{"id":1338,"date":"2024-11-17T13:22:35","date_gmt":"2024-11-17T18:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/?p=1338"},"modified":"2024-11-17T13:22:35","modified_gmt":"2024-11-17T18:22:35","slug":"ooh-witchy-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/ooh-witchy-woman\/","title":{"rendered":"Ooh, Witchy Woman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Defying the Oz<\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n

It\u2019s ironic that Idina Menzel\u2019s first line of dialogue in a Broadway show was \u201cWhich way to the stage?\u201d More than eight years after her debut in\u00a0Rent<\/em>, this born performer shows no signs of needing directions.<\/p>\n

Menzel, a Long Island native who grew up dreaming of one day becoming an actor on the Great White Way, has been making memorable impressions on audiences with supporting roles in\u00a0Aida<\/em>,\u00a0The Wild Party<\/em>, and, most notably,\u00a0Rent<\/em>. Menzel\u2019s performance as Maureen in\u00a0Rent<\/em> earned her a Tony nomination and announced her arrival as one of Broadway\u2019s most exciting new talents.<\/p>\n

Last October, Menzel opened in her first lead role, as Elphaba in\u00a0Wicked<\/em>. The show tells the story of Oz before Dorothy arrived, but like the Gregory Maguire novel it\u2019s based on,\u00a0Wicked\u00a0<\/em>is much more than a prequel to\u00a0The Wizard of Oz<\/em>. The show deviates from the classic story most drastically by presenting Elphaba, the character formerly known only as the Wicked Witch of the West, as a good-hearted, optimistic girl who was misunderstood by her peers because of her green skin.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Menzel\u2019s portrayal of her character as vulnerable yet intense, those who have grown up thinking of the witch as a villain are surprised to find themselves feeling sympathetic toward Elphaba. The chance to change people\u2019s impressions was what initially drew Menzel to the role. She was so set on getting the part that she showed up for the audition in an improvised costume that included green lipstick and smoky black eyeshadow. The creativity paid off. \u201cI thought [Elphaba] was the most interesting person,\u201d Menzel says. \u201cWe see this woman in\u00a0The Wizard of Oz\u00a0<\/em>and she has these warts and nose and chin. But what if that was just the glasses we were wearing? If we strip away all that preconceived stuff, we see that she was really pretty once.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wicked\u00a0<\/em>costars Kristin Chenoweth (Tony winner for\u00a0You\u2019re a Good Man, Charlie Brown<\/em>) as Glinda, the future good witch who, as a younger woman, was Elphaba\u2019s friend. Menzel calls sharing the stage with Chenoweth a true partnership: \u201cIt\u2019s rare,\u201d she says, \u201cfor two women to have the opportunity to have such great roles on a Broadway stage. So we have to remind ourselves all the time of that, that we\u2019re really lucky.\u201d (The show also features Broadway legend Joel Grey as the Wizard.)<\/p>\n

For Menzel, the luck runs deeper. For six years she fronted a wedding band, playing regular gigs to pay her bills. In late 1995, as business slowed down, she tried out for a small off-Broadway show on a whim, thinking a role would keep the money coming in. The show was\u00a0Rent<\/em>, and it was a transforming experience for Menzel, not simply because of the Tony nomination. The show\u2019s tragic history \u2014 composer Jonathan Larson died of an aortic aneurysm the night of the show\u2019s first preview \u2014 created lasting friendships among the cast. Included was Taye Diggs, best known today for his roles in the film\u00a0How Stella Got Her Groove Back\u00a0<\/em>and the TV series\u00a0Ally McBeal<\/em>. Menzel and Diggs started dating while they were in\u00a0Rent\u00a0<\/em>and were married last year.<\/p>\n

Rent\u00a0<\/em>changed Menzel\u2019s life in other ways. The show opened up opportunities for her, including the chance to perform at the 1998 Lilith Fair concert festival, to appear in films such as\u00a0Summer of Sam\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Kissing Jessica Stein<\/em>, and to record an album, which Menzel appropriately called\u00a0Still I Can\u2019t Be Still<\/em>, capturing the nonstop lifestyle she was enjoying.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no life,\u201d Menzel explains on this Wednesday between shows, as she tries to fit in an interview and a quick meal before getting ready to go back on stage. Clearly, things haven\u2019t slowed down for her. \u201cI wake up early enough to get my voice going. I go to the gym. I warm up. I come here,\u201d she says. \u201cAfter the show, I say hello to my guests, I go home, I shut off, and put the TV on. I haven\u2019t been able to have much of a life in order to do eight shows a week at the level that I want to do them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t pity Menzel, though. She\u2019s exactly where she wants to be, doing exactly what she wants to be doing: starring in an original musical on\u00a0Broadway. \u201cI try to pinch myself all the time,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is a dream come true. I write my own music and I\u2019ve gone on that road, but I keep coming back to the theater. This has always been the warmest, most embracing place for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

One need look no further than the stage door after any given performance to see proof of this. Fans \u2014 many of whom have followed Menzel\u2019s career since\u00a0Rent\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 crowd around hoping for a glimpse of the star. \u201cThose fans are the most loyal, devoted people,\u201d she says. \u201cThey were really young [when I was in\u00a0Rent<\/em>], and we\u2019ve sort of grown up together.\u201d<\/p>\n

This month, Menzel will learn if she has a fan in Tony, but it\u2019s something she isn\u2019t paying much attention to: \u201cI try not to read anything,\u201d she says. One thing is certain: the fast lane Menzel has come to know as her career shows no signs of slowing down.<\/p>\n

Perhaps that\u2019s why Menzel is making no plans for when her contract ends in October. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to enjoy this,\u201d she says, \u201cWhen I was in\u00a0Rent<\/em>, it was such a whirlwind, and it passed me by. It wasn\u2019t until afterward that I really realized how extraordinary it was. To have another show that\u2019s doing well, knock on wood, and that people are really loving\u2026. I\u2019m just trying to live in the moment and enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Defying the Oz It\u2019s ironic that Idina Menzel\u2019s first line of dialogue in a Broadway show was \u201cWhich way to the stage?\u201d More than eight years after her debut in\u00a0Rent, this born performer shows no signs of needing directions. Menzel, a Long Island native who grew up dreaming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1339,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[86,5],"class_list":["post-1338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","tag-86","tag-wicked"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/04-co-005-idina.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Srnq-lA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1338"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1340,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338\/revisions\/1340"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}