Zien was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and graduated from Whitefish Bay High School and later from the University of Pennsylvania. There, he was the chairman of the Mask and Wig Club, the nation\'s oldest all-male collegiate musical comedy troupe.\n', '

Young Zien started in local theatrical productions. One of his early roles was as a child in a production of "South Pacific" at the Melody Top summer outdoor theatre in Milwaukee.\n', '

Zien\'s first major role was in 1977 at the Manhattan Theater Club in Ron Cowen\'s, Seth Glassman\'s and Sandy Naishtat\'s musical "The Redemption Center", playing opposite Alice Playten as the young couple. Later, Chip received acclaim in the role of Marvin in William Finn\'s first musical, In Trousers, which ran Off-Broadway in 1979. In its sequels, March of the Falsettos (1981) and Falsettoland, this role was played by Michael Rupert, while Zien played Mendel, a role he reprised when these two one-act musicals were joined together and played Broadway as Falsettos in 1992. In 1998 Zien was featured in another Finn musical when he played a children\'s show host called Mr. Bungee, dressed as a frog, in A New Brain Off-Broadway at the Lincoln Center Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. He received a 1999 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for this role.\n', '

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