Audiences are eagerly anticipating this year’s Christmas concerts featuring acclaimed actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth! Tickets for the shows were sold out in one hour, and the buzz continues to grow as we inch closer to the event.

In anticipation of the concerts, which will be held on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, December 13–15, 2018, at 8:00 p.m. in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, here are 10 facts about the multitalented Kristin Chenoweth.

She Earned a Master’s in Opera Performance

Chenoweth earned a bachelor’s degree in musical theater and a master’s degree in opera performance from Oklahoma City University. On deciding about her future, she recalled thinking, “What's your decision really going to be? And because I'd been a singer and a dancer and an actress, you know, I knew the focus in opera was just mainly on the voice, and so I really just decided to follow my heart, and I still train operatically. I still do operas, but I am known for my musical theater.”

She Has an Interesting Alternate Career Choice

Although Chenoweth thought about opera singing as an alternate career choice, there was another career she considered as well. When an interviewer asked her about wanting to be a private detective she replied, “If I wasn’t acting, I’d love to study criminal psychology and/or forensics. I just find the whole subject so fascinating. What makes people do horrible things? It’s like putting together the pieces of a puzzle. Yeah, that’s probably what I would’ve done.”

She Is a Tony Award Winner

In 1999, she won a Tony Award for her portrayal as Sally Brown in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. In addition to her Tony Award win, she has won numerous awards, including a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for her role in On the Twentieth Century and an Online Film and Television Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Glee. She was also nominated for a host of awards for roles in productions and series such as Wicked, The Apple Tree, The West Wing, and more.

She Is Lucky to Be Alive

While she was filming The Good Wife, a lighting fixture fell on her, resulting in a very serious injury. On an appearance on The David Letterman Show, Chenoweth explained, “What happened was a huge lighting fixture fell on my face and cracked my nose and teeth, and then slammed me backwards into a curb and it cracked my head,” which resulted in a 5-inch skull fracture and cracked ribs. Watch the full video of Chenoweth on Letterman. 

She Is a Talented Voice Actress for Children’s Shows

Chenoweth has been acting in television, film, and Broadway since the late 1990s, and her varying roles show her enormous versatility. She has performed in numerous roles on Broadway, including the originating roles of Glinda in Wicked and Sally in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Her television and film roles include characters such as April Rhodes in Glee (alongside another Tabernacle Choir guest artist, Matthew Morrison), Olive Snook in Pushing Daisies, Maleficent in Disney’s Descendants, and Annabeth Schott on The West Wing. What many people don’t know is that she also played numerous voice acting roles, including Rosetta the Garden Fairy in the Tinkerbell series, Gabi the Frog in Rio 2, Fifi in the Peanuts movie, Sugar Plum Fairy in Strange Magic, Princess Skystar in My Little Pony: The Movie, Abby in The Star, and numerous Sesame Street appearances.

She Can Harmonize with a Fire Alarm

OK, you just have to watch this…

She Runs a Broadway Bootcamp

The Kristin Chenoweth Broadway Bootcamp has been running each summer since 2015 at the Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center in her hometown of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. “To come home and be able to do what you love and to pass it on. I didn’t have that experience growing up in Broken Arrow, and I wanted it so bad for these kids,” smiled Chenoweth. The week-long bootcamp includes singing, acting, and dancing, with a final performance. 

She Made a Big Impression as a Beauty Pageant Contestant

While Chenoweth was pursuing her education in musical theater and opera performance, she entered beauty pageants to help fund her education. In 1991, she won the title of runner-up to Miss Oklahoma. 

She Has Her Own Star

On July 24, 2015 (Kristin’s birthday), Chenoweth received the 2,555th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of live performances on stage or in theater.

She Knows How to Make a Grand Entrance

In 2004, Chenoweth was interviewed with her Wicked costar Idina Menzel on A&E Breakfast with the Arts. When she was asked about her grand entrance in a flying pink bubble, she marveled, “It’s probably the best entrance I’ll ever have. … I’m so lucky! Universal really helped the character out a lot by letting her do that.” Watch the full interview here.