No matter what happens in Idina Menzel\u2019s career, there will probably never be anything like what she went through last year when she was riding atop the pop culture wave.<\/p>\n
Professionally, \u201cFrozen,\u201d for which Menzel supplied the voice of Queen Elsa and sang the breakout song \u201cLet It Go,\u201d was all the rage, and the song was nominated for an Academy Award. She was also about to return to Broadway, where she had triumphed in \u201cRent\u201d and in her Tony Award-winning role as the Wicked Witch of the West in \u201cWicked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her new musical was \u201cIf\/Then\u201d by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, Pulitzer Prize winners for \u201cNext to Normal,\u201d and Menzel was playing a 40ish woman at a crossroads in her life, much as Menzel was at the time. Her 10-year marriage to Taye Diggs, a co-star in \u201cRent,\u201d was coming to an end, and she was facing the prospect of being a single mom to their then-5-year-old son, Walker.<\/p>\n
Botched pronunciation<\/p>\n
With \u201cIf\/Then\u201d about to begin previews on Broadway, Menzel flew to Los Angeles to sing \u201cLet It Go\u201d on the Oscar broadcast, and John Travolta\u2019s bizarre introduction of her, \u201cPlease welcome the wickedly talented, one and only Adele Dazeem,\u201d set off a thousand memes.<\/p>\n
Things have calmed down some since then, and after an international concert tour, Menzel is touring with \u201cIf\/Then\u201d to a few select cities, including San Francisco as part of the SHN season, along with her fellow original Broadway cast members Anthony Rapp (who co-starred with Menzel in \u201cRent\u201d), LaChanze and James Snyder.<\/p>\n
Looking back on that tumultuous, Dazeem-y March 2014, Menzel says what kept her sane was working on \u201cIf\/Then.\u201d That, she jokes, and antidepressants.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was going through a lot of personal stuff, and for me the theater was my home,\u201d she says from a Los Angeles recording studio where she\u2019s working on a new album. \u201cI was surrounded by a lot of love and support there. I was able to enjoy the success with \u2018Frozen\u2019 because my wonderful friends and family wanted to celebrate it. I didn\u2019t have to worry about hiding in any way for fear of alienating anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Menzel had to fly from New York to Los Angeles to perform \u201cLet It Go\u201d on the Oscars (where the tune snagged a statue for best song), and though it was exciting and nerve-racking, she says it was a different experience because she had the cast and crew of \u201cIf\/Then\u201d waiting for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat really helps you keep your perspective,\u201d she says. \u201cI was in good voice because I had been singing in rehearsal every day. I got out there, did my thing and didn\u2019t have time to overthink things, which is something I can definitely do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can equate it with being a mom. As crazy as that can make you, as sleep-deprived as you can be, it levels everything. I\u2019ve got a son who needs me. Yeah, the Oscars are cool, but I\u2019ve got to get out there, get back and make a paycheck.\u201d<\/p>\n
Original co-stars<\/p>\n
When it came to touring \u201cIf\/Then,\u201d which received mixed reviews in New York, Menzel said she wouldn\u2019t do it without her original co-stars. \u201cI have a love affair with LaChanze and James and Anthony and our director Michael Greif and so many other people,\u201d she says. \u201cWe take such pride in the show. We really felt a sense of ownership and wanted to get it out to more audiences. Yeah, it\u2019s been hard, and I\u2019m tired. I spent the summer on tour, doing my own thing. But I felt compelled to get out there and let people see this show.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the contemporary musical, Menzel plays Elizabeth, a New Yorker whose life is tracked through two parallel story lines involving different life choices. In one, she\u2019s known as Beth, and the other as Liz.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I love about this show and what makes it personal for me is that it says we\u2019re not stuck,\u201d Menzel says. \u201cWe have control and the power to change the course of things, our journey in life. Whether you believe in fate or you don\u2019t, we can at least make choices that help us to evolve. We can wake up, make a choice and start again.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Menzel had her own parallel story line going, she\u2019d be a major Broadway and movie star in one, and in the other she\u2019d be a rock \u2019n\u2019 roll star performing in venues large and small across the land. That said, she doesn\u2019t take her success for granted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese days, I try to find the time to celebrate the wonderful, exciting things in my career, take them in and embrace the moment,\u201d she says. \u201cKeeping your balance is important because things don\u2019t stay too long. I don\u2019t take it too seriously. I\u2019ve learned in my career that it comes and it goes. You stick with the people you know, keep them by your side and know they\u2019ll be there no matter what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Full-time parenting<\/p>\n
As soon as her stint in the \u201cIf\/Then\u201d tour is over in January, Menzel heads back to Los Angeles and full-time parenting. \u201cMy son is 6, so he\u2019s in school,\u201d she says. \u201cI look forward to taking him to school and picking him up and just taking a much-needed break.\u201d<\/p>\n
She has a TV show in development, and then there\u2019s the prospect of revisiting Queen Elsa in \u201cFrozen 2,\u201d which is still in the early stages of development. \u201cI\u2019m pretty sure I\u2019ll do it if Disney will have me,\u201d Menzel says with a chuckle that sounds just the slightest bit wicked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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