The \u201cgreen girl\u201d is coming. That girl also goes by the name of Idina Menzel, who is known around the world as the source of the ground-shaking voice behind such memorable characters as Maureen Johnson in the original cast of \u201cRent\u201d as well as her most recent Broadway role as the witch Elphaba in the \u201cWizard of Oz\u201d inspired \u201cWicked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Menzel, whose performance of the song \u201cDefying Gravity\u201d has always been popular among musical fans, will be visiting Madison this Sunday for a show at Memorial Union Theater. In a recent The Badger Herald interview, she let us know more about how she got into music and the journey she took to get to where she is now.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh,\u201d Menzel began sleepily. \u201cI don\u2019t know, I\u2019ve been singing my whole life, just been singing. [laughter] It\u2019s all I wanted to do, and I wouldn\u2019t feel happy if I wasn\u2019t doing it.\u201d
\nWhile her onstage charm wasn\u2019t entirely there, Menzel continued to explain how she worked up the musical ladder, from acting in school plays to her position as a wedding singer, anything that could get her by until her big break in \u201cRent. \u201c<\/p>\n
While \u201cRent\u201d did result in her first Tony nomination, it wasn\u2019t until \u201cWicked\u201d rolled around that she gained the notoriety she has today. \u201cWicked,\u201d based on the novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire, tells the tale of the Wicked Witch of the West and her struggle for acceptance in a non-green world. Menzel originated this role, and her efforts garnered her a Tony award.
\n\u201cThat entire \u201cWicked\u201d experience really changed my life. I learned a lot of life \u2026 lessons through that character. I learned \u2026 how to embrace what makes you unique. I learned how to come out of myself, and not be afraid of your own personal power,\u201d Menzel said, although passively.<\/p>\n
After making the show-stopping song \u201cDefying Gravity\u201d a hit both onstage and off in her remixed dance-floor version, Menzel left the Broadway stage for other projects, among them a role in \u201cEnchanted\u201d and reprising her role as Maureen for the film version of \u201cRent.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2007, however, Menzel was given the chance to reprise the role that made her famous on the London stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was excited to get back into a role I had already experienced doing, because I actually thought I\u2019d enjoy the process more and rediscover the role, and take some of the experience I got from the other projects I did in the meantime and apply them to building the character. I just had a great time in London,\u201d Menzel said.<\/p>\n
Yet Menzel simultaneously lives in two worlds of music: singing and songwriting. In that respect, it was inevitable she would leave the stage and move toward the studio, where she would record her first solo record, I Stand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been recording ever since I was a teenager, and it just so happens because of my success with \u201cWicked\u201d that this album is getting more looks and everything, which is a wonderful thing. I think I made an album that people that know me from the theater will respect the change in direction but also to see the same woman in there, and hear the same voice, and hopefully be drawn to authenticity and passion.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a lifelong performer either in character or as herself, Menzel continued to speak of how performing has the same common denominator:
\n\u201cWhether or not you\u2019re singing behind a costume or you\u2019re singing as yourself, you\u2019re still having to put yourself out there as a performer and make yourself vulnerable to an audience. That\u2019s the only way people are really going to feel something, if you get in touch with what\u2019s genuine about the role or what you\u2019re experiencing in yourself. \u201c<\/p>\n
When touching on the subject of politics, Menzel\u2019s apathetic tone subsided as she audibly illuminated. In addition to her tour for her I Stand album, Menzel has also made time to show her support for Barack Obama.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just like everyone else, just really touched by his campaign and everything that he represents. I just wanted to get up and do something and be a part of it, so when I look back on it I could say I was really there, and part of a movement and making history.<\/p>\n
For those wondering if Menzel will be \u201cDefying Gravity\u201d during Sunday\u2019s performance, Menzel offered some promising info.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do a little bit of everything. I\u2019ve rearranged some of the songs so they fit more in the context of pop music, but I think there\u2019s a real cohesive flavor to the whole things. We\u2019ve got some fun covers in our pocket that we\u2019re going to surprise people with so each performance is a little different. They should expect a fun, eclectic, spontaneous evening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Idina Menzel will be at the Memorial Union Theater this Sunday at 8 p.m. Tickets are avaiable at $10 for University of Wisconsin students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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