Idina Menzel may not be prepping for the Olympics, but she takes the approach of a world-class athlete when she trains for a global tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to build your stamina, get a lot of sleep and take care of yourself,\u201d said the Tony Award-winning actress and singer, speaking from New York. \u201cI prepare as much as I can beforehand and treat it like I am an athlete vocally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Menzel will open the North American leg of her 2015 world concert tour Tuesday at the Altria Theater in Richmond. She first performed in the city in 2012.
\nThe earlier part of her tour has taken her around the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s beyond anything I could have imagined,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s surreal to go to places you have never been to and have people know who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Menzel reached stardom on the Broadway stage as Elphaba in the blockbuster \u201cWicked\u201d and as Maureen in \u201cRent,\u201d but anyone who is a fan of Disney\u2019s Oscar-winning \u201cFrozen\u201d knows her as the voice of Elsa. Disney has already announced the \u201cFrozen\u201d sequel is in the development stage.<\/p>\n
The New York native is the powerhouse behind the film\u2019s Oscar- and Grammy award-winning song \u201cLet It Go.\u201d It\u2019s a song that will always be connected to her, and that she connects with.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a reminder that we have to keep pushing ourselves and inspiring ourselves to accept that thing that makes us different,\u201d she said of the song. \u201cIt\u2019s a reminder for me not to be afraid of my own power and talents and the things that make you stand out. Embrace those things and celebrate them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The song moved her the minute she heard it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew it was such a great song and I was in great company with the Disney family, but I didn\u2019t know it would be such a phenomenon,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The past couple of years have been a whirlwind for her. She released the Christmas album \u201cHoliday Wishes\u201d last year, her first Top 10 album on Billboard\u2019s chart of the Top 200 albums, received the \u201cBillboard\u201d Breakthrough Artist of the Year award at the annual \u201cBillboard\u201d Women in Music Awards, and also returned to Broadway in the musical \u201cIf\/Then.\u201d She will open with the touring production of the show in a few early cities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my baby,\u201d said Menzel, who worked with the creative team to help develop the show. \u201cIt\u2019s important that everybody that didn\u2019t get to see it in Manhattan will get to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Menzel also was tapped to star in \u201cHappy Time,\u201d a new comedy pilot from Warner Bros. TV and Ellen Degeneres\u2019 A Very Good Production.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are writing and working on the story for it now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Right now her career is going strong, but that\u2019s not all that occupies her time and energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome days it\u2019s everything and some days, because I have a 5-year-old son, life is about my family, and that is what gives me perspective with all of this craziness going on,\u201d she said. \u201cI am just like any other working mom. I am constantly guilty. I am guilty that I am not with my son enough and I am guilty when I am not giving enough to my career. I am doing the best I can.\u201d
\nShe believes her strength and independence are important not only for her own growth but also for her son. If she didn\u2019t pursue her dreams, her son \u201cwouldn\u2019t grow up with a woman that is happy, strong and confident,\u201d she said. \u201cI would rather my son have that idea of a woman rather than someone that compromised herself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Menzel has loved Broadway and performing ever since she was a child.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a little girl I would come into the city from Long Island to see Broadway shows,\u201d she said. \u201cMy whole life, that is what I wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though she will be singing many of the same songs she has performed before, Menzel always tries to leave room in her show for spontaneity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is something about being ready for everything and willing to be open and vulnerable that leads to fun and happy mistakes,\u201d she said. \u201cIt took many years for me to stop knocking myself when I make those mistakes. I realize now that something wonderful happens when mistakes happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
After becoming a mom, she quickly learned that she couldn\u2019t do it all and realized she had to lessen the pressure she put on herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI may be sleep-deprived or late because I am picking up my son from school, but by lowering my expectations I take the pressure off of myself,\u201d she said. \u201cI end up having a better performance and a better day because I was relaxed and free.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Idina Menzel may not be prepping for the Olympics, but she takes the approach of a world-class athlete when she trains for a global tour. \u201cYou have to build your stamina, get a lot of sleep and take care of yourself,\u201d said the Tony Award-winning actress and singer, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":485,"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":[36,8,38,11],"class_list":["post-483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","tag-36","tag-family-life","tag-frozen","tag-world-tour-2015"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/bww1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Srnq-7N","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":486,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483\/revisions\/486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}