With original cast credits that include the free-spirited Maureen in \u201cRent\u201d and the misunderstood witch Elphaba in \u201cWicked,\u201d Idina Menzel has helped to launch two of the biggest Broadway successes of the last 20 years.<\/p>\n
She may be preparing to launch a third, but she won\u2019t offer much in the way of details. The 41-year-old singer-actress will say only that she\u2019s \u201cin the workshop phase of an original musical, which is what I love to do most, what has brought me the most success, so I\u2019ve made myself available in this project from the very early stages.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the meantime, she is hardly twiddling her thumbs. In between raising a child and making regular appearances as a glee-club coach on the hit TV series \u201cGlee,\u201d Menzel is appearing in a one-woman show that\u2019s a live version of her recent PBS special titled \u201cIdina Menzel: Barefoot at the Symphony.\u201d It stops Wednesday at the Detroit Opera House as part of a 30-city tour.<\/p>\n
The show finds the raven-haired performer backed by 26 musicians. A four-person rhythm section travels with her, but the other orchestra members at Wednesday\u2019s show will be Detroit-area musicians who will rehearse with her in the afternoon before the 8 p.m. performance.<\/p>\n
Menzel\u2019s eclectic song choices for the show nimbly leap from pop hits like Lady Gaga\u2019s \u201cPoker Face\u201d to Broadway standards from Cole Porter. (Coincidentally, her \u201cWicked\u201d costar, Kristen Chenowith, performed a similar show at the Opera House earlier this month.) Menzel spoke last week with the Free Press about what audiences can expect.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: How much is off-the-cuff and how much scripted in this one-woman show?<\/strong> Q: How did the idea of performing barefoot come about?<\/strong> Q: How do you pick the songs to perform?<\/strong> Q: The two shows you are best known for, \u201cRent\u201d and \u201cWicked,\u201d have attracted massive cult followings. What makes a great modern Broadway musical?<\/strong> Q: Your recurring role in \u201cGlee\u201d has introduced you to another generation. The show has also introduced kids to Broadway music they might not otherwise have been exposed to. Do you find hope in that?<\/strong> With original cast credits that include the free-spirited Maureen in \u201cRent\u201d and the misunderstood witch Elphaba in \u201cWicked,\u201d Idina Menzel has helped to launch two of the biggest Broadway successes of the last 20 years. She may be preparing to launch a third, but she won\u2019t offer much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[28,6,7],"class_list":["post-61","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-28","tag-barefoot-summer-tour-2012","tag-career"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","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\/61","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=61"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":331,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61\/revisions\/331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nANSWER: There is some structure, and then I mess with it. I\u2019d like to say that there\u2019s a lot of spontaneity in my show, but when you\u2019re working with an orchestra, you can\u2019t throw them into a tizzy by changing the order of things too much.<\/p>\n
\nA: When I was performing with symphonies, I felt that I had to dress up more, put on the gown and the 3-inch heels. Because I travel with a kid and my back was killing me, I decided one time that I didn\u2019t have to wear those heels. I had the best show. I felt more comfortable in my body and my voice. And since then, I haven\u2019t gone back.<\/p>\n
\nA: It\u2019s more like the material chooses me. Sure, some are expected of me. Or sometimes it\u2019s a song that chronicles a time in my life that I want to share with the audience. Others are ones I\u2019ve always wanted to sing that challenge me in some way.
\nI do this medley of Cole Porter songs and then it goes into Sting\u2019s \u201cRoxanne.\u201d That came about because when I was in college, I was working in an interpretation class and the teacher wanted me to work on the song \u201cLove for Sale.\u201d Then one day, I woke up and thought \u201cRoxanne.\u201d They\u2019re both about prostitution. So that just kind of fit and people really like it.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t Rain on My Parade\u201d I do because I had to sing that for Ms. (Barbra) Streisand (who originated the song in \u201cFunny Girl.\u201d) at the Kennedy Center. There\u2019s a funny story that goes along with that song that I tell during the show. I do a lot of talking between songs.<\/p>\n
\nA: First, it doesn\u2019t have to be modern to this era to be modern. Like any successful work of art, it just has to be completely authentic and honest. It has to make people feel like they are being represented in that art form. Whether it\u2019s a rock \u2018n\u2019 roll musical or more traditional, it has to speak to their soul.
\n(With Elphaba in \u201cWicked\u201d) what I connected with was the idea of being a woman in this day and age and the challenges that come with it. It\u2019s challenging to be a powerful, confident woman without feeling alienated or ostracized in some way. \u2026 I was on the same journey as the character of Elphaba, learning how to harness my power and not be afraid to shine, so to speak, and not be afraid to be powerful \u2014 and that is something that as women we\u2019re not taught innately.<\/p>\n
\nA: Of course I do. It makes people appreciate all kinds of music and listen with different ears. To make Broadway music a bit more mainstream is obviously good for people like me. But what I love most about it is the way it celebrates these young people and their individuality. And I appreciate the dialogue it is having between younger and older generations, the conversations that it brings to dinner tables all across the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"