Idina Menzel\u2019s voice is just as recognizable as her face. With strong appearances on Broadway, in movies, and TV, it\u2019s hard to find someone who doesn\u2019t know her name.<\/p>\n
This Sunday at 7:30 p.m., Menzel will perform at the Peabody Opera House as part of her 30-city tour that runs through the end of this year.<\/p>\n
After making her Broadway debut in the original cast of \u201cRent\u201d and then starring as Elphaba in \u201cWicked\u201d in 2003, she has appeared in various other shows and has also recorded four solo albums. In more recent years, she appeared in the movie version of \u201cRent\u201d as well as \u201cEnchanted,\u201d and has a recurring role on \u201cGlee\u201d as the mother of character Rachel Berry.<\/p>\n
When not touring, Menzel lives in New York with her husband, Taye Diggs, and their 2-year-old son, Walker.<\/p>\n
Relaxing in Little Rock, Ark. on her day off between shows, Menzel made time to answer a few questions.<\/p>\n
Beacon: You have your son with you on tour right now \u2013 what\u2019s the best part about him being there?<\/strong> Does your son have any favorite songs that you perform?<\/strong> How is appearing solo, as you\u2019re doing now on tour, different from appearing in musicals? Does you miss the company?<\/strong> When you starred in \u201cRent\u201d it was one of the break-out musicals by a younger generation, for a younger generation. Do you see an evolution in musical theater?<\/strong> Is there any classic musical theater role you\u2019re dying to play?<\/strong> It was just announced that you\u2019re going to star in Disney\u2019s next animated movie \u201cFrozen.\u201d What\u2019s it going to be like playing an animated character?<\/strong> Idina Menzel\u2019s voice is just as recognizable as her face. With strong appearances on Broadway, in movies, and TV, it\u2019s hard to find someone who doesn\u2019t know her name. This Sunday at 7:30 p.m., Menzel will perform at the Peabody Opera House as part of her 30-city tour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36,"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":[28,6,7,8],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","tag-28","tag-barefoot-summer-tour-2012","tag-career","tag-family-life"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/2012_06_15.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Srnq-z","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35","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=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":340,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions\/340"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMenzel: It\u2019s a whole new thing for me, we\u2019re trying to get our rhythm down. I love being able to see him every day and having him be a part of the music. With him along on the bus, we have all his toys, fire trucks, right now we\u2019re watching \u201cMadagascar.\u201d I just like being able to see him all the time.<\/p>\n
\nMenzel: I don\u2019t perform any of his favorite songs. He would prefer that I sing \u201cSingle Ladies\u201d or \u201cRolling in the Deep.\u201d No, he listens to mommy a little bit here and there, but a lot of times he just tells me to be quiet.<\/p>\n
\nMenzel: Of course I love musicals and being in New York. I miss it tremendously. As far as the concerts go, they still fill the same need in being in front of a large audience and give me the same adrenaline rush. I\u2019m still opening up and making myself vulnerable to a live audience.<\/p>\n
\nMenzel: There was \u201cHair\u201d and \u201cJesus Christ Superstar,\u201d there were things before \u201cRent\u201d of that tone. I don\u2019t see it as an age thing. As long as we keep supporting composers and working with writers to create original material, they are going to write what they\u2019re passionate about and there\u2019ll be something for young people.<\/p>\n
\nMenzel: Not really, no. There are a few shows that I love the music from and so I try to perform their music here and there in these concerts, but I\u2019m more set on trying to be a part of original pieces. You know, my success has come from being a part of original pieces. \u2026 I really, really love being invited into the process and reading new work, so I think that\u2019s more where my attentions are.<\/p>\n
\nMenzel: It\u2019s a dream come true. I\u2019ve always wanted to have a major role in an animated Disney movie. It\u2019s something my son can watch and the people involved on this particular movie are so talented. I\u2019m excited to work with Kristen Bell. It\u2019s fun, you know, you can just go into the recording studio and you get to try a million and one different things. It\u2019s a very creative process, so I\u2019m really excited about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"