About every 10 years, an Idina Menzel project makes history.<\/p>\n
She exploded onto the theater scene in 1994\u2019s Broadway smash hit \u201cRent\u201d as the vivacious performing artist Maureen. \u201cRent\u201d went on to win a Pulitzer Prize and remains one of the longest-running Broadway shows in history. In 2003, \u201cWicked\u201d skyrocked to a theater legend with Menzel winning a Tony for the lead role of Elphaba. It continues to break its own box office records in New York and in satellite productions all over the world. And in 2013 she became the voice of Queen Elsa in Disney\u2019s \u201cFrozen,\u201d the highest-grossing animated film of all time.<\/p>\n
While consistently lending her talent to mega-hits, Menzel has simultaneously decreased the median age of her fan base, attracting scores of teenagers in black witch hats and little girls touting Elsa braids. That said, Menzel gives fair warning: her most recent tour, which will come to Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa 8 p.m. Saturday, May 20, will sometimes cross over into PG-13 territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a woman in her 40s, so in order to remain true to myself and authentic, I can\u2019t completely cater to a young crowd,\u201d Menzel says. \u201cThe demographic at my shows are pretty broad, so I usually just kind of give a disclaimer to moms that there might be a few earmuff moments and to just cut me a break and remember that I\u2019m in my 40s. I hope I don\u2019t offend people too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those \u201cearmuff\u201d moments are born of Menzel\u2019s refreshing candor onstage. The pleasure of seeing her live isn\u2019t in complicated dance numbers, Vegas-style glitz or mosh-pit energy. Menzel instead cultivates an intimate evening. The venue becomes her living room, the audience her confidants \u2014 she doesn\u2019t shy away from slipping off her shoes, reporting any and all wardrobe malfunctions to the crowd or dropping a few f-bombs while retelling a funny story. And then there\u2019s that powerhouse voice.<\/p>\n
When asked if she ever tires of singing fan-favorite songs like \u201cDefying Gravity\u201d and \u201cLet It Go,\u201d Menzel is full of gratitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know people think that, but I don\u2019t. I think you develop a muscle when you do theater eight shows a week that helps you find nuance in every single show to keep it new and fresh for yourself. I find that to be a really wonderful challenge \u2014 discovering new things all the time,\u201d Menzel explains. \u201cAnd songs like \u2018Defying Gravity\u2019 and \u2018Let it Go\u2019 resonate so strongly with young people. I have a responsibility and a pride on stage \u2014 how many people get songs like that in their lifetime? It\u2019s a nice reminder on stage to know that things are going well and how lucky I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
In between her 10-year home runs, Menzel has starred in several theater productions like \u201cIf\/Then\u201d and movies like the Lifetime remake of \u201cBeaches,\u201d was a regular on shows like \u201cGlee\u201d and released a few solo albums. Her most recent, \u201cIdina,\u201d is simultaneously raw and uplifting, written at a tumultuous time in Menzel\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always choose songwriters and producers that inspire me and that are more talented than I am. And I get in a room with them, and I regurgitate all of my thoughts and ideas and emotions, and they help turn it into some beautiful songs,\u201d she says of creating her albums. \u201cIt\u2019s just the personal stuff that\u2019s different each time and what story you\u2019re telling. This particular time there were some big dueling forces. My professional life was booming and exciting. I was on Broadway, and \u2018Frozen\u2019 was a huge success, and I was singing at the Oscars and the Super Bowl. And simultaneously I was going through a divorce and dealing with lawyers and mediation and all that stuff. It was a lot of contradicting forces. It gave me a lot to write about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Menzel\u2019s Borgata show will feature new songs from \u201cIdina,\u201d as well as a few from her previous albums, covers and the empowering showstoppers she\u2019s known for \u2014 a repertoire that has grown with every strong female character she\u2019s played on stage and screen. As to how she came to be cast in so many inspiring roles, Menzel is baffled, but proud.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s one of those chicken or egg questions that I think (the roles) about all the time. I think they choose me. Certainly \u2018Wicked\u2019 wasn\u2019t at the point in my career when I could choose a role like that. I had to audition several times, and work hard to get it. Maybe once people see you in something like that, that\u2019s empowering for women, they think of you for the next similar project that has similar themes … I\u2019m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I\u2019m proud of that,\u201d she says, adding with a laugh, \u201cThough, it would be nice to do a romantic comedy with just a cute dude once in a while.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
About every 10 years, an Idina Menzel project makes history. She exploded onto the theater scene in 1994\u2019s Broadway smash hit \u201cRent\u201d as the vivacious performing artist Maureen. \u201cRent\u201d went on to win a Pulitzer Prize and remains one of the longest-running Broadway shows in history. In 2003, […]<\/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-718","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-bA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718","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=718"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":719,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718\/revisions\/719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}