got pregnant, we just will never know. She died, and we’ll never know. That is, to this day, one of my favorite [moments].

On Queen of Versailles

KC: [In] Queen of Versailles, I’m going to be belting a ton, but I do have an aria, too. It’s a long story, but it’s all over the map. I warm up my voice in the shower, because I like the reverb. I do a lot of soprano warming up backstage before I go on. I do have a [costume] dresser that’s been with me for a long time, Mo. We pray, because we both have aligning things. I have to do all of the things. But whatever I do, I have to pop everything in my body. I pop my ankles, knees, hips, elbows, neck, wrists, and then I’m ready to go.

LM: [Popping] is the last thing I thought you were going to do. That’s the show. Up the ticket prices.

Jacket, skirt, Self-Portrait. Shoes, Jimmy Choo.

On stage fright

NL: I used to do jumping jacks. It’s really stupid, but I felt like it would help me. I just need to warm up my body. I drink hot water. I do my little warm-ups, I pray. I always pray. I listen to gospel music very loudly. Probably so annoying, but I have to listen to Lecresia Campbell before I go on stage. My friend, who would be across the way, we would do jumping jacks together before I went on stage, because I have the worst stage fright.

LM: Call me every day. I’ll talk to you before the show every day.

KC: You do, too? I didn’t know this about you, [Lea]?

LM: Oh, yeah. So bad.

KC: When does it subside for y’all?

LM: In the car ride on the way home, and then it comes back the next day when I wake up the next morning.

NL: Eight shows a week.

KC: It doesn’t relax when you get onstage?

NL: No, not really. I just have to work through it. Your body’s like, What are we doing?

LM: I’m learning to try to turn my anxiety into excitement, and remind myself that if I’m nervous, it means that this is high stakes. It means this is a gift. It means this is a challenge. The minute I’m not nervous is when I should go home.

On the state of Broadway

LM: I think that we can all sense a lot of the changes happening in our world, and especially in this industry right now, and are aware of a lot of the cuts and things that are happening.

KC: As a producer now, one of the things that makes me fearful is that we are putting so much money into our shows, and then the ticket prices are so high that when you’re asking a family of four to come buy dinner, go to the show, maybe spend the night…that’s very, very expensive. I vacillate between a producer and an actor going, Well, we have to charge that because we have to make the money back. But then, Is that going to hurt us in the long run? Are we going to just do limited runs now and try to make all the money that we can? Are we going to do less expensive productions? Are we going to lower the ticket prices? Are our stars going to take less in their salaries, or is it going to become much more like, excuse me, the West End? It makes me a wee nervous, just because I don’t want us to shoot ourselves in the foot. Right now, I just look to the future, and I pray that we do not continue the path that we’re going [down]. Now, I’m not a budget money person. Like I said, I don’t do math, but I have learned a lot about it.

LM: I thought you said you couldn’t drive.

KC: Well, I can’t do that either.

LM: Don’t put the two of us together. Can’t read, can’t drive…

NL: It’s really hard, because we do want to share our gifts. That’s what we do. We’re creatives. That’s how we heal the world. That’s how we try to give love. It is important, because like you said, we have to make that money back, but it’s also at what cost?

KC: Also, do you feel that we’ve come back from COVID fully? I’m not sure the business has. I think it’s coming, but when 85 percent capacity is considered a hit? It’s interesting.

LM: Having been on [Glee] that spoke so much about the importance of the arts has just made it for me, realizing and understanding the importance of an artist. If we can’t change much, what we can do is just continue to make art.

KC: This is what we’re supposed to do. Some people say, “Do you think you’ll ever retire?” I don’t even understand that. I might do less, but I just can’t imagine doing anything else.

Listen to ELLE and Spotify’s collaborative playlist celebrating the series below.

---

On Kristin Chenoweth: Styling by Deborah Watson, hair and makeup by Bruce Wayne. On Lea Michele: Styling by Brian Meller, hair by DJ Quintero; makeup by Kate Teter. On Nichelle Lewis: Styling by Carson Stannard; hair by Ashley Wise; makeup by Jesse Ramirez.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.