By Andrew Gans
and Ernio Hernandez
14 May 2007

Kristin Chenoweth

A host of theatre favorites will be part of the new ABC series "Pushing Daisies," which has been picked up for the fall season.

Among the cast are Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth, who is currently appearing in the City Center Encores! presentation of Stairway to Paradise; Little Shop of Horrors' Ellen Greene; Tony Award winner Swoosie Kurtz; Closer's Anna Friel; "Boston Public" actor Chi McBride; and Lee Pace, who was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his performance as a transsexual in "Soldier's Girl."

The fantasy crime drama, Variety says, "revolves around a man [Pace] who discovers he can resurrect dead people with the touch of his hand — but that if he touches them again, they once again leave this mortal coil."

About the series, Chenoweth recently told Playbill.com, "[Lee Pace is] a talented individual. He plays a guy who can bring people back from the dead. Now it sounds hokey, sounds like, 'Oh we've seen that before.' But the trick is this: He can touch people — that's how he brings them back, but he has 60 seconds to decide. If he touches them again before 60 seconds, they go back to being dead. If he leaves it, they live, but somebody else drops dead. It's very complicated. But Bryan Fuller is the writer, and Barry Sonnenfeld directed it. You know, I read the script and, again, I'm pretty picky. It's gotta be something really interesting for me to [accept a role] — whether it goes or succeeds is besides the point. It really has to speak to me. There's a love triangle, and I play one of the girls. It's a great cast."

Executive producers are Bryan Fuller, Dan Jinks, Bruce Cohen and Barry Sonnenfeld.

Kristin Chenoweth, who received a Tony nomination for her work as Glinda in Stephen Schwartz's Wicked, has been seen on the New York stage in The Fantasticks, Scapin, Steel Pier, A New Brain, Epic Proportions, Strike Up the Band, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, The Apple Tree and Candide. The actress won her Tony Award for her performance as Sally Brown in the Broadway bow of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Chenoweth recently released her second solo recording, "As I Am" (Sony Classical), and her screen credits include "Kristin," "The West Wing," "The Music Man," "The Pink Panther," "Stranger Than Fiction," "Deck the Halls" and "Running with Scissors." Chenoweth will also make a guest appearance on the season finale of ABC-TV's "Ugly Betty" May 17.

Lee Pace was seen recently in Off-Broadway's The Guardians. Pace's other stage credits include Small Tragedy, The Fourth Sister and The Credeaux Canvas as well as TV's "Wonderfalls" and "Soldier's Girl."

Swoosie Kurtz — last seen in the Broadway revival of Heartbreak House — has provided Emmy-nominated turns on Showtime's "Huff" and "Sisters." The actress won Tony Awards for The House of Blue Leaves and Fifth of July and a nomination for her work in Frozen. Kurtz's other stage credits include Imaginary Friends, Love Letters, A History of the American Film, Tartuffe, The Mineola Twins, and Ah, Wilderness!

Ellen Greene began her career as a nightclub singer, performing in the now closed New York cabaret Reno Sweeney. At age 21, Joseph Papp took her under his wing and cast her in productions of Boom Boom Room and The Threepenny Opera. Greene earned a Tony nomination for her work in the latter, but it was her role as Audrey in both the original stage and film productions of Little Shop of Horrors that brought her national attention. Among her recent theatrical credits are the West Coast staging of Side Man and an all-star reading of Women Behind Bars. Her many screen credits include "The Cooler," "One Fine Day," "Léon," "Fathers & Sons," "Stepping Out," "Pump Up the Volume," "Talk Radio" and "Next Stop, Greenwich Village." Her solo recording is titled "In His Eyes."