Idina Menzel has a diverse career on the stage, in film and television, and in music. Best known for her work in the Broadway musical and film adaption of Rent, her Tony Award-winning performance as Elphaba in Wicked, and her recurring role in the hit TV series Glee, the beloved Broadway star has spent much of the past two years crisscrossing the country, headlining concerts with world-renowned symphony orchestras.

Idina Menzel photographed by Robin Wong

This summer she is at it again and returning to Nashville for shared concert with the Nashville Symphony at the Woods Amphitheater at Fontanel. While some singers might be thrown by not performing with the same musicians each show, Menzel finds the experience thrilling.

“I have the same music director and the same rhythm section, so I have sort of the base there,” she explains. “Then there are these incredible surprises when you hear this incredible music [from these different groups]. It somehow works out great and that’s what’s really thrilling.”

Menzel is also changing things up a bit from her last time in town adding material not found on her recent CD/DVD release Live: Barefoot at the Symphony.

“That CD/DVD was the result of a year and a half of touring beforehand, and I don’t want to go back to the cities like Nashville and repeat too much,” she says, mentioning that of some other “kick-ass belting songs” will be added to her repertoire.

“I’m definitely exploring some new material and some of the major belters out there,” she continues. “There are these women that I idolize, and instead of feeling intimidated about singing songs that they’ve sung, I’m just gonna get out there and be inspired by them.”

Of course, there will be a couple of songs held over from the previous tour, such as the ever-popular “Defying Gravity” which, combined with her gay rights activism, earned her a spot on Atlantis Events’ Allure of the Seas cruise.

“That was heaven for me,” she says. “First of all, sometimes I have to watch my language and my banter a little bit because I have young people in the audience. There, I felt totally liberated. I just hung out with the boys, you know what I mean? I didn’t worry about it, so it was a little raunchy which was really fun. It was just a great few days; if I ever went on a cruise again, I’d definitely go on a gay cruise and never go on a straight cruise.”

With her concert on the night of Nashville Pride Festival, Menzel hopes to see more fans from one of her favorite communities while she is in town.

“You have got to remind of that!” she says about Pride Fest. “That way if I get too tired during the show, I can remember where I am.” And, hopefully, come hang out with the boys here too.

Idina Menzel performs with the Nashville Symphony at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 16, at the Woods Amphitheater at Fontanel. Tickets are available online at www.nashvillesymphony.org/tickets/event/idinamenzel.

Out & About – June 1, 2012

“I really think that I want those roles that haven’t been written yet,” she said in a telephone interview. “I really want to originate roles. I’ve had so much success with that process, and I love it very much — just having the privilege of being with the writers, with the creative team, in the privacy of their home while they’re working and being given that window into what they’re doing. It’s a beautiful thing for me, and to watch it unfold is very rewarding.”

She’s intimately familiar with all of that. She was involved early on in both “Rent” and “Wicked,” creating the roles of self-involved performance artist Maureen Johnson in the former and the powerful, misunderstood enchantress Elphaba in the latter. She was nominated for a Tony for “Rent,” and won for “Wicked.”

Other bullet points from her career: She has a recurring role in “Glee” as Rachel Barry’s birth mom, and has also appeared in a few episodes of her husband Taye Diggs’ medical drama “Private Practice.”

She’ll take a musical journey through her career in a Majestic Theatre concert next week. It’s part of a national tour to promote her terrific new CD and DVD, “Idina Menzel Live: Barefoot at the Symphony.”

One of the highlights of the CD is her rendering of “No Day But Today,” one of the songs in “Rent.” It concludes with a moving call-and-response between Menzel and the audience of “No day but today.”

“I’m not religious, but it is sort of like a prayer,” she said. “I use it as a meditation and a reminder whenever I’m performing to take in the moment and be aware of where I am and what I’ve accomplished and that kind of thing.”

The song, she said, “is the finale song (in ‘Rent’), and it’s hauntingly perfect because we lost (creator) Jonathan Larson so early in that process, and we had to sing that song like a mantra every night. It has a very deep significance for us. Art was imitating life for us every night while we were onstage.”

Larson died the day of the show’s first preview performance to its off-Broadway run.

“We didn’t cancel,” Menzel recalled. “We canceled the ticket buyers, but everybody that knew him came to the theater, and we said, ‘We are going to sing through the music’; we didn’t do the staging. We just did it as a catharsis, as a healing thing for anybody that wanted to come by. By Act II, it turned into a celebration of him; it took on a life of its own.”

The Majestic audience can expect to hear something from “Rent” as well as “Defying Gravity,” her signature song from “Wicked.” That song, too, has a lot of meaning for her.

“Finding a new song in your voice is interesting — sometimes, it feels very foreign,” she said. “But that song was just there for me.”

The show felt special to her personally from the beginning, she said, but she didn’t sense that it had the potential to be as huge as it did.

“I just knew it made me feel something inside and that I connected to it in a deep, deep way when I sang the music,” she said. “I would leave the audition and just cry, I wanted it so badly, and I felt so connected to the journey of Elphaba.”

In concert, she’ll also sing some pop music and a few standards, and she’ll share stories from her life. “I’m coming from a place where these are songs that I’ve been dying to sing or songs that chronicle my life that I want to revisit and explore with the audience.”

And Menzel knows it. Though sometimes there’s a twist that surprises even her.

“Lately, when we’ve been stopped on the street together, people will come up to him and say, ‘I love you but I love your wife even more.’ Often that’s even the boys.”

That’s the mark of a diva: Even a gay guy would put Taye Diggs second to praise you.

It’s not something that happens overnight. Menzel was in her early 20s when she first came to prominence on the surprise Broadway hit Rent, which won the

Pulitzer and the Tony and became a phenomenon. But after that, she met with hardship.

“My career has ebbed and flowed,” she admits. “After I left Rent, I did an album that did not sell well. I got dropped from my record label; I was the third replacement on Aida when I entered it.” She wondered if lightning would strike twice.

It did, with Wicked. Menzel won a Tony as the misunderstood green-skinned witch of Oz who gets to belt out some of the best recent Broadway songs, including “The Wizard and I” and “Defying Gravity.” And Menzel knew she was lucky.

“The experience of Rent was like no other, because we were young and lost our leader,” she says, referring to the unexpected death of composer Jonathan Larson just days before the show opened. “That grounded us in a way other 20-somethings would not be. It was a reminder every day what was most important to us, in our personal lives and onstage. We were passionate; being in the moment and appreciating what we had, that stayed with me. So once Wicked came I was so grateful, because I know how fleeting this all is.”

Lightning struck yet again when Menzel was cast in a recurring role on the TV show Glee — a weird meta-experience, considering that the characters on the show talk lovingly about the B’way diva Idina Menzel … while her character is something of a villain.

“That’s Ryan Murphy for you — there are no limits. Thank God,” she says.

Being on Glee is refreshing in another way: It’s a bit of Broadway in Hollywood.

“It’s terrific. It’s a very unusual setting for a TV show in L.A., because there are so many theater people. The community and the discipline are great.”

With Broadway on a roll, with gigantic hits like Wicked, Jersey Boys, Porgy & Bess and others still packin’ ‘em in, and the movie musical even making a comeback, from Enchanted to the upcoming Rock of Ages and Les Miserables, it seems like the oft-lamented musical is still alive and well. But there’s one aspect of the renaissance that she finds especially gratifying.

“One thing that’s different is the acceptance of the television [musical,]” like Glee and Smash. “For years and years, if you tried to develop [a TV musical format] people would laugh at you,” she says. Call it The Cop Rock Effect. “But it was something I always wanted to do, so I could combine all my skills in one medium.”

Menzel doesn’t have a favorite medium — she’s just as happy nowadays touring the country in concert promoting her recently released CD Idina Menzel Live: Barefoot at the Symphony. She brings that show to Dallas on June 13. The show includes showtunes, but also Lady Gaga. That’s because Menzel doesn’t have a favorite style of song, or even favorite composer.

“I grew up singing so many different kinds of music. I was a wedding/bar mitzvah singer from 15; that was my education. I was studying classical and choir music during the week, but on the weekend I’d be singing Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan and Billie Holliday and Madonna,” she says.

As for composers, “I love Stephen Schwartz, who has a contemporary feel, but I like to challenge myself with Sondheim. Different composers can expose different sides of who you are. It’s nice when you work with Michael John LaChiusa, who puts me in these keys that make me sing like a soprano, which no one ever asks me to do.”

Still, Menzel respects the love she feels from audiences who so identify her with a trio of pop culture phenomena: Rent, Wicked and Glee.

“I feel fortunate every day to be involved in three of these Zeitgeist shows,” she says. “I am well aware of that, and do not take it for granted, especially the relationship with young audiences. When I am on tour, the way people feel they can confide in me and share their lives is wonderful.”

Dallas Voice – June 8, 2012

Recently, Idina took time out of her busy tour and her busy life to catch up with Broadway World and share with us how she balances it all. Idina has been travelling with her son for the first time and is busy trying to figure out how to do it all. “I don’t feel like I’m doing a great job. (As) moms, we just do it. There is a lot of good planning and good help.” Her husband, Taye Diggs is very supportive and helps out a lot. She said that it’s great that she is getting to do so many things that she loves which is very important to her.

As Idina travels, she is busy singing to a diverse audience. It is something the whole family can enjoy. A lot of the songs are songs that people expect to hear from Idina. It also gives Idina the chance to share songs that are important to her and have meaning in her life. “I really want to put on the best show that I can. It’s important to me that the audience in each city feel like the show is special and individual to them. There is always something that I try to share with everyone and have a unique experience in each city.”

As we continued, our conversation turned to Idina’s love for Broadway and desire to get back to Broadway sometime in the future. Although she couldn’t reveal too much at this point, Idina did say, “I’m excited and I wanted to get back to the theatre. I miss it very much. I want to be in a new original piece. Most of my success has been in those shows. I enjoy the process of being involved early on with the creators. I’m putting myself in the position to do that with several different people so that when the time comes and their work is ready that I can be part of that team and watch it flourish.”

Idina’s love for performing and for music came across very strongly as we chatted, but when I asked her about her non-profit organization called A Broaderway Foundation, you could hear the passion in her voice as she shared her feelings. A Broaderway Foundation was founded in 2010 by Idina and her husband, Taye Diggsto help young girls in New York City who may not have the opportunity. This foundation takes girls to camp for a week in Massachusetts where the girls are given the chance to create an original performance and present it in New York City to their families and other supporters. Idina herself, along with other Broadway artists, serve as counselors and mentors to these deserving girls. Idina said, “It’s all about helping the girls find their true voices.”

When sharing advice with people who are thinking about getting into show business, Idina told me that everyone should shoot for their dreams. “I feel that kids should study and train, be in school plays, travel with their choir.” She continued, “Try not to be too one dimensional. Read a lot. Study other things than just their acting and their singing because it makes you a better artist and a better human being the more well-rounded you are. It’s something that I regret a little bit. I wish I would have majored in other things outside of theatre and read a lot more and travelled a lot more. I think I would have had more to draw from.”

Since Rent, she has crafted a solid recording and concert career, including an early album of songs that she wrote. She has also become a reoccuring character on the TV show Glee, playing Rachel Berry’s mother.

That’s a role she has also taken on in real life, with her now two-and-a-half year old son with husband and actor Taye Diggs, who she met in doing Rent.

She’s currently touring, doing 25 concerts in 30 days, including a stop in Dallas at the Music Hall at Fair Park on Wednesday, presented by Dallas Pops. She has her own musicians and then adds more in each city to be accompanied by a 26-piece orchestra. You can count on showtunes (including material from Wicked and Rent) and some pop material—on her last live album, Barefoot at the Symphony, there’s a cover of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face, which she sang on Glee.

We talked to her about the concert, touring with her son, the influence of Glee and the memory of Rent creator Jonathan Larson. At the end of this interview, you’ll find instructions for a ticket giveaway to the Dallas concert.

TheaterJones: What songs can we expect at your concert?

Idina Menzel: It’ll be a few things that people will expect, but I’m trying to do some new material because I’ve been doing that for almost three years already. The PBS special was a culmination of all that and I’m trying to explore some material.

Can you give us any hints about the new songs you‘re doing on this tour?

I want to keep them surprises. There are some songs that come from my teenage years that I always loved but never tackled, and new theater songs, the things from the shows that I’ve been in. I want to try some of this material on the road and then I’ll take a break and get back in the studio.

Are there plans for a return to Broadway?

I’m involved in a few things in the early stages that are really exciting to me, but out of respect to the writers I can’t talk about them yet, but I’m really dying to get back to New York and do theater and be part of the community. It really feels like a little black hole for me.

Do you like the eight shows a week of the Broadway grind?

I love it. I love having my dressing room and being with my cast, I love getting that feeling of pride on Sunday afternoon or evening when you finish eight shows. When you can accomplish that, something about it is very rewarding to me.

How did you feel when the producers of Glee asked you to play the mother of an actress who, if she was your real daughter, you would have had as a tween?

It wasn’t the best time of my life, but I was excited to be on the show. I had just had a baby and I was feeling heavy and not so attractive, and they asked me to be the mother of an actress [Lea Michele] who’s really 25 years old. But you have to check your ego at the door.

It came at the right time. I’m a mother now, and my life has been about how to balance that. I do my work, create this character, I enjoy what I’m doing there, surrounded by a talented group of people. Then I come home and want to get to my family.

You have always sung pop songs, but did working on Glee affect how you think about arranging pop songs for your concert performances?

No. I’m 41 and I’ve been singing at weddings and bar mitzvahs from the time I was 15, and singing whatever pop song was popular, [work by] Madonna and Whitney Houston. I’ve been listening to singers for years and trying to emulate and learn from them, and I put out my own stamp on my music. So there’s a lot of things I’m proud to say I learned from being on Glee, mainly how incredible Ryan Murphy is as a risk-taker. And the conversations he’s presented to the country and the world to explore socially. The only annoying thing about Glee is that every time you want to do a song, they’ve already covered it.

Were you versed in many styles of the pop canon, from rock to pop to R&B?

If you’re going those parties and weddings, you have to know Motown and classic rock and jazz standards and bossa novas, everything from Aretha Franlkin to the Stones.

Are there certain styles that are harder to arrange for your concert performances?

There’s nothing you can’t do especially if you have a great arranger. I love to take these pop songs and arrange them for orchestras, they become such different creatures and I can really make them my own. Poker Face I started doing because I thought people would request it from Glee, but it became a whole storytelling device for me.

Is it easier to focus on work now that your child is not an infant anymore?

The more they start to speak the more they can tell you they don’t want you to leave. But he’s on the road with me. He has a little ukulele, he’s going to jam with the band.

Take us back to the early days of Rent, of moving to Broadway and then having the show‘s creator, Jonathan Larson, die? How did that affect you emotionally?

It was an incredibly emotional, bittersweet time. It was my first Broadway experience, but all of that excitement around the accolades was marred by the loss we were feeling. We channeled all of our energy into putting the best show we possibly could, so we could do it justice in Jonathan’s eyes. That became our goal and our healing technique. I like to sing songs from Rent to remind me how fleeting life is and to enjoy the moment. Jonathan gave me that gift.

TheaterJones.com – June

Her two-hour presentation (backed by about two dozen onstage musicians from Las Vegas and New York) included a lot of personal stories, including a criticism she once received as a student at New York University. She had begun singing for her teacher Cole Porter’s “Love for Sale” but got out only a few bars before he stopped her.

“Do you have any idea where this woman is coming from?” he asked. “She lives on the street. She doesn’t know where her next meal is coming from. She’s desperate.” It was apparently an epiphany for Menzel. She proved how well she learned that lesson by interpreting the number with the skill of a veteran actress.

Whether tackling Joni Mitchell or Stephen Sondheim, she communicated a sharp affinity for lyrics.

Her program was filled with what you would expect, as well as little-known pop songs and ballads. She exhibited an easy rapport with the audience.

After sharing “Rent’s” “Take Me Baby or Leave Me,” she went down into the house in search of duet partners. It seemed every teenage girl rushed to be by her side. By the time she invited them onstage, so many began running to her that she yelled, good-naturedly, “Oh my God! No! Stop!” Many of the kids, as it turned out, were fine vocalists. And they were not shy about showing it.

Menzel’s formal look – a shoulder-baring white evening gown with elegant earrings – was offset by bare feet. She explained she had been wearing appropriate shoes, but they were uncomfortable. “So, I said, screw it, I’m taking them off.” She then flaunted her physical freedom by gliding about the stage like a child in a sandbox. She came across as a down-to-earth chummy girl-next-door.

The 41-year-old Queens native shared touching stories about Jonathan Larson, the composer of “Rent” who died at age 35 just after the show’s first preview.

“We were really young, and the show was taking off at a time in our lives when it could have made us lose perspective. (After his death) the cast felt a responsibility to communicate his work.”

She also noted the irony of her “Broadway diva” concert running the same night as the Tony Awards, with all of us theater buffs having to miss the broadcast. She shared her own experiences about the anxiety of having been nominated and winning.

But her singing was always the engine of the evening. She demonstrated not only overwhelming, bring-down-the-house power, but a softness and vulnerability in music, speech and manner that transformed her concert debut in the huge Reynolds Hall into an intimate get-together.

Las Vegas Review-Journal – June 11, 2012

Maybe you know her as Elphaba in the original Broadway cast of “Wicked,” perhaps you saw her as Maureen in the original Broadway cast of “Rent” (or the movie version) or possibly you caught her appearances on television’s “Glee.”

Regardless of your first introduction, once you’ve heard Idina Menzel sing, you can’t forget her. Menzel, 41, will bring her powerful voice and playful stage presence to the Peabody Opera House on Sunday, part of a 30-city tour that stretches into December.

“As prepared and rehearsed as I am, I always leave a lot open so I can be in the moment in each city,” Menzel said in a phone interview from Santa Rosa, Calif. “It can be scary for me, but it’s important for people to feel that each concert is special, individual, just for them.”

Fair warning: Menzel likely will perform barefoot, a decision she made after a recent concert left her hurting from the stylish heels she had worn. She later noted that performing barefoot allows her to feel free and relaxed.

Menzel, who is Jewish, was born in Queens and grew up in Syosset, N.Y. At 15, she started singing at weddings and bar mitzvahs, and she continued to sing for her supper while attending Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where she earned a B.A. degree in drama. “Rent,” which she auditioned for in 1995, was her first professional theater job and led to her Broadway debut.

In 2003, Menzel originated the role of Elphaba in “Wicked” on Broadway, for which she won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. She later reprised the role in London. Since then, Menzel has performed on and off Broadway numerous times. Her movies include “Just a Kiss,” “Kissing Jessica Stein” (with our town’s Jon Hamm) and “Enchanted.”

On “Glee,” Menzel plays Shelby Corcoran, one-time coach of the rival glee club and the biological mother of character Rachel Berry. Menzel also writes and records original music. She has three solo albums and in March, “Idina Menzel Live: Barefoot at the Symphony” was released as a CD and DVD after her concert at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto was recorded live as a PBS television special.

Menzel lives in New York City with her husband, actor Taye Diggs (they met in “Rent”) and their 2-year-old son. In 2010, the couple founded A BroaderWay Foundation, which sponsors camp programs and theater workshops for underprivileged children.

Before her concert in Santa Rosa, Menzel made time to answer five questions.

What were your career aspirations back when you were singing at bar mitzvahs and weddings?

A little of everything — it was kind of a mixed bag. I wanted to be on Broadway, but when I started writing my own music, I wanted to be a songwriter and recording artist.

So you have met those early goals, even exceeded them?

I have done a lot of things I wanted to do, though there is still more that I want to do. Right now, being a mom overrides any other ambition.

Your husband sometimes tours with you, and you have your son along as well. Does that make your rigorous schedule any easier?

I’ve never been on the road with a child, and it’s very different. Here on the tour bus we have toy garbage trucks and fire engines, a tiny ukulele and several Disney DVDs.

You’ve done Broadway shows, movies, television, concert tours and you write songs — which do you prefer?

I love it all, especially live performances. I feel fortunate that I can move back and forth.

At some point you dropped the “t” in the middle of your last name — do you ever miss it?

I suspect other letters are missing from my ancestor’s names, dropped when they first came from Russia and Austria. But no, I don’t miss the “t,” because “Mentzel” doesn’t have the ring to it that “Menzel” does.

St Louis Jewish Light – June 13, 2012

What one can take away from the evening that made it a one-of-a-kind event was the way Idina seemed to make every audience member feel individual and included. The most remarkable part of the connection came when Idina came out into the audience and asked for someone to help her sing, “Take Me or Leave Me” from Rent. Girls from the audience leapt from their seats and rushed towards Idina. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, Idina let them come. She invited a handful to go to the stage and she then found one young man to sing with her as well.

The young man was Dennis Perez. In speaking to Dennis after the show, he told me, “I was completely shocked when she pulled me into the center aisle to sing. It was a once in a lifetime dream come true. I’ve been looking up to Idina for 6 years now and to be able to perform with one of my idols was mind blowing!”

One of the young ladies invited onstage was Seeley Stephens. I caught up with Seeley and asked her about her experience. Seeley said, “It has been one of my biggest goals in life to sing on stage with Idina Menzel, so when I was waiting there to sing, I could feel my dream coming true, and I couldn’t wait to sing for her. When I sang, I had that same excitement and happiness, but I also had the disbelief that it was actually happening to me. When I got her autograph after the show, she told me I sounded great on stage. That one small comment meant more to me than she will ever know, and I will never forget that night as long as I live.”

Idina made a difference in her life and gave her the confidence she needed. Seeley also shared with me that is has been her dream since she was very young to sing on the Broadway stage. “I love to sing more than anything in the world and adding dancing and acting to that on Broadway is all I want to do with my life. I am actually auditioning for American Idol (in San Antonio) to start on my journey that I hope will land me on the Broadway stage in the future.”

Everyone in the audience that evening felt like they made a new friend in the star. As the show ended, Idina stood at The Edge of the stage and sang “For Good” from Wicked a capella and without a microphone. It was beautiful and heartfelt and moving as she sang the lyrics, “You’ll be with me like a handprint on my heart and now whatever way our stories end I know you have re-written mine by being my friend…” you knew she meant it and that her life was changed “for good” as well as the audience by this evening to remember.

Menzel continues to perform throughout the United States entertaining and connecting with all her audiences. Go to Idina’s website to see where she will be next. This is a concert you shouldn’t miss if you have the chance to see it.

Idina Menzel’s voice is just as recognizable as her face. With strong appearances on Broadway, in movies, and TV, it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t know her name.

This Sunday at 7:30 p.m., Menzel will perform at the Peabody Opera House as part of her 30-city tour that runs through the end of this year. (For more information or tickets, go to peabodyoperahouse.com/performance/idina-menzel.)

After making her Broadway debut in the original cast of “Rent” and then starring as Elphaba in “Wicked” in 2003, she has appeared in various other shows and has also recorded four solo albums. In more recent years, she appeared in the movie version of “Rent” as well as “Enchanted,” and has a recurring role on “Glee” as the mother of character Rachel Berry.

When not touring, Menzel lives in New York with her husband, Taye Diggs, and their 2-year-old son, Walker.

Relaxing in Little Rock, Ark. on her day off between shows, Menzel made time to answer a few questions.

Beacon: You have your son with you on tour right now – what’s the best part about him being there?

Menzel: It’s a whole new thing for me, we’re trying to get our rhythm down. I love being able to see him every day and having him be a part of the music. With him along on the bus, we have all his toys, fire trucks, right now we’re watching “Madagascar.” I just like being able to see him all the time.

Does your son have any favorite songs that you perform?

Menzel: I don’t perform any of his favorite songs. He would prefer that I sing “Single Ladies” or “Rolling in the Deep.” No, he listens to mommy a little bit here and there, but a lot of times he just tells me to be quiet.

How is appearing solo, as you’re doing now on tour, different from appearing in musicals? Does you miss the company?

Menzel: Of course I love musicals and being in New York. I miss it tremendously. As far as the concerts go, they still fill the same need in being in front of a large audience and give me the same adrenaline rush. I’m still opening up and making myself vulnerable to a live audience.

When you starred in “Rent” it was one of the break-out musicals by a younger generation, for a younger generation. Do you see an evolution in musical theater?

Menzel: There was “Hair” and “Jesus Christ Superstar,” there were things before “Rent” of that tone. I don’t see it as an age thing. As long as we keep supporting composers and working with writers to create original material, they are going to write what they’re passionate about and there’ll be something for young people.

Is there any classic musical theater role you’re dying to play?

Menzel: Not really, no. There are a few shows that I love the music from and so I try to perform their music here and there in these concerts, but I’m more set on trying to be a part of original pieces. You know, my success has come from being a part of original pieces. … I really, really love being invited into the process and reading new work, so I think that’s more where my attentions are.

It was just announced that you’re going to star in Disney’s next animated movie “Frozen.” What’s it going to be like playing an animated character?

Menzel: It’s a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to have a major role in an animated Disney movie. It’s something my son can watch and the people involved on this particular movie are so talented. I’m excited to work with Kristen Bell. It’s fun, you know, you can just go into the recording studio and you get to try a million and one different things. It’s a very creative process, so I’m really excited about it.

St. Louis Beacon – June 15, 2012

Idina Menzel was in Nashville last night (Saturday, June 16), performing in The Woods Amphitheatre at Fontanel, the former estate of country music superstar Barbara Mandrell. I didn’t go (more about that in the next paragraph), but we’re told she was just as marvelous as expected—even though this was her third visit to Music City in 18 months. We think she and Taye need to buy a house here.  The concert was spectacular, of course, but not quite perfect, according to Lisa Marie Wright, who was nonplussed, aghast in fact, when Idina picked a guy from the audience to join her in singing a duet from Rent, only to discover he didn’t know the lyrics.

“I think he needs to turn in his membership card,” LM demands. Turns out, “that guy” was none other than Spencer Dean, local actor/dancer/raconteur and high school student who is, obviously, one of our favorites. So, did Spencer really forget the words? “Maaaaaaaaaaaybe,” he says (perhaps with fewer A’s, but who’s counting?). “I actually know them, but completely forgot that when Idina Menzel was belting an inch away from my face.” At press time, it was reported that Spencer’s face, which had melted off—due to a combination of Idina singing to him and the fact that it was hotter’n hell at Fontanel (which is also the name for a baby’s soft spot)—has returned to its normal state, although we can only assume he is still floating on air. That’s Idina and the aforementioned and self-proclaimed superfan Spencer to the left. Thanks for the photos, Spencer! You’re my favorite.

Things weren’t quite so rosy for Jonathan Pinkerton, who normally takes the best pictures you’ll see from live performances—because security wouldn’t let him bring in his camera! Here’s how Jonathan tells the story: “I was in second row, but the only problem was they wouldn’t allow cameras! WTH? The website for Fontanel clearly says cameras, but no flash photography,” he says. “Then one of the owners even made the announcement, no flash photography or video. After we got in and saw a few people with cameras and everyone with cell phone cameras—flash and all—Suzanne [Spooner Faulk] went back to the car to get my camera and they still wouldn’t let her bring it in!” Thanks to Anthony Just for that stunning picture of Idina to the left, backed by the woods at Fontanel (and millions of ticks).