How Kristin Chenoweth’s Chronic Migraines Impacted Her Career

During her interview, Kristin Chenoweth shared that while some might see migraines as “just a headache,” in reality, they’re far more serious and debilitating than that. “This is not a headache — this is a horrible, painful thing.” She said. Chenoweth described experiencing a variety of symptoms, including that she would “throw up, not be able to see, hear, [and] brain freeze.” Chenoweth added, “It’s not [understood] until you experience it.”

Despite how extreme her symptoms are, the actress has often had to push through the pain while performing live. The first time she experienced migraine symptoms, Chenoweth was performing with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. She kept singing until intermission. “By intermission, I literally sat down. The curtain went down. I sat down and crawled off the stage,” she said. Another difficult moment Chenoweth recalled was being told by a Broadway director to go through a performance despite her migraine. The pain was so bad that Chenoweth couldn’t see, but she still went on to perform. “I pushed through it but was so sick, and it’s not a performance I would want anyone to see,” she said. As a singer and Broadway actress, Chenoweth often had to perform while sick. “I know a lot of people who do that in their jobs. They try to push through it with chronic migraine, and then they go home, and they’re sick. Sometimes you cannot push through it,” she said.