As the actress prepares to open Broadway\u2019s \u2018Redwood,\u2019 she exclusively tells Parade she sometimes thinks about \u2018leaving the business and just sort of going off the grid.\u2019<\/p>\n
Two weeks before Idina Menzel<\/strong> returned to Broadway in the new musical Redwood<\/em>, wildfire began to quickly envelope Southern California. Like many in the entertainment industry<\/a>, she was only just beginning to reckon with the devastation on the West Coast.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a little preoccupied with my family in California,\u201d the actress exclusively tells Parade<\/em> on the morning of Jan. 8, when mass evacuations from Los Angeles were already underway. She\u2019s Zooming in from her dressing room at the Nederlander Theatre, where she made her Broadway debut nearly 30 years earlier in the groundbreaking 1996 rock opera Rent<\/em>. Starbucks coffee cup in hand, Menzel is deep in rehearsals for Redwood<\/em>, which began preview performances in New York City last Friday.<\/p>\n A labor of love she co-conceived alongside director Tina Landau<\/strong> from an idea they dreamed up 15 years ago, the musical\u2019s themes are eerily timely. One year after a life<\/a>-altering family tragedy, Menzel\u2019s character, a mother named Jesse, escapes to the redwoods in Northern California as a way to cope but finds that even the most beautiful wonders of the world can\u2014without warning, and quite literally\u2014go up in flames. \u201cFrom the ashes comes rebirth,\u201d she\u2019s assured by a woman named Becca (Khaila Wilcoxon<\/strong>), a conservationist whom she meets along the way.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been life-changing to live in this world of the redwoods. They\u2019re so fierce and wise and astounding,\u201d Menzel says, explaining that Redwood<\/em>\u2019s story is told from the \u201cmind and the perspective of this woman in upheaval.\u201d She adds, \u201cIt\u2019s poetic and modern, and it\u2019s so near and dear to my heart, and it reflects a lot of the emotion and the conflict that I have in myself.\u201d<\/p>\n At 53, Menzel has become one of the most celebrated musical theater actresses of her time. A Tony Award winner for her performance as Elphaba in the Broadway blockbuster Wicked<\/em>, she originated some of the most sought-after, modern-day female roles, including Maureen Johnson in Jonathan Larson<\/strong>\u2019s Pulitzer-winning Rent<\/em> and Elsa in the hit Disney musical film Frozen<\/em>. Still, she remains grounded\u2014if not a bit more critical of herself than she once was when she began her career singing at weddings and mitzvahs.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was younger, I had a stronger sense and belief in [myself],\u201d she admits. \u201cWhen I was standing up there at a bar mitzvah singing a Whitney Houston<\/strong> song, there was something in me that knew I was destined to do this for a living and that there was more to it than just singing at Temple Beth Shalom. I remember just standing there and saying, \u2018Just give it time. Your time will come.\u2019 And I think that the more successful you become, the more the fear of falling and crashing becomes, and the imposter syndrome creeps in. I miss that freedom that I had\u2014and that confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1996, everything changed. Menzel was part of a small group of edgy twentysomethings plucked from obscurity to be part of the cast of Rent<\/em>, a contemporary take on Giacomo Puccini<\/strong>\u2019s 1896 opera La boh\u00e8me<\/em>. After a sold-out Off-Broadway run\u2014made particularly poignant by the death of its composer Larson at age 35 following the show\u2019s final dress rehearsal\u2014Rent<\/em> took Broadway by storm. Menzel received her first Tony nomination for playing Maureen, a queer and unapologetically outspoken performance artist who makes her grand entrance by motorcycle.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I played Maureen, I didn\u2019t know all the stuff that comes along with the theater community and the politics and the awards. I had no idea about all of that because I was kind of preoccupied with wanting a record deal and writing my own music and wanting to be a rock star for a minute,\u201d Menzel explains. \u201cMaureen was just full of all of that levity and abandonment and rebelliousness and my humorous side and my sexy side. Then unfortunately, like I said, [as] you become more and more known, you start to go inward and become a little bit more fearful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeing here [at the Nederlander],\u201d she says, \u201cI miss her, and it\u2019s wonderful because I am trying to channel that again.\u201d<\/p>\n Menzel has since become a household name synonymous with Broadway and musicals. Frozen<\/em>\u2019s \u201cLet It Go\u201d is arguably one of the most popular Disney songs of all time, her 2014 Oscars introduction<\/a> by John Travolta<\/strong> went viral (she still pokes fun at \u201cAdele Dazeem\u201d<\/a> today), and her performance as the (not-so) Wicked Witch of the West recently made its way back into the cultural zeitgeist with last year\u2019s release of the wildly successful first part of Wicked<\/em>.<\/p>\n Vanishing from the public eye is now nearly impossible\u2014but, in creating Redwood<\/em>, it\u2019s something she thinks about. \u201cJust driving towards the sun was so intriguing to me,\u201d she says. \u201cThe idea of the strength and the fortitude it would take to actually be up in the canopy of a redwood tree, 200-300 feet in the air, and to stay up there and live up there\u2026 Could I really do something like that?\u201d<\/p>\n As mother to 15-year-old Walker Nathanial Diggs<\/strong>\u2014whom she shares with ex-husband and former Rent<\/em> co-star Taye Diggs<\/strong>\u2014she\u2019d \u201cnever even conceive\u201d of doing something as extreme as her character does in Redwood<\/em>, but she\u2019s considered a similar escape.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I do think about sometimes is leaving the business and just sort of going off the grid\u2014realizing how superficial it all is, and what if I could just take that part that so desires to be loved and liked and not care about it anymore?\u201d she muses. \u201cThat [stems from] rejection in this business or criticism, the stress and anxiety<\/a> I feel all the time about my voice and staying healthy. That kind of stress is sometimes when I think about, What if I just leave it all and get a little farm and take care of old horses?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n There are times when Menzel faces a lot of pressure. As someone who\u2019s made a career of performing eight shows a week and touring the world, she knows that every day and every performance could be different\u2014not always will the high notes she\u2019s known for come out so effortlessly.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve learned that my voice isn\u2019t my entire identity and my big notes and my acrobatics are not my entire identity. Those days where I have been sick and I\u2019ve gotten on stage, and I haven\u2019t had a range and I\u2019ve had to navigate the melody and make other choices, I\u2019ve had some of the best performances I\u2019ve ever had,\u201d she says. \u201cEven though I was scared and worried that I was going to let people down, I actually felt like I was more in touch with myself and was able to reach people in a deeper way. So I\u2019ve found that\u2019s been a gift for me because I really did feel my whole life: All that makes me special is my singing voice. Now I understand that it\u2019s more than just singing. It\u2019s storytelling, and it\u2019s the way that I do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, it\u2019s not always easy. \u201cOh my God, it\u2019s embarrassing because these characters I\u2019m most known for\u2014Elphaba, Elsa\u2014they\u2019re all about embracing who you are and not compromising yourself for anyone. And I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m very successful in doing that. I\u2019m like a role model for empowerment, and I still have to get up every day, remind myself that I\u2019m meaningful and relevant. I\u2019m being honest about that. Honestly, the opportunity I get to be on tour when I go in concert and sing these iconic songs, that\u2019s when I am reminded of how lucky I am and how important it is to sort of embrace every moment and find and to celebrate those things in me that are unique and that are\u2026 unique<\/em>\u2014period.<\/p>\n \u201cI do feel like mistakes are a gateway for an audience to really see you authentically. And the more we as artists can make ourselves vulnerable, the more we are able to really give an audience a real profound experience,\u201d she adds. \u201cIt\u2019s when we are afraid to do that, that I think people aren\u2019t as moved by a performance. It\u2019s a double-edged sword because it\u2019s so scary and terrifying to allow yourself to be stripped down and vulnerable in front of thousands of people. But it\u2019s also what I truly know is the way that I feel I can make a connection<\/p>\n At the end of the day, she\u2019s just mom to Walker\u2014the most important of all the roles she\u2019s played\u2014and wife to husband Aaron Lohr<\/strong>, a former actor whose credits include the Rent<\/em> film adaptation alongside Menzel. (Lohr, 48, now runs an inpatient facility for addiction and mental illness in Malibu and is a licensed therapist.)<\/p>\n Does Walker think that Menzel is a \u201ccool mom\u201d given her celebrity status? \u201cI think inside he does,\u201d she says with a warm laugh, \u201cand he\u2019s super proud of me. But on a daily basis, he finds my vocalizing extremely annoying and irritating, and he could care less about the fame and all of that. It\u2019s sort of both sides of the coin with my son because he\u2019s still just a teenager, just doing his own thing. But recently I was given this national honor for the arts at the White House, and I brought him and my husband. Walking from the East Wing to the West Wing<\/a>, and this whole orchestra was playing \u2018Let It Go,\u2019 he was holding my hand. I could feel this intense pride that he had, and that was very emotional for me.\u201d<\/p>\n The day at the White House was undoubtedly a big deal for Menzel, but her ultimate high of 2024 was just being a \u201cbasketball mom,\u201d she explains. \u201cThe biggest highlight is sitting at a practice for my son on the side and just watching him play in practices or games. That is my happy place. I love to just watch him play. He\u2019s got an incredible work ethic. And honestly, that\u2019s where I just kind of\u2026 well, I couldn\u2019t say I relax<\/em> because every ball that goes up that doesn\u2019t go in is very anxiety-provoking for me! But I love it. I love it so much.\u201d<\/p>\n And as a wife, she\u2019s lucky to have found love again in a partner like Lohr. \u201cHe\u2019s just so soulful,\u201d Menzel describes. \u201cHe was soulful as an actor, and he\u2019s soulful as a therapist and a lifesaver. He really listens to whoever\u2019s sitting in front of him. He listens to me, he\u2019s patient with me. He\u2019s an incredible stepdad to my son. He\u2019s nonjudgmental, so I don\u2019t know how to describe it. I just know that I\u2019m very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n At the time of her Parade<\/em> interview, Menzel was still decorating her dressing room at the Nederlander\u2014the same one she occupied nearly 30 years ago. \u201cWhere I\u2019m sitting right now is where Daphne Rubin-Vega<\/strong> and I sat, the two of us in this tiny dressing room, and then that\u2019s where Taye, Jesse<\/strong> [L. Martin<\/strong>] and Adam<\/strong> [Pascal<\/strong>] were,\u201d she says, pointing behind her. \u201cWe broke this wall down. I don\u2019t know how three full-size men all lived in there for a year!\u201d<\/p>\n