Her ‘Wicked’ duet with Kristin Chenoweth went viral more than a decade ago. It changed her life for good

By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN

(CNN) — Kristin Chenoweth doesn’t always sing “For Good,” the soaring duet of heavenly harmonies from the musical “Wicked,” at her shows. But the petite powerhouse, who originated the role of Glinda, really wanted to do it over her two-night run at LA’s historic Hollywood Bowl in 2013. Sarah Horn is glad she did.

Chenoweth chose Horn at random, even if it didn’t seem like it to the audience or the millions who would watch the moment in viral clips online. Horn knew every word, every intonation and hit every note of the song. The audience roared, seemingly with joy and surprise in equal measure. At one point, after Horn seamlessly harmonized, Chenoweth exclaimed, “Holy crap!”

As Horn made her way backstage after the show, “Glee” star Darren Criss was the first face she saw, and he began to chant her name.

“Even today, more than a decade later, I still have people that are saying that they’re re-watching the video, and it’s bringing tears to their eyes,” Horn told CNN in a recent interview. “It just touches my heart so much that that moment is still ringing so clear and true and poignant for people.”

The Broadway musical, which serves as prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” has been a reminder of how powerful music can be as it’s brought millions of people together since it debuted in 2003. As “Wicked” comes to theaters for the first time this weekend via Jon M. Chu’s two-part film, Horn is just one of those millions of people that have been affected by the beloved musical. In her case, it put her on a path that changed her life, in her words, “for good.”

An Italian romance

When Horn was picked from a crowd of thousands to take the stage with Chenoweth, she was working as a voice teacher at California Baptist University and had performed mostly in small musical theater productions. After the moment went viral, she started to get calls for stage productions that she didn’t even have to audition for and was invited to sing at venues all over the country and abroad.

For years, Horn was comfortably living out of suitcases, traveling everywhere from China to Texas to star in several musical productions.

While appearing in a production of “An Extra Penny” in 2017 North Carolina, Branch Fields, an experienced opera singer who was also appearing in the musical, took note of her powerful voice encouraged her to pursue a career singing opera. He introduced her to Milena Kitic, a renowned voice teacher and mezzo-soprano in Los Angeles, who helped her hone her craft.

Kitic took Horn on her first trip to Italy in 2018 as part of a young artist program with the Orange County Ars Vocalis Academy, a nonprofit organization that aims to develop talented vocalists in opera, art songs and musical. One year later, Horn was back in Italy starring in the opera “Così fan tutte” which is where she first met the opera’s orchestral conductor, Dr. Raffaele Cipriano, the man who would become her husband.

“He was in the pit, and I was the lead Soprano so I had to stare at him a lot. Ooh darn,” she said, with a laugh.

By 2022 they were living together in Kansas, engaged the next year and got married in July. They just moved into their first house in Kansas and are planning to go see “Wicked” together this weekend.

The gift of music

Horn first saw the “Wicked” musical in 2004 on Broadway with the original cast of Chenoweth as Glinda and Idina Menzel as Elphaba. At the time, she said she made a “genie wish” that one day she’d sing with Chenoweth, making her big moment at the Hollywood Bowl a “dream come true moment” in every sense.

Acknowledging that she never could’ve planned for things to go the way they did on stage in 2013, Horn also knew she was particularly qualified to sing “For Good” after having sung it for years prior throughout her musical theater education.

“It’s only when you’re tested that you see what you’re truly made out of,” Horn said.

By the time she found herself on stage with Chenoweth, she knew it so well she could’ve sang that song in her sleep, she said.

“It cemented the power of practice and of rehearsal,” she said. “Because I was so familiar with that song and I’d done it so many times, it just happened and I was able to enjoy the moment without thinking.”

“My gut said ‘pick her,’” Chenoweth told CNN recently via email. “I’m happy to say it was one of the best audience interactions I’ve ever had with that song.”

Horn remembers spotting Chenoweth backstage after their duet at the end of the hallway with her arms wide open, offering Horn a hug as big as the one they shared on stage at the end. They rejoiced in the moment that would go on to be viewed over 3 million times and change her life forever.

In her email, Chenoweth recalled learning at the time that Horn was a music teacher and thought to herself, “this will be sweet. Her students will love it.” But then, Chenoweth wrote, “she opens her mouth and blows us all away, especially me.”

Today, Horn works as a life coach, specializing in the practice of Neuro Linguistic Programming. But music is always going to be part of her life.

“Music and the love of music is a driving force from within,” she said, adding, “Musical gifts aren’t just for the person that has the gift. It’s a gift to share.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.