The Premiere Idina Menzel Resource
Very exciting news! Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, announced that Frozen 3 is in development! That’s all we know at the moment and it’s likely still years away, but I’m excited! Just for reference, FROZEN II was announced as in development in March 2015, Idina didn’t start recording until the Fall of 2017 and it was eventually released in November 2019!
Huge news! Per Variety, Idina Menzel will star in ‘Redwood,’ a new musical which will premiere as the final production of La Jolla Playhouse’s 2023-2024 season! La Jolla Playhouse revealed the following description:
Idina plays Jesse, a successful businesswoman, mother and wife. She seems to have it all, but inside, her heart is broken. Finding herself at a turning point, Jesse leaves everyone and everything behind, gets in her car and drives… and drives. Thousands of miles later, she hits the ancient forests of Northern California, where a chance meeting and a leap of faith change her life forever. In the presence of the magnificent, towering redwoods, Jesse finds strange and powerful connections, an unexpected sense of community, and a chance at healing.
Idina first began developing the musical almost 20 years ago when she approached Tina Landau about collaborating. It was initially conceived as a bio-musical about Julia Butterfly Hill, an environmental activist famous for living in a redwood for more than two years in the late ‘90s to prevent loggers from cutting it down. Tina wrote the book and will also direct.
“I subscribe to this feeling very often in my life of wanting to just escape,” Menzel told Variety in a joint interview with Landau on Wednesday. “I’m more of a recluse than people think I am… I definitely grapple with that a lot in my life, just like, ‘Can I just put it all down and leave and do something different?’”
With music by Kate Diaz and lyrics by Diaz and Landau, Menzel said, “What’s so exciting working with Tina is that she definitely knows how — and she’s guiding Kate in this as well — to write for me, but also how to challenge me and to put me in places that are not formulaic or not my typical go-to. It’s opening my vernacular and forcing me to find new colors and places in my voice that I think are just fun, and have different emotional connections for me to the character and hopefully open up different chakras, if you will, for other people when they’re listening.”
In some aspects, ‘Redwood’ will be an interactive experience for the audience. “The design is not really a set as so much as it’s going to be making use of some really exciting, cutting-edge multimedia interactive technology that’s never been used in the American musical theater before,” Landau said. She also explained that it was quarantine in the early days of the pandemic that finally gave her the time to sit down to concentrate and work on writing the show.
It all sounds very exciting! You’ll have lots of time to plan a trip because the show will premiere in February 2024. Stay tuned for more info!
As we wrap up the year, there were a couple of new interviews that were released to support the release of ‘Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage?’. First up was TODAY’s Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist. A small part (about 8 minutes) of the interview aired on TV on Christmas Day but you can listen to the entire interview on the Sunday Sitdown podcast.
Second, she had a really honest conversation with Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast about career trajectory, IVF, co-parenting, ‘Which Way to the Stage?’, the ‘Wicked’ movie and more. I really enjoyed both interviews and highly recommend them! You can watch/listen at the links posted throughout or on my Youtube playlist.
Also, I meant to post last week, but Idina had another Encore by Idina showcase on QVC last week! You can watch those here. A bunch of pieces are on clearance, so it’s a great time to buy at www.EncorebyIdina.com. I have several and love them all! All very soft and cozy which is my personal aesthetic. ;) I recommend sizing down if you aren’t familiar with QVC sizing.
It’s been a fun Idina year and I can’t wait to see what 2023 has in store! Happy New Year!
Idina Menzel’s new documentary, “Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage?” is streaming now on Disney+! It’s an absolute must-watch for any fan and I can’t recommend it enough, so please check it out! It really captures her essence and showcases all the reasons we all love her so beautifully.
Over the last week or so, Idina has continued promoting the doc with various appearances and interviews including The Kelly Clarkson Show, radio shows and regional outlets like NY1 and Newsday. I’ve continued to update the Youtube playlist for this promo tour, so you can see all those videos there. Keep checking there moving forward for any last minute releases. She also did a number of print interviews which you can read at each source: PEOPLE, PEOPLE (#2), InStyle, Playbill, BroadwayWorld, HuffPost, TVInsider, Advocate. In the near future I’ll also add them to the Press Archive for future reference.
I also added a bunch of promotional images from the film to the gallery!
Idina Menzel has been busy promoting the December 9 release of ‘Idina Menzel: Which Way To The Stage?’ this week! She also participated in a few events promoting ‘Loud Mouse’ with Cara. I posted all of the ‘Which Way To The Stage?’ interviews in the playlist above. Just click through to Youtube or if you play the video, it should cycle through them all.
As far as ‘Loud Mouse’ promo goes, our favorite duo went live on Instagram after Thanksgiving. I posted that video here. Earlier this week, they participated in The Books You Will Love Event at The Streicker Center in NYC. You can watch that here.
I also added a bunch of pics to the gallery. Check them out below:
Watch What Happens Live
CBS Mornings
Backstage at ‘& Juliet’
