Libertyville Teacher Shares Stage With Broadway Star

AURORA, IL — A Libertyville teacher got the chance to share the stage with a Broadway star on Saturday, in a surprise that left her shaking and in bliss.

Allison Zabelin was in Aurora's Paramount Theatre for "An Intimate Evening with Kristin Chenoweth," when, early in the second act, Chenoweth made a request of the audience. She asked for a volunteer to sing the duet "For Good," the tune from Wicked. Hands shot up around the theater, according to the Daily Herald.

Allison's mother, Barbara, nudged her along to raise her own hand, and she did. At first, Chenoweth chose another audience member, the Herald reported, who revealed to Chenoweth that she didn't know all the lines to "For Good."

Then Chenoweth, looking at the second row of the center section of the audience, said "you in the scarf," and walked right towards Allison. "The moment she recognized I exist, she sent me right into a state of bliss," the Herald reported her as saying.

Luckily for Zabelin, she's no stranger to performing. She teaches orchestra to fourth- through eighth-graders in Libertyville District 70 and tried to heed some advice she gives her students: turn your nerves into excitement. "That's what I tried to do."

Chenoweth opened up the song with her pianist, and when it was time for Zabelin to sing, she was in good hands. Chenoweth watched her carefully, ready to mouth any lyrics she struggled with. She even harmonized with the Broadway star, excitedly thinking "I'm singing and holding hands with Kristin Chenoweth."

The end of the song was met with a thunderous applause, the Herald reported, and Zabelin said her heart was racing for several minutes after her impromptu performance, "like I had run a marathon or something."

After the show Zabelin, alongside her mom and dad, got to go backstage and meet Chenoweth and chat for a few minutes. The star had other people to meet, but that didn't stop her from giving her newest co-singer her full attention. "When she was with us, she was totally with us," Zabelin said.

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