,<\/a>\u201d has commanded the stage time and time again, proving that her voice is limitless.<\/p>\nAs if her presence on stage weren\u2019t enough, Menzel continued to flourish with her role as \u2018Elsa\u2019 in the hit Disney film, Frozen<\/em>, which became the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Her song, \u201cLet It Go,\u201d became a worldwide phenomenon, giving kids and adults of all ages frozen fever. The song reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100<\/em>, making Menzel the first artist with both a Billboard <\/em>Top 10 hit and a Tony Award for acting.<\/p>\nIn 2010, Menzel co-founded A BroadwerWay Foundation, which is an organization dedicated to offering girls from underserved communities an outlet for self-expression and creativity through arts-centered programs. Variety<\/em> recognized Menzel as one of their Power of Women honorees for her work with the foundation.<\/p>\nMost recently, Menzel earned her third Tony nomination for her original production of If\/Then<\/em>.<\/p>\nWith the release of her fifth solo studio album, Idina<\/em>., Menzel will embark on a global spring and summer tour of more than 50 cities. In one of the first video releases off the album, \u201cI See You,\u201d Menzel keeps it simple in a black and white setting, directing focus to the powerful vocals. The emotional single makes it evident that Menzel is speaking directly to her fans.<\/p>\n\u201cMy goal is always the same. That no matter how big the venue is, to give a really intimate performance that people really feel they\u2019re a part of. I want them to feel like they\u2019re in my living room so to speak.\u201d<\/em> -Idina Menzel<\/b><\/p>\nCatch the Tony award-winning actress and singer\u00a0July 9th\u00a0at\u00a0The Theater at MGM National Harbor\u00a0and\u00a0July 18th\u00a0at the\u00a0Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric. Both shows are set to start at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve built quite the successful career over the years between your work on stage, television, film, and in music. I\u2019d like to know where it all began. Where did your interest for the performing arts spark and what ultimately led you to continuing this as a full-time career?<\/h3>\n
I can\u2019t remember. I just know that I\u2019ve been singing and running around the living room ever since I can remember, putting on shows. I had a grandpa who inspired me to tell stories and sing. I\u2019d pop up from behind the couch and perform at the house. It was always something I wanted to do. My parents were supportive and I was a part of all the school plays, choirs, stuff like that. They took me to Manhattan to see Broadway shows all the time and that of course changed my life. I knew I wanted to do that. I\u2019ve always been on this trajectory really.<\/p>\n
How would you say the industry has changed from when you first began up until today?<\/h3>\n
The music industry has changed dramatically. There\u2019s not much of that left as far as record labels are concerned. A lot of that is positive because the artist has more control over what they want to do and they have more resources at their disposal to get music out to the public. Especially with all the social media. On the other hand, you don\u2019t make any money making music these days. As far as the rest of it, I don\u2019t see that much of a change, I think that it feels the same to me. It\u2019s about artists getting together and being creative in a room together and being given the opportunity in a safe environment to work. I think that the theatre community is embracing original material, so that\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n
Your first professional role was with the Broadway Production of Rent<\/em>. What was the experience like joining a professional cast and breaking out into the theatre scene?<\/h3>\nI\u2019ve gone on record many times saying that experience was a life-changing experience for me. I mean, I had no idea that when I got cast into a small off Broadway show downtown in the East Village, that it was going to have such a future and have so much success and yet we had a lot of turmoil because our composer, Jonathan Larson, passed away on the very first show. I think we as a young family learned a lot together about not taking things for granted and really understanding how important it is to get on stage and make every moment count to communicate his music and message every night, that was the most important thing.<\/p>\n
How different was it when you filmed the movie?<\/h3>\n
It was a long time, I mean several years later. We didn\u2019t have our entire cast from the New York [production], so that took some getting used to. But, it was nice to revisit it as a more accomplished performer. When I first got the role, I was 25 years old and I had graduated from NYU Theatre and that was the extent of my experience. By the time we got to film making, I had done several other things and found my rhythm and my process. I felt more confident in how I approached the role and sort of brought the spontaneity to that role, but it was also a thought-out process that made me feel in control and like I really could take the character apart.<\/p>\n
I was fortunate enough to see your performance with Kristen Chenoweth in Wicked<\/em>. What was your favorite part about working with Kristen? How was it to reconnect and perform \u201cFor Good\u201d as part of the #OutofOz Series?<\/h3>\nI think my favorite part was singing the duet \u201cFor Good.\u201d It\u2019s a beautiful moment between two friends and I think the two of us recognized the importance of that and every night we could feel the way it connected to the audience and the way it resonated with everyone. We felt such pride about that. On the lighter note, every time she sang \u201cPopular\u201d was fun because I could sit back and watch her amazing comedic prowess and see it a little differently every night. Watching her improvise and do her thing. We did this in tribute to our producer of Wicked<\/em>, who we love very much, and it was pretty emotional. That song was the song that really spoke to both of us every night, so to do it again years later, it was sort of like riding a bike. It felt wonderful to see her and sing that melody with her and harmonize with her again. After so many years and success and with Wicked being performed all over the world, it really felt wonderful to know we were a part of that.<\/p>\nLet\u2019s talk about your most recent album, Idina<\/em>. It\u2019s the first release after all the hype of your Frozen<\/em> soundtrack. Can you tell me a little more about the album, where the inspiration from it developed?<\/h3>\nYou go in a studio to make an album when you feel like you have something to say. I had a really big couple of years in a lot of opposing ways. I had one of the most successful professional careers, but also one of the tumultuous personal years. I was going through a divorce and all that. With all those opposing forces, it gave me a lot to write about. I went in the studio\u2026with great songwriters and producers who could take my ideas and turn them into real songs. That\u2019s why I do what I do because I use music or acting or whatever medium it may be to express myself at the time of my life and the things that I\u2019m experiencing.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the story\/message behind your song, \u201cQueen of Swords?\u201d<\/h3>\n
The song is based on a tarot card. It\u2019s a pretty amazing card. She\u2019s an amazing and powerful woman who speaks the truth and is very powerful. She\u2019s often picked when someone is experiencing a divorce or heartbreak or something like that and so that\u2019s sort of what inspired the writing of that song. When I go up to spend time with the girls in our camp, we always do a music video with them where they sort of put it together, shoot it, direct it, choreograph it. Because I had my album coming out, they said let\u2019s do it because they\u2019re like my little queens of swords. They are a bunch of kick ass, powerful women trying to find their voice.<\/p>\n
What are you looking forward to most on your upcoming tour and what can people expect from the show?<\/h3>\n
My goal is always the same. That no matter how big the venue is, to give a really intimate performance that people really feel they\u2019re a part of. I want them to feel like they\u2019re in my living room so to speak. I chose songs that chronical memories and moments in my life and so they all have a lot of meaning to me. Each set list is some of the same songs, but also some different because it\u2019s a new album. I got a bunch of favorite musicians and bands and were just having a great time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As a little girl with a big dream, Idina Menzel thrived through the years with her impeccable vocals and flawless stage presence. Menzel was just 25 when she was cast in her first professional stage role\u2014a spot with the original 1996 Broadway production of Rent. The beginning of […]<\/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":[2],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-45"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Srnq-aH","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663","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=663"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":664,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663\/revisions\/664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}