Kristin Chenoweth, “changed for good”, Oklahoma Cultural Ambassador

Kristin Chenoweth, a native Oklahoman, was honored with the title of Oklahoma Cultural Ambassador for her achievements in the arts. Despite living with Meniere’s Disease, a condition that causes vertigo and nausea, she continues to excel in her career as a singer and actress. Her memoir, A Little Bit Wicked, offers insight into her personal and professional life.

Like me, Kristin Chenoweth was born and raised in Oklahoma; unlike me, she is an award-winning singer and stage, screen, and television actress.  She is loved and admired here in our home state, being an inductee into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, as well as the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.

Now she has added another honor to the list. In a ceremony in Oklahoma City she was named an Oklahoma Cultural Ambassador, only one of seven people to be so honored. The award goes to “native Oklahomans who have achieved national and international acclaim in the arts”.

We have learned so much about …the power of the arts to better the health of our communities.

Amber Sharples, Director, Oklahoma Arts Council

Kristin, who was surprised and emotional, said

I was a tiny girl from Broken Arrow, who didn’t really fit into a lot of things. My voice sounded funny, but ..I felt at home on stage- which is why I’m in therapy. But I do love it here.

Kristin Chenoweth

I appreciate and admire Kristin’s transparency, which is one reason I enjoyed her memoir and reviewed it on this blog. I’ll leave the link to the original post but here are some excerpts.

a review of

A LITTLE BIT Wicked:Life, Love, and Faith in Stages

by Kristin Chenoweth

I have attended shows at the Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center in Oklahoma where Kristin Chenoweth conducts an annual Broadway Bootcamp.  But I didn’t know much about her until I listened to the audiobook version of her memoir A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith in Stages, read by her. Now I almost feel like we are best friends.

The Kristin Chenoweth Theatre sign
Sign in the lobby of the Performing Arts Center -the theatre bears her name

From the opening paragraph, Kristin is candid, no-nonsense, transparent, and hilarious. She’s one of those “you never know what she’s going to say next” people and you don’t want to miss any of it. She is just as upfront about sharing her failures as she is celebrating her successes. This part of the country is known as the “Bible belt” and Kristin admits to reading and believing it. So don’t be surprised when she mentions and occasionally quotes from the Bible in her memoir. Like when she talks about the circumstances of her birth.

Kristin’s faith and family

Kristin was adopted at birth by a couple who had one child but were unable to have more. She describes herself as the product of “forbidden love.” Her biological mother was an unmarried flight attendant who became pregnant. Instead of abortion or raising a child alone, she opted for adoption.

Kristin joined the Chenoweth family soon after birth. Her adoptive parents have loved her and supported her career and she is immensely grateful to them. (They were with her at the ceremony honoring her as an Ambassador)

Addendum: Since I first wrote this review, I have learned that Kristin has met her biological mother and learned that her birth father was a talented singer and musician.

Kristin’s personal life

Unlike many entertainment celebrities, Kristen doesn’t seem to have any skeletons in her closet; she has avoided problems with alcohol, drugs, abusive relationships,  financial problems, or other scandals. 

Kristin makes living with  Meniere’s Disease sound like a sitcom. Meniere’s causes dysfunction of the inner ear, resulting in sudden, unpredictable, debilitating attacks of vertigo(dizziness),  nausea, and vomiting. Episodes resolve after a few hours or sometimes days.

There is no cure for Meniere’s except a radical ear surgery which might leave her with hearing loss. As a professional singer, she doesn’t want to risk that, so she copes with the condition with humor and an unwillingness to let it stop her from fulfilling her work commitments.

Kristin has her serious side, evident as she describes singing at her beloved grandfather’s funeral, and supporting her mother through breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

She sometimes feels caught between the Christian community which criticizes her liberal social views and her friends with unconventional lifestyles who are turned off by her uncompromising Christian witness. As she puts it, she wants to love and help everyone in the same way Jesus did; she doesn’t want to take sides or exclude people just because they are different. 

Kristin’s performing career

Kristin has and still does perform on the stage, in movies, and television, and record albums. She won a Tony award as Sally Brown in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”

an evening gown on display next to a photo of Kristen Chenoweth
Kristen receiving her Tony Award, photo and her evening gown displayed in the theatre lobby

I hope you will read, or better yet listen to Kristen’s memoir.

She may be “A Little Bit Wicked”, but I think you will love her as much as we do here in Oklahoma.

These are affiliate links which support this blog in sharing the HEART of health.

Enjoy Kristin’s singing

Listen on Apple Music to COMING HOME

Buy on the iTunes Store THE ART OF ELEGANCE  album

WICKED- cover of a program from the musical

After hearing how wonderful it is, I finally saw the touring production of WICKED and it is every bit as “wicked” as everyone says.

Although Kristin no longer performs in it, other actresses bring Glinda and Elphaba to life with singing, non-stop action, and gorgeous costumes.

It may be based on a children’s story, but WICKED is a touching saga of love, friendship, betrayal, courage, and forgiveness. Don’t miss it if you have a chance to see it.

Exploring the HEART of Health

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Dr. Aletha

Kristin Chenoweth, Oklahoma’s sweetheart, a little bit WICKED

Kristin Chenoweth starred in WICKED, a captivating show with dynamic performances and stunning costumes, tells a profound story of love, friendship, betrayal, courage, and forgiveness. Despite Kristin’s absence, the production continues to mesmerize audiences. Delve into the history of Broken Arrow, the hometown of Kristin, to uncover intriguing facts. Click to keep reading!

Keep reading

Broken Arrow trivia

  • Named the #1 happiest city in Oklahoma (Zippia 2020)
  • 9th lowest crime in the United States (Business Insider 2018)
  • 267th largest city in the United States
  • median age-37 years
  • #1 Best City in Oklahoma for First-Time Home Buyers 2020 (Wallethub)

The largest employer in the city is Broken Arrow Public Schools with 2379 employees for 20,000 students.

The Pride of Broken Arrow, the high school’s marching band, won the 2021 Bands of America National Championship with an intense performance called “The Edge of Eternity”. The Pride practices 10 hours daily in the summer (when daytime temps can reach 100+), and most evenings and weekends through the fall.

The Pride of Broken Arrow marching band

As of 2022, Broken Arrow has a council-manager form of government. Three out of 5 city councilors are women; one serves as Mayor, and one as Vice Mayor (chosen among the councilors)

And it is a “sweet” place to live; 255 people work for the 9th largest employer, Blue Bell Ice Cream!

a sign-JACKSON PARK CITY OF BROKEN ARROWsurrounded by shrubs
CITY OF BROKEN ARROW-photo by Dr Aletha

THE MUTANT PROJECT-a book review

At the same time, some of the more entrepreneurial see the potential for using genetic modification to selectively breed desirable and profitable human traits-high IQ, increased muscle mass, or designer skin color, and enhanced fertility, including choosing the gender of babies.

THE MUTANT PROJECT

Inside the global race to genetically modify humans

By Eben Kirksey

If this were the title of a fiction book, you might expect the main characters to be brilliant but misguided scientists, funded by biotech start-ups who see potential for massive profits by developing methods to manipulate human DNA. The applications of such technology for the treatment of genetic diseases, cancers, and viral infections could be worth billions of dollars.

At the same time, some of the more entrepreneurial see the potential for using genetic modification to selectively breed desirable and profitable human traits-high IQ, increased muscle mass, or designer skin color, and enhanced fertility, including choosing the gender of babies.

You would be right except The Mutant Project is not fiction; it is based on facts, meticulously researched by Eben Kirksey, Ph.D. In this book, Dr. Kirksey chronicles his travels around the world as he learned about genetic modification using CRISPR by interviewing multiple scientists and investors who were involved in the first genetically edited babies born in 2018.

The Mutant Timeline

One does not need a graduate degree in genetics to understand this book, although I am sure it would help. But here are some basic facts that introduce the book.

1818

Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, the world’s first science fiction book, about a young researcher who produces a creature with superhuman powers.

1901

Hugo de Vries wrote The Mutation Theory, about foundational ideas about genetic variation

1953

Watson and Crick are credited with discovering the DNA’s double helix structure

graphic depiction of DNA- the double helix

1978

Louise Brown is born, the world’s first “test-tube” baby

1987

CRISPR, short for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats”, were first discovered in the sequences of DNA from Escherichia coli bacteria and described in 1987 by Ishino et al. [1] from Osaka University (Japan)

a drawing representing CRISPR
CRISPR-Cas9 is a customizable tool that lets scientists cut and insert small pieces of DNA at precise areas along a DNA strand. This lets scientists study our genes in a specific, targeted way. Credit: Ernesto del Aguila III, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH

2000

President Bill Clinton announces preliminary findings from the Human Genome Project.

2016

The first CRISPR clinical trial in the United States secures government approval

2016

The China National GeneBank opens, with a goal to collect DNA from every human on earth

CRISPR

CRISPR, “clustered interspaced short palindromic repeats” was discovered in bacteria in 1987, its purpose initially unknown. By 2012 scientists Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier demonstrated how to modify human DNA with CRISPR. It is an enzyme that can “generate mutants by chopping up DNA.”

CRISPR/CAS9 systems allow scientists to make targeted changes to an organism's DNA
CRISPR/CAS9 systems allow scientists to make targeted changes to an organism’s DNA This image is excerpted from a U.S. GAO report: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-20-478SP

Even though Dr. Kirksey is reporting as a journalist, he makes it clear that he agrees with those who feel this technology must be approached cautiously, as there is a clear risk that “biotech companies may put profits ahead of patients.”

Genetically modified babies

The chief protagonist of this saga is Dr. Jiankui He of China, the physician-scientist responsible for modifying two embryos and creating the first edited babies in the world, twin girls born in China in October 2018. He believed he had assured his place in history by using CRISPR to make these embryos resistant to HIV (human immunodeficiency virus).

Such a technique could change the world, potentially making all humans resistant to this infectious disease which is deadly without treatment. How Dr. He went from “powerful scientific entrepreneur to pariah” within a few short years is both riveting and disappointing.

This story moves at a rapid pace as the author traveled around the world attending lectures and interviewing multiple people in varied locations; I suggest not laying the book aside once you start, as I found it easy to get lost. A background in basic biology is helpful but not necessary to enjoy this book, since the ethical and moral issues it raises go beyond the realm of science.

Appropriately, the book is dedicated to the twin girls, Lulu and Nana, who live in China with their parents and are reported to be healthy.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a digital galley copy in exchange for my honest review.

also by Dr. Kirksey

Emergent Ecologies

And if you enjoy video

Human Nature-documentary movie

Human Nature is a provocative exploration of CRISPR’s far-reaching implications, through the families it’s affecting, and the bioengineers who are testing its limits. How will this new power change our relationship with nature? What will it mean for human evolution? To answer these questions we must look back billions of years and peer into an uncertain future.

Unnatural Selection-documentary television series

From eradicating disease to selecting a child’s traits, gene editing gives humans the chance to hack biology. Meet the real people behind the science.

available on Netflix

exploring the HEART of health and genetics

I hope you will consider reading Dr. Kirksey’s book and watching some of the videos. The medical sciences are finding more and more uses for genetics, for example, the mRNA vaccines developed to prevent COVID-19 infection. As Dr. Kirksey described in the book, there are significant ethical implications that bear watching.

I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you transform challenges into opportunities for learning and growth.

Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.

I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.

Dr. Aletha