Wicked actress discovers she has family relation to Wizard Of Oz

by

Kristin Chenoweth has discovered a surprise family link to the Wizard Of Oz.

I’ll never forget when I first saw her as Glinda in Wicked back in 2003! She was absolutely incredible – she created the role for the stage version of The Wizard of Oz story. She was 57 at the time and had already won a Tony, but she truly made Glinda her own. It was magical!

On a recent episode of PBS’s Finding Your Roots, hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., she discovered a connection between her late relative, Billy Eugene Ethridge, and the world of Oz.

She couldn’t believe it when Gates showed her a newspaper clipping from years ago proving Ethridge had been in a local production of The Wizard of Oz.

She read aloud an announcement for the Junior Players Guild’s production of The Wizard of Oz, which opens Friday at 8pm in the Great Hall of St. Matthew’s Cathedral. The announcement stated that Billy Eugene Ethridge will play the role of Oz.

She was clearly emotional, exclaiming in disbelief, ‘Seriously? That’s so strange! Wow, it turns out we had a lot in common!’

Gates went on to add another layer of the striking coincidence.

Oh my gosh, you won’t BELIEVE this! It turns out my idol, Ethridge, wasn’t just amazing at what he’s known for – he was a total theatre kid too! He was in The King and I, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court – can you imagine?! – and he was part of the school choir AND did dance reviews! Seriously, is there anything this person can’t do? I’m even more obsessed now!

Chenoweth described Billy as having a rockabilly style, noting his exceptional talent on both guitar and piano. While he wasn’t what she’d typically consider a musical theater performer, she acknowledged that he absolutely was one.

Gates then asked if the newly discovered link made the veteran entertainer ‘believe in fate.’

‘It does, right? Right there!’ Chenoweth answered.

She then exclaimed, ‘Oh, I wish he was alive so I could just be like, “Look at this!”‘

She recently starred in the musical Queen of Versailles, which is based on the 2012 documentary about billionaire Jackie Siegel and his attempt to build a massive, 90,000-square-foot home in Florida.

The show premiered on Broadway on November 9, 2025, but closed on December 21st—several weeks before its planned end date in January 2026.

Kristin Chenoweth both produced and performed in a stage production directed by Michael Arden, with music composed by Stephen Schwartz.

F. Murray Abraham, an Academy Award winner, played David Siegel, the wealthy husband of Jackie Siegel, in a satirical film with themes similar to those of Donald Trump. The movie had been in development since 2020.

It had been ten years since Oklahoma native Kristin Chenoweth last appeared in a Broadway musical, after her performances in ‘On the Twentieth Century’.

In a video posted online, recorded in her dressing room last November, she expressed her pride in the new artwork they had made.

It’s becoming increasingly difficult, and it makes me think about all the good shows from the last few seasons that didn’t get much attention.

‘I just love Broadway so much, and I love audiences and a live art form.’

She then thanked the audience members who had been seeing “Queen of Versailles” since its first preview performances on October 8th at the St. James Theatre in Manhattan.

Read More

2026-02-25 21:33