Kristin Chenoweth Albums (3)
'A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas'
Release Date 10/14/2008
Tracks 12
Label Masterworks
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Kristin Chenoweth's 2001 album was a collection of standards that showcased her winning soprano and remarkable ability to shift from Broadway brassy to "My Funny Valentine"-sultry at the turn of a note. Let Yourself Go was a great follow-up to her 1999 Tony win for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. But since then Chenoweth has branched out from Broadway, particularly into acting (She joined the cast of West Wing in 2004), and As I Am reflects her higher profile. It's a personal album that mixes country and adult contemporary instrumentation in a set featuring hymnal book standards and contemporary Christian favorites. Chenoweth herself is pictured in relaxed cotton separates -- every bit the attractive, approachable celebrity -- and there isn't a Broadway tune in the bunch. As I Am begins with "It Will Be Me." A pedal steel helps the 1999 Faith Hill tune retain its country-pop feel, but there's also a slickness suitable to Chenoweth's flawless vocal. "Because He Lives" has a similar modern country sheen, while "Joyful, Joyful"'s rich arrangement for strings and piano gives the vocalist a stage for a little of that Broadway expression. Diane Warren's pristine "Borrowed Angels" is destined for lite FM radio, and Chenoweth dedicates "There Will Never Be Another" to Amy Grant. Though its slickness is suited to the material, As I Am can also seem to flutter inside its own perfect globe, untouched by the elements and radiant as Chenoweth's golden hair. That's why a version of the traditional "Poor, Wayfaring Stranger" is so refreshing with its warm B-3 tones and subtly expressive vocal, and the fun closer "Taylor, The Latte Boy" -- about Kristin's crush on her Starbucks barista -- is so important. These songs further personalize As I Am; they add a layer of realness to its shiny dedications of faith. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Kristin Chenoweth capped a rising career in musical theater with her debut solo album, which found her showing off her well-trained soprano in a collection of show tunes, most of which dated to the interwar period. On Irving Berlin's "Let Yourself Go," she tap danced like Fred Astaire in Follow the Fleet, and she worked up a torrent of comic anger in Jule Styne's "If You Hadn't But You Did." Then, she switched gears, proving herself a potently romantic figure in the Gershwins' "How Long Has This Been Going On?" and Rodgers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine." And so it went. Backed by the Coffee Club Orchestra, the resident backup band for City Center's Encores! series of concert versions of lost musicals, with whom she had worked on Strike Up the Band and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, she recreated one of the Strike Up the Band numbers, the lesser-known Gershwin treat "Hangin' Around With You," abetted by another musical theater veteran who had branched out into TV, Jason Alexander. Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlan's previously unheard "The Girl in 14G" allowed her to show off her opera training as well as her scatting abilities, and she fearlessly (and successfully) took on the ghost of Mary Martin by covering "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" from One Touch of Venus. Like an elaborate audition tape, the album seemed designed to suggest that Chenoweth could play any sort of part; sometimes the songs themselves reflected this goal of displaying versatility, notably the obscure Vincent Youmans song "Should I Be Sweet?," in which the singer must bounce back and forth between "sweet" and "hot" personas as she tries to choose between them. But whatever role she undertook, Chenoweth revealed more than enough talent to excel on a dazzling first album. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
