{"id":624,"date":"2018-07-04T15:19:30","date_gmt":"2018-07-04T15:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/?p=624"},"modified":"2018-07-04T17:57:17","modified_gmt":"2018-07-04T17:57:17","slug":"for-idina-menzel-this-role-is-more-than-skin-deep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/for-idina-menzel-this-role-is-more-than-skin-deep\/","title":{"rendered":"For Idina Menzel, This Role is More Than Skin-Deep"},"content":{"rendered":"

It can be hard to believe that it has been more than two decades since a then 24-year-old Long Island native named Idina Menzel shot to superstardom as the feisty bisexual Maureen in Jonathan Larson\u2019s groundbreaking musical Rent.<\/em> And what may be equally hard to believe is that, since then, Menzel has appeared only once (quite briefly) on the New York stage in a non-singing role. That is, until May 31, when she begins previews as Jodi Isaac in Joshua Harmon\u2019s provocative new play Skintight<\/em> at Roundabout\u2019s Laura Pels Theatre.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point in my career, one of the biggest things I consider before taking any role isn\u2019t about whether I\u2019ll be singing, but whether I will be working with people who can teach me and challenge me. And I think that\u2019s definitely true of Joshua, our director, Daniel Aukin, and the whole creative team,\u201d says Menzel. \u201cIn this case, maybe the most important issue for me is that I am being given the chance to stretch myself as an actress. It\u2019s not just that I think there\u2019s a danger at this point in my life of being pigeonholed as a musical-theater performer, but I know in my heart that I have so much more to give to audiences, and this play will allow me to do just that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, Skintight,<\/em> like Harmon\u2019s other plays (Bad Jews, Significant Other,<\/em> and Admissions<\/em>), isn\u2019t afraid to tackle difficult subjects \u2014 and difficult people. Jodi is a tough-as-nails fortysomething lawyer who is recently divorced and struggling to connect emotionally with her two sons (one of whom is openly gay). Above all, she is being asked to try to come to grips with the startling reality that her 70-year-old father, Elliott, a super-famous fashion designer, wants to spend the rest of his life with a twentysomething former gay porn star.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was blown away the minute I read the play \u2014 and not only because it\u2019s so original,\u201d says Menzel. \u201cIn many instances, Jodi is exploring a lot of the same issues that I do on a day-to-day basis, from coming to terms with aging to worrying about her relevance in this world to the struggle to feel beautiful and sexy, but not worrying about it every second. I really try to keep that last issue in perspective, in part because I want to be a good role model to my 8-year-old son, Walker. I try not to talk too much about my looks or my weight around him, because I want him to see me as a confident mom and woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, Menzel really relates to Jodi\u2019s maternal protectiveness, whether she\u2019s haranguing her father about making sure there\u2019s gluten-free food around for her 20-year-old son, Benji, or warning Benji about not getting involved with her father\u2019s lover. \u201cWhen you\u2019re pregnant, everyone says that your life will change, but they don\u2019t tell you that for the rest of your life, you will have this aching moment in your heart every day worrying that your child is safe and well,\u201d she notes. \u201cI have to say, my mother was fiercely protective of me, and I see some of that fierceness in not just my real-life behavior but also in how Jodi acts. There is no question in my mind that she really loves her sons, just as I love Walker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Menzel admits that Jodi \u2014 at least on the page \u2014 can be a tough act to swallow at times, trying to control everything and everyone around her. \u201cThere is no question that Jodi has her own agenda and can be completely self-absorbed,\u201d she says. \u201cIn my mind, I\u2019ve been working on whether to try to soften her or embrace her abrasiveness. I firmly believe every character doesn\u2019t have to be likable, and so it\u2019s OK that sometimes Jodi is a real pain in the ass. But as an actress, not only do you need to have empathy and understanding for your character, you have to make the audience understand where she\u2019s coming from.\u201d<\/p>\n

And where does Menzel think Jodi is ultimately coming from? \u201cIn addition to dealing with her own insecurities, she is really wrestling with her father\u2019s decision. Part of me gets that: being able to embrace the idea that if I was as old as Elliott, would physically being with someone as young and handsome as his lover really bring me such joy and ecstasy?\u201d she says. \u201cBut what I really love most about the play is that it will spark a conversation among people of all ages and sexual persuasions: What makes you feel alive? What kind of love do you need in your life? What makes you feel fulfilled? I can\u2019t wait to work on it!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It can be hard to believe that it has been more than two decades since a then 24-year-old Long Island native named Idina Menzel shot to superstardom as the feisty bisexual Maureen in Jonathan Larson\u2019s groundbreaking musical Rent. And what may be equally hard to believe is that, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,2],"tags":[46],"class_list":["post-624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-interviews","tag-46"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Srnq-a4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":625,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624\/revisions\/625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}