Tony Award winner Idina Menzel, currently starring in If\/Then at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, stopped by WNYC Radio\u2019s “Soundcheck” July 24 to record two songs from the new musical; she was also interviewed by host John Schaefer.<\/p>\n
Menzel, who was joined by composer Tom Kitt, performed \u201cYou Learn to Live Without\u201d and \u201cSome Other Me.”<\/p>\n
Excerpts from her interview follow:<\/p>\n
On developing new characters:<\/strong> \u201cI try to seek out working with people on brand new material. It just takes a lot longer. People say, \u2018Why haven\u2019t you come back to Broadway in so long?\u2019 These things take awhile to really develop.\u201d<\/p>\n On motherhood:<\/strong> \u201cWhen you talk about a dual character \u2013 it\u2019s what it seems, but for me and for most women, it\u2019s just different parts of the spectrum that we\u2019re highlighting. They\u2019re all me, they\u2019re all of us. I\u2019ve struggled with putting off having a child, worried that it would distract me from my ambition and my career. And then I realized once I had a child how that enriched my life, and me as an artist and as a woman. It\u2019s constant, the balancing motherhood now with my performing and my career and the guilt that I\u2019m constantly slaying myself with. But it\u2019s wonderful to have a show that I can at least go and assess those things and work through them on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n On younger fans seeing an \u201cadult\u201d side of Idina:<\/strong> \u201cIt\u2019s not as much of a problem [at If\/Then]. Actually, when I do my private concerts, that\u2019s when I worry more. People come to bring their kids to hear ‘Let It Go,’ and I\u2019m 43 years old and I\u2019ve got stories to tell that aren\u2019t necessarily appropriate. I don\u2019t know how to do it so that I\u2019m respectful but also true to myself.\u201d On recording a Christmas album as \u201ca good Jewish girl from Long Island\u201d: <\/strong>\u201cA good Jewish girl from Long Island likes to make a Christmas tree. It might not have many colors \u2013 it might be all white lights and color-coordinated \u2013 but I still do the tree in my house.\u201d<\/p>\n Listen to the complete session below:<\/p>\n
\nOn her name: \u201cIt\u2019s an Israeli name, a Hebrew name, it means gentle. I can be gentle, it depends who you ask. I was named after my great-grandmother Ida. In the Jewish religion, when someone passes, you name them after [them] and use the first letter.\u201d<\/p>\n