After "Animal Crackers", Chenoweth continued to appear in regional theatre productions, such as "Babes in Arms" at The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, and "Phantom" (as Christine; also touring in Germany in this role), also taking roles in Off-Broadway productions like Luisa in "The Fantasticks", and Kristy in "Box Office of the Damned" (both in 1994). In 1997, she appeared as Hyacinth in the Roundabout Theater Company production of Moliere's farcical "Scapin", earning her first "New York Times" review, with Ben Brantley writing "Kristin Chenoweth's sob-prone ingenue is delightful". She made her Broadway debut in the spring of 1997 as Precious McGuire in the musical "Steel Pier" by Kander and Ebb, for which she won a Theatre World Award. In 1998 she appeared in the City Center Encores! staged concert of the George and Ira Gershwin musical "Strike up the Band" as Anne Draper and created roles in the original Lincoln Center Theater production of William Finn's "A New Brain". Ben Rimalower, in "Playbill", wrote: "It's unlikely anyone will equal Kristin Chenoweth in the role of 'Nancy D., the waitress.'"