Good morning! Last week I had the amazing opportunity to get on the horn with Tony Award winning actress Idina Menzel. I was at her showcase here in hollywood a few weeks ago in support of her new album i stand \u2013 which is simply gorgeous and out in stores today! (purchase it at amazon or itunes!) we covered tons of topics including her amazing critically acclaimed stint as \u2018elphaba\u2019 in wicked along with her tony nominated broadway debut playing \u2018maureen\u2019 in rent \u2013 as well as her new album and what\u2019s next on the horizon for ms. menzel\u2026she was so very gracious & sweet!<\/p>\n
i must admit to being quite nervous at first but once we got to talking \u2013 i was completely relaxed and idina was very thoughtful with her answers \u2013 i think it\u2019s one of the best interviews i\u2019ve done here on popbytes \u2013 i\u2019m very proud of it! as a special treat \u2013 i\u2019ve got five copies of her new album i stand to toss out \u2013 i\u2019ll leave the contest open for a whole week \u2013 just email me at istand@popbytes.com with the reason why you deserve a copy of idina\u2019s new album \u2013 i\u2019ll randomly pick five people who answer that question! many thanks to popbytes\u2019 pals carmen & martha for making this all happen \u2013 you guys totally rock my world! popbytes over & out for now\u2026xxoo!<\/p>\n
MK: Hi Idina \u2013 thanks so much for taking time to speak with me! Starting off \u2013 I have a couple of friends that are huge fans of Wicked and I have a couple of questions from them. One question was how did the London production differ from the New York one? Was there a big difference that you happened to notice?<\/strong> MK: I actually just saw the show a few weeks here in Los Angeles \u2013 finally \u2013 and I loved it! I haven\u2019t seen much theater since I moved here from New York almost seven years ago, I miss Broadway so much \u2013 that\u2019s the one thing I miss most about living in New York.<\/strong> MK: I\u2019m actually from Long Island, too.<\/strong> MK: Stony Brook.<\/strong> MK: Oh really? My Dad was a police sergeant in the 2nd precinct in Syosset plus I had family there too \u2013 small world! Anyways moving on I wanted to ask you have you heard anything about a film version of Wicked coming down the pike, has there any been talk of that?<\/strong> MK: And then finally about Broadway, what do you think about Rent closing? What are your thoughts on that after the show has played for 12 years?<\/strong> MK: Rent was your Broadway debut, right?<\/strong> MK: I was just watching the movie over the weekend, too, and I kept thinking, \u201cGod, it\u2019s so sad that he passed on and doesn\u2019t know what became of his incredible work.\u201d<\/strong> MK: Moving on, you\u2019ve got your brand new album I Stand coming out next week. (Jan 29th)<\/strong> MK: So what was it like working with legendary producer Glen Ballard on your album?<\/strong> MK: Right, I\u2019ve heard the album. It\u2019s really superb \u2013 it\u2019s gorgeous. I\u2019m really excited for you.<\/strong> MK: So I was going to ask you, now the \u2013 obviously the music industry is so very tough, I\u2019m sure you probably heard a couple of weeks ago legend Annie Lennox was dropped by her label, Sony BMG.<\/strong> MK: I know, and it\u2019s so incredible \u2013 it was one of my top albums from last year. Apparently they weren\u2019t returning her phone calls, plus her contract was up, and they chose not to renew it\u2026<\/strong> MK: I know, and you\u2019d think that somebody who has done so much work \u2013<\/strong> MK: Oh, wow! Yeah, so it\u2019s just \u2013 it\u2019s unfortunate, as you probably know \u2013 even Dolly Parton, now has her own label, and she\u2019s releasing her own album soon free from the constraints of a big label.<\/strong> MK: Definitely. Are you excited about the upcoming Chess concert in London? Are you still doing that?<\/strong> MK: Talking about curRent events, do you have any advice for Britney Spears or maybe even more so Amy Winehouse? You know, for me \u2013 I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve heard her album, Back to Black, but it\u2019s just such an incredible album, then to see her just the other day caught on camera smoking crack \u2013 do you have any advice for this type of \u2018mess\u2019?<\/strong> MK: Yeah. I agree, and most of the people around them are either in for money or fame \u2013 yeah, it\u2019s sad.<\/strong> MK: Two more quick questions. What do you think it is \u2013 because I\u2019m gay, and I love you, and I know a lot of other gay people love you as well. Do you think it\u2019s just you being fabulous or do you think it\u2019s from being in Rent and then even being in Wicked \u2013 I mean, Elphaba\u2019s such a character that the gay community can kind of identify with, you know, sort of being an outcast \u2013 what do you make of all that?<\/strong> MK: I definitely think it\u2019s being like sort of a diva \u2013 and I don\u2019t want to use the term \u201cdiva\u201d in a bad way.<\/strong> MK: No, but I think \u2013 you know, for me, I would think of you flying up there in your green Elphaba makeup and \u2018Defying Gravity\u2019 \u2013 that\u2019s a total diva moment!<\/strong> MK: Definitely. I think between Rent, because that show has gay themes and characters and then coupled with Wicked\u2026<\/strong> MK: Yes, plus we have good taste, I like to think so at least! Finally, my last question \u2013<\/strong> MK: We do \u2013 gays happen to have impeccable taste!<\/strong> MK: I had to also ask how is your dog, Sammy Davis Jr.?<\/strong> MK: Awww \u2013 how cute \u2013 I love animals. So for my final question, after Broadway, film and music projects, what would be your next dream project \u2013 is there something you\u2019re dying to do?<\/strong> MK: And say if you were to do a dream theatre project, what would be your classic role? Which character would you want to play \u2013 you\u2019re obviously too young to play Mama Rose from Gypsy \u2013 but is there any legendary role that \u2013<\/strong> MK: Yeah, that would be hard.<\/strong> MK: Idina, thank you so much for taking the time out to talk with me. I\u2019m going to put up this interview probably the day that your album comes out to get a little extra spotlight on you.<\/strong> MK: You\u2019re so welcome. Thank you, again, and you have a great afternoon.<\/strong> Good morning! Last week I had the amazing opportunity to get on the horn with Tony Award winning actress Idina Menzel. I was at her showcase here in hollywood a few weeks ago in support of her new album i stand \u2013 which is simply gorgeous and out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245,"comment_status":"open","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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[30,7,20,4,5],"class_list":["post-244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","tag-30","tag-career","tag-i-stand","tag-rent","tag-wicked"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2008_01_28.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Srnq-3W","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":275,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244\/revisions\/275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIdina: There was a big difference in me. I had more confidence having been through the experience and being well received so I could go to London and really rediscover the role with a freedom that it was going to be okay. Something about that just made all the difference and enabled me to enjoy myself more.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Yeah, me too \u2013 I\u2019ve been in Los Angeles a lot lately.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Oh where?<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Oh, wow \u2013 that\u2019s funny! I\u2019m going out there to do an in-store signing at Borders \u2013 I think its Borders \u2013 in Syosset near my high school.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: None to me. I think that they\u2019re doing really well with Wicked, the theatrical endeavor; I think they probably want to wait a little bit longer before doing a film. I would love to be a part of it, but I don\u2019t know if by that time I\u2019ll be old enough to be Elphaba\u2019s grandmother!<\/p>\n
\nIdina: I\u2019m very sad \u2013 just great sadness and real loss because it represents so many things for me. I met my husband (actor Taye Diggs) in rehearsals for Rent 12 years ago \u2013 that experience changed my life.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: That was my Broadway debut. The experience was very traumatic with Jonathan Larson passing away right before we went up and in a very odd way, it was sort of a gift that he gave us that I keep with me throughout my career now \u2013 I don\u2019t take anything for granted, and I really try to embrace the moment and stay grounded. I\u2019ll never forget how important it was for us, as a cast, to get up on stage every night and to sing his words and put forth his message when he wasn\u2019t there.
\nI think when we were young like that; it was something that was so invaluable to have. I would trade it in a minute to have him be able to be here to see how he has changed so much \u2013 the world and the minds of young people and all that. If anything good had to come of it all, it was that experience of learning responsibility and embracing the moment.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Yes.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: I do, yes.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: It was a dream for me. He\u2019s been someone I always wanted to work with. Throughout the years I\u2019ve had ups and downs where my career wasn\u2019t happening, and I used to really dream of getting someone even just comparable to Glen Ballard. I never even thought I could get Glen Ballard to get in the studio with me yet I just knew that he would understand me. He would embrace all the diffeRent facets of my personality, experiences and styles and help to find one cohesive way to express my music.
\nAnd that\u2019s exactly what happened. You know, he just gave me all this freedom to come in and present all my ideas and he encouraged me to write music with him, and I feel like with all these diffeRent elements \u2013 there\u2019s a real unity in the music. Yet I don\u2019t feel like I compromised any part of myself.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Thank you so much.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: You know, I didn\u2019t hear that. Right after mine is when Glen produced hers.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Are you kidding me? I did not know that.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: That album is brilliant. I heard that album, and I was like, \u201cI can\u2019t believe he worked with me.\u201d I mean, she\u2019s my idol. She is the reason why I gave myself permission to make this album because I feel like she\u2019s the kind of singer that has this huge voice, this enormous range, all this soulfulness, yet she still has a theatricality and a drama to her music, which makes me feel okay to sort of come with my own experiences.
\nThere\u2019s a way to finesse being really expressive and emotional in your music, and not necessarily making a theatre album, but having the integrity and credibility of a pop album. So she\u2019s, by far for me, my biggest inspiration.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: I think that actually enables people to have more control over their careers \u2013 especially if they already have careers \u2013 and audiences built in. Someone like me that\u2019s trying to break into a new genre needs more help from a label. Thankfully they\u2019re very supportive of me. But yeah, it\u2019s almost \u2013 it\u2019s probably nice for some of them \u2013 like Radiohead, to have sold their latest album the way they wanted to sell it. It\u2019s definitely a freeing thing for a lot of artists.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Yes! I get excited about it so much. I\u2019m thrilled to be up there with Josh Grobin. I love him and respect him so much; I am so excited that I have an excuse to go back to London because when I did Wicked there I fell in love with it \u2013 the people and the city. I had a life-changing experience there \u2013 I just really adored the entire five months I was there.
\nBut I just have this album coming out, I haven\u2019t been able to sit and really learn and get inside the music yet. So I\u2019m going to give myself a couple weeks to enjoy this release time, and then I\u2019m going to get busy!<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Well, I mean, I don\u2019t feel like it\u2019s my position to place judgment on anyone or to advise anyone. I mean, I struggle to do the right thing all the time in my own life, and I just hope that those people can (I didn\u2019t mean I struggled like that \u2013 I never did drugs.)
\nLife is difficult and I am happy to have a real group of friends and family that are supportive of me, and I just hope that those people will \u2013 even if they\u2019re being pushed away \u2013 will force themselves back into those girls\u2019 lives and sit them down and give them a chance to just breathe. You know, that\u2019s the only thing that bothers me is that \u2013 where are those people?
\nYou know, even if they say, \u201cI don\u2019t want any help,\u201d there comes a time where you\u2019re a best friend or a sister or a brother and you say, \u201cToo bad. I\u2019m coming in here and we\u2019re going to work this out.\u201d It just seems like these people don\u2019t have that kind of help.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: I don\u2019t get it.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Help me answer that \u2013 I need to figure it out because I\u2019m being asked this question a lot. What would be your answer if I asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s the type of woman or performer that the gay community gravitates to? What makes that kind of performer?\u201d What would you say is the connection between Madonna, Cher and Judy Garland \u2013 I know I\u2019m stereotyping, but what would you say since I keep getting asked this question, and I don\u2019t know.
\nI mean, I will say this before I let you answer, that I think what I love so much about my friends who are gay and the gay community is that I believe that they are the most authentic, honest, courageous, outspoken, compassionate people that I know. I just try to mirror that in my own life and my own work. Maybe there\u2019s some kind of connection there, I\u2019m inspired by that.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: I can\u2019t say that about myself. I can\u2019t say, \u201cOh, I\u2019m a diva.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Big voices and \u2013<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Right, I think that the two shows I have done definitely are about people that don\u2019t necessarily fit into a mold, and are embracing their own individuality. I would hope that that\u2019s why maybe they\u2019re supporters of me.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: You said you have good taste?<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Thank you very much.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: He\u2019s fabulous. He\u2019s on a plane right now probably driving Taye crazy because he\u2019s not a good flyer, and he goes under the seat, but that\u2019s because he\u2019s ten pounds and we try to give him a little doggie sedative, and he fights through it. Then he whimpers and he embarrasses us on the plane, which I guess is a good experience for when we have a child and they just start crying and everyone looks at us to get the baby to be quiet.
\nBut he\u2019s on his way with Sammy \u2013 having been away with some friends, and I haven\u2019t seen either of them in ten days so I\u2019m very excited to see them both! We also have two cats \u2013 Coltrane and Ella, the jazz cats.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Well, I want to go on tour with my band and experience that type of thing. Then I\u2019m dying to get back to the stage and figure out a great original role that I can get into and help develop from the early stages. It\u2019s always been an honor for me to work on something from the start. The years before it comes out and to be able to sit with the composer at the piano and really develop something \u2013 have them curtail it to my voice and my personality. It\u2019s something I want to do as soon as I can figure out the right project for me.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Oh, it would be Fanny in Funny Girl, but I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever play it because I have too much respect for Barbara Streisand and I just don\u2019t think anyone can get up on stage and say, \u201cHello, Gorgeous!\u201d and \u2013 just, you know\u2026<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Yes, it would be really hard, but it is something I identify with being a girl from \u2013 well, Bronx, Long Island \u2013 similar, you know, experience, I just love that show so much \u2013 but I think I\u2019m going to let that idea go.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: I appreciate that. It\u2019s a big deal for me, and I really appreciate the support.<\/p>\n
\nIdina: Thank you \u2013 you too!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"