Hugh Jackman Tells Kristin Chenoweth: 'You Gotta' Do On the Twentieth Century

Broadway darling Kristin Chenoweth is plotting her return to the stage as the star of a 2013 Roundabout Theatre Company revival of the musical On the Twentieth Century. Cheering her on is heartthrob Hugh Jackman, who starred as director Oscar Jaffee opposite Chenoweth’s spoiled diva Lily Garland in a private reading of the musical comedy last year.

“He said something so great after the reading,” Chenoweth told Paul Wontorek during an episode of the popular Broadway.com talk show Show People that will run on March 1. “He said, ‘Kris, I don’t have to do this [show]. It isn’t something I feel I have to do, but you do. You gotta do this part!”

Chenoweth says she was convinced to commit to the musical following the reading, which also featured Tony winner Andrea Martin. “It was amazing,” she gushes. “What it did was really show me how I need to do the show.” Chenoweth will be playing the role of Lily, which was originated on Broadway in 1978 by her idol, Madeline Kahn: “It’s stepping into somebody’s shoes, but...I think I can put my own stamp on it and respect her work in it, too.”

According to Chenoweth, the revival will bow on Broadway in 2013 during her next hiatus, which will be determined by the success of her new ABC comedy GCB, premiering Sunday, March 4 at 10PM.