“In September 2017, Andrea Bocelli asked me to go to Rome to sing ‘The Prayer’ with him at a benefit gala for his foundation. I had never been to Italy. This was a special moment, to get to go for the first time with probably the most famous Italian singer alive today. What a week, and I only had to sing twice! I’m used to Broadway, where we do eight shows a week, or being on tour and singing every other night, but I was able to relax and breathe. I just took the time to walk, walk, walk along the cobblestone streets at my leisure. At the Vatican there was a feeling that I had been there before. They kind of let me go on a private tour at St. Peter’s Basilica, and I was lucky enough to see the Chapel of the Choir. I sang just a little bit of [Leonard Cohen’s] ‘Hallelujah,’ and I loved hearing that song and its lyrics with those acoustics. I kind of lost myself there. On the day of the gala, I went for a small walk. I wanted to be very quiet and alone, because you give everything away later during the performance. On this particular night I was nervous. Usually I get over it because that’s what I do for a living, but I wanted to sing really well. I wanted Andrea to be proud of me. There was a breeze in the air at Villa Madama, the palace. I remember looking out at the crowd in the long room, with people going so far back, and seeing sheer white curtains blowing in the wind with white candlelight and white peonies and roses at every table, and randomly, luckily, I wore a white gown, which I don’t usually do—normally, my outfit is exactly wrong. Andrea and I started singing and I felt people were actually listening, not socializing. It took about four measures of the song before I finally relaxed. I remember the way Andrea’s energy was with me and the way he grabbed my hand. Then he stepped aside and let me sing on my own.”
Kristin Chenoweth stars in The Queen of Versailles at the St. James Theater in New York City, which runs through January 4, 2026. This article appeared in the December 2025 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.
