Kristin Chenoweth Dishes on Reuniting with “Wicked” Composer and ‘Big Brother’ Stephen Schwartz on New Musical (Exclusive)

Reunited and it feels so… Wicked!

Kristin Chenoweth is thrilled to be working with composer Steven Schwartz on Broadway’s The Queen of Versailles, more than two decades after they brought The Wizard of Oz prequel Wicked to the Great White Way in 2003.

Speaking with PEOPLE at the new musical’s premiere on Sunday, Nov. 9, Chenoweth, 57, referred to the 77-year-old as her “big brother” while explaining how their relationship has changed over the years.

“We skip 15 steps. We already know each other so well, so I don’t have to say, ‘Is it okay?’ And he doesn’t have to go, ‘Are you sure you like?’ We just go, ‘I hate that.’ And he goes, ‘Don’t do that.’ And that is refreshing,” she said.

“But I respect him so much, and the fact that this man is still doing what he’s doing at his age and making it look easy is an inspiration to me,” added Chenoweth.

In The Queen of Versailles, Tony Award winner Chenoweth plays Florida socialite Jackie Siegel, who, along with her husband David Siegel, set out to build an extravagant home in the Sunshine State modeled after France’s Palace of Versailles. It’s loosely based on the 2012 documentary of the same name.

Chenoweth and Schwartz first crossed paths when Wicked was still being workshopped ahead of its Broadway run. The actress originated the role of Glinda, the future Good Witch (a role played by Ariana Grande in the film version of the stage show).

“She was involved with Wicked for about three years before we even went out of town,” Schwartz recalled to Playbill in 2015. “She did our very first full reading of the show because she happened to be in L.A., and I knew the person she was staying with and I invited her.”

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“As soon as [book writer] Winnie Holzman and I heard her read and sing the part of Glinda, we thought, ‘Oh, we have to have her do this.’ Consequently, both in terms of the writing of the role and some specific things that I wrote musically that hadn’t yet been composed, when Kristin joined us, they were really written for her. She had enormous influence on the creation of that show,” Schwartz added to the outlet.

The Queen of Versailles is now playing at the St. James Theater in New York.