{"id":705,"date":"2018-07-06T15:55:37","date_gmt":"2018-07-06T15:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/?p=705"},"modified":"2018-07-06T16:38:26","modified_gmt":"2018-07-06T16:38:26","slug":"multi-talented-singer-songwriter-and-frozen-star-idina-menzel-performs-her-music-at-the-riverside-theater-august-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/multi-talented-singer-songwriter-and-frozen-star-idina-menzel-performs-her-music-at-the-riverside-theater-august-13\/","title":{"rendered":"Multi-talented singer\/songwriter and ‘Frozen’ star Idina Menzel performs her music at the Riverside Theater August 13."},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the past few years or so, Menzel\u2019s name has been on kinds of marquees \u2013 music venues, performance theaters and even film and TV productions. On August 13<\/strong>, it\u2019ll be at the Riverside Theater, as she performs in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

For most people, she\u2019s known for her role as Elsa in Disney\u2019s hit animated film Frozen<\/em>, and her Oscar-winning song \u201cLet It Go.\u201d But she\u2019s shown she\u2019s not a one-hit wonder.<\/p>\n

Among her many acting roles, she\u2019s appeared in the TV show Glee<\/em> and theatrical productions of Wicked<\/em> and Rent<\/em>. She was the first person with both a Billboard Top 10 hit and a Tony Award for acting. Last year she released her latest album, idina.,<\/em> which she has referred to in interviews as her most personal and introspective she\u2019s made.<\/p>\n

Prior to her performance, we talked to her about coming to Milwaukee, finding her place as a singer and actor, supporting her family (during the call she was in the midst of a game of hide and go seek with her son), and yes, of course, her big hit \u201cLet it Go.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do you like about performing here in Milwaukee?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I would say the audiences. We\u2019ve had great shows and the audience is always so supportive and fun and enthusiastic. I think they appreciate my spontaneity. So, we\u2019re able to give them a show that no other city has had before.<\/p>\n

What do you think of performing at the Riverside Theater?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s a beautiful venue. Great sound. Great atmosphere.<\/p>\n

How does performing in Midwest cities like Milwaukee compare with bigger cities like New York?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I don\u2019t think of it in that way. Each city and each show is different. Maybe it\u2019s because I\u2019m a creature of the theater and do eight shows a week. Each audience is different, period. You could do five shows back-to-back in Milwaukee and it\u2019d be different. So, I don\u2019t calibrate it like that. I go home to my hometown in New York on Long Island and do a show and it can be great or it can feel not as good as something in a small town that the people are excited to see me and don\u2019t have me there that often. Live performance is a character in itself \u2014\u00a0the audience and how I\u2019m feeling personally in my life, my health. Every night is a different creature for me. I just get out there and try to stay open and be spontaneous and authentic with the audience. And Midwest, East, West Coast, it\u2019s not how I remember things.<\/p>\n

I remember things like having a wonderful connection with an audience member or somebody coming up to me on stage and bringing me a letter of how a certain song or show, how I connected with them at a certain time in their life and that was important to them. Or something I did with the band that happened creatively and spontaneously. And a new idea that we came up with. A new riff and new song and whatever. When you\u2019re on the road on tour and doing 52 cities, it\u2019s more how you keep it moving and make it rewarding for yourself creatively and your audience.<\/p>\n

Do you have much downtime in the cities you tour through?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

No, I don\u2019t. When you\u2019re a singer and you have a lot of challenging songs and melodies and people expect you to sound great all the time, it\u2019s everything I can do to get enough sleep and take care of my health and take care of my son. Maybe I\u2019ll get to the zoo or children\u2019s museums so I can spend some quality time with him. And then I get out on the stage and give my heart and soul for two hours straight and move on to the next city. That\u2019s my life.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t been to Milwaukee to actually experience it when I\u2019m not performing. Usually I\u2019m there and I bring my son and it\u2019s all I can do to be a good mom and spend time with him and get enough sleep and get myself to the theater and do a good show.<\/p>\n

Justin Hurwitz, the composer from La La Land<\/em>, is from Wisconsin. What do you think of that film\u2019s success?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Well, it\u2019s not the first success of a musical. Westside Story<\/em>, the movie, changed my life. It\u2019s nice that cinema is continuing to reward musicals. But what I love about that musical is the nostalgia that\u2019s inherent in the way that they tell the story, that it\u2019s sort of modern but old-fashioned. I loved that about La La Land<\/em>. But there have been many movie musicals that have been appreciated and have had accolades. I think it\u2019s all about a great story and great composers. It\u2019s continuing a great tradition from Hollywood movies, but it\u2019s not the first thing. It\u2019s not a pioneer. It\u2019s just another great movie musical.<\/p>\n

You seem to have your pick of what you want to do these days. How do you think you\u2019re able to balance it all between music and acting to decide what you\u2019re going to do next?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Honestly it all starts with my family and home and trying to make sure I\u2019m doing what I need to do to raise my son and be a good mom. If the projects can fit into that properly timewise, locale, then I start from there. I just feel lucky to be welcomed into certain circles, great creative circles with people that I\u2019ve always wanted to work with. I think that\u2019s the name of the game, is to surround yourself with great actors and writers. And be part of the process and not be so worried about the outcome. That\u2019s how you be a liaison for their ideas and get myself in the room with the right people. So, it\u2019s still a challenging learning experience for me. That\u2019s how I pick and choose things. I just want to learn from people. Usually if I\u2019m doing something it\u2019s not because of the title, it\u2019s because of the director or writer that\u2019s involved.<\/p>\n

What does it mean to have such a big hit like \u201cLet It Go,\u201d that still gets pretty strong reactions from people young and old? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

That\u2019s what\u2019s beautiful about it. It\u2019s a gift in my life to have a song that\u2019s so successful like that has such a strong message. It has helped to expand my audience. I have young and old and all types of demographics. It\u2019s introduced me to a whole new audience. But most important, it\u2019s what it speaks to. And how it\u2019s challenging all of us to find a way to embrace this thing inside us that makes us different and not to be afraid to put that out there in the world and let it shine.<\/p>\n

What advice would you give to someone who wants to be in music and acting?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Just that: to not be afraid to be different. And not to try to copy anybody or be a carbon copy of someone else that might inspire you. To let them influence you and learn from them but then to allow your own unique qualities to be the thing that guides you. And to know deep down that the right opportunity will come along and you can\u2019t force it. As long as you work really hard and put yourself out there and take risks, the opportunity will come.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the past few years or so, Menzel\u2019s name has been on kinds of marquees \u2013 music venues, performance theaters and even film and TV productions. On August 13, it\u2019ll be at the Riverside Theater, as she performs in Milwaukee. For most people, she\u2019s known for her role […]<\/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-705","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-bn","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705","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=705"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":706,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705\/revisions\/706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}