When you hear the name Idina Menzel, you might think of Shelby Corcoran in \u201cGlee,\u201d or Elphaba the witch in \u201cWicked,\u201d or Maureen in \u201cRent.\u201d
\nMenzel has memorably played all three of those women. But in her upcoming PBS concert special and at the Ravinia Festival this summer, Menzel will show fans who she really is\u2014glorious voice, bare feet and all.<\/p>\n
On July 8, Menzel will make her Ravinia debut, performing in concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by Marvin Hamlisch, the festival announced Friday. Fans can get a taste of what might happen this summer on Monday, when \u201cIdina Menzel Live: Barefoot at the Symphony\u201d debuts at 9 p.m. on WTTW.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the culmination of a year and a half of touring with orchestras, symphonies all over the country\u2014the world,\u201d she told me during a phone conversation Thursday from L.A. \u201cPBS wanted to support us and document the show, which is such an honor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always wanted to have one of those concerts on PBS \u2026 And we\u2019re going to release a live DVD and CD that goes along with it. So it\u2019s an exciting time for me, I\u2019ve never made a live album before.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s turning out to be a year of firsts for Menzel, which is kind of surprising considering the powerhouse performer has been wowing audiences on stage, screen and in recordings since her Broadway debut in \u201cRent\u201d in 1996. Menzel also will spend more time in Chicago this year\u2014another first\u2014when she visits the WTTW studios Monday during the telecast and pledge drive. (Hint for fans: She just might offer tickets to the Ravinia show, and copies of her live DVD and CD, for your pledges.)<\/p>\n
Filmed at the Royal Conservatory\u2019s Koerner Hall in Toronto, \u201cBarefoot at the Symphony\u201d has Menzel performing Broadway classics, her own songs and new spins on contemporary tunes. Saying she wants to keep \u201csome element of surprise,\u201d Menzel wouldn\u2019t list any specific songs that she performs in the special (and most likely will at Ravinia), but she did confirm she does perform songs from \u201cRent\u201d and \u201cWicked.\u201d<\/p>\n
That means we\u2019ll hear Elphaba\u2019s signature \u201cWicked\u201d song, \u201cDefying Gravity.\u201d I asked if she ever gets tired of performing the song that she first sang for the role that won her a Tony Award.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly I do not,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s such an honor to have a song like that; it\u2019s such an iconic song that people are waiting to hear. In your lifetime if you have one song like that, you\u2019re just so lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n
(I couldn\u2019t nail her down on her concert songlist, but I did get her to list a few of her favorite songs that she\u2019s performed on \u201cGlee\u201d and other performers she and husband Taye Diggs enjoy. You can check out the playlist I made at Spotify by clicking \u201cIdina Menzel Playlist by Show Patrol\u201d)<\/p>\n
Now, about the \u201cbarefoot\u201d in \u201cBarefoot at the Symphony:\u201d It may sound like a gimmick, but that\u2019s exactly how Menzel prefers to perform. She had been singing in three-inch heels during her tour, but carrying her son around in the heels messed up her back, she said. So one night she decided to go barefoot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat just changed me,\u201d she said. \u201cFrom then on I just felt like I was just so much freer. I felt like I was funnier. You can feel so stiff up there when you have a conductor and you\u2019re in these fancy halls\u2014and that\u2019s not me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Menzel talked more about her musical theater experiences, her concert tour and what\u2019s coming up for Shelby on \u201cGlee.\u201d<\/p>\n
I want to get the gushing out the way first. You\u2019re responsible for two of my favorite New York theater experiences. I saw you in \u201cRent\u201d and \u201cWicked\u201d on Broadway. So thanks.<\/strong> And the night I saw you in \u201cWicked,\u201d Britney Spears was in the audience.<\/strong> Yes, and she got up before you were finished singing before the intermission.<\/strong> No, she left because she didn\u2019t want to get mobbed.<\/strong> Was \u201cRent\u201d a big life-changing experience for you?<\/strong> Oh, I didn\u2019t know it was your first job.<\/strong> Oh yes.<\/strong> And did terrifically well again. Now when you get comments or questions from fans, or are recognized by them, is it more for \u201cRent,\u201d \u201cWicked\u201d or \u201cGlee\u201d?<\/strong> Right. When you first started on \u201cGlee,\u201d I wondered if a lot of viewers maybe didn\u2019t even know about your theater experience.<\/strong> True.<\/strong> Flying around.<\/strong> Let\u2019s talk about your PBS concert special coming Monday.<\/strong> And so they just asked and set it up and then filmed and recorded the shows?<\/strong> And that\u2019s why you don\u2019t wear the shoes when you perform?<\/strong> I\u2019ve worn heels before and it ain\u2019t easy, so.<\/strong> Do you ever get tired of singing \u201cDefying Gravity?\u201d<\/strong> What\u2019s coming up for Shelby on \u201cGlee\u201d?<\/strong> You have filmed more episodes though.<\/strong> All right. I\u2019ll let you off the hook.<\/strong> All right. Well, thanks and I look forward to seeing you this summer in Chicago.<\/strong> You like hanging out in Chicago?<\/strong> When you hear the name Idina Menzel, you might think of Shelby Corcoran in \u201cGlee,\u201d or Elphaba the witch in \u201cWicked,\u201d or Maureen in \u201cRent.\u201d Menzel has memorably played all three of those women. But in her upcoming PBS concert special and at the Ravinia Festival this summer, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65,"comment_status":"closed","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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[28,12,18,5],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","tag-28","tag-barefoot-at-the-symphony","tag-glee","tag-wicked"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/2012_06_21.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Srnq-1t","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91","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=91"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":761,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions\/761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nOh, wow, thank you. Thanks, that\u2019s so great.<\/p>\n
\nShe was?<\/p>\n
\nAnd she left? She didn\u2019t leave the show because she didn\u2019t like it\u2014<\/p>\n
\nOh, right, right. Now it\u2019s coming back to me a little bit. Oh, my God, that\u2019s funny.<\/p>\n
\nYeah, I met my husband and it was my first professional job.<\/p>\n
\nYeah, it was. And it taught me everything about how to really discipline yourself [while] doing eight shows a week and all that kind of stuff. And also, the biggest lesson was to really appreciate every moment and not take things for granted and all that kind of stuff. Having been working with Jonathan Larson and in rehearsal and then losing him. You\u2019re familiar with that story?<\/p>\n
\nRight. So that was surreal and also just a life lesson for all of us to sort of stay grounded and to remember that every night you\u2019re on stage and you have a new audience and you have to communicate the message and the beautiful music \u2026 So that really was life changing.
\nI wrapped up a record deal; I thought I was going to go sell millions of records and then I got dropped from the record company and had to start over. I didn\u2019t work for a while, but that\u2019s the business, the ups and downs. I had to come back. I turned down so many opportunities in Hollywood, like TV things and film things, because I really wanted to make my music. I ended up sort of cutting off my nose to spite my face because I sort of missed the boat on that. Then when I got dropped from the label and everything, I just had to start over and so I went back to the only place that I felt the most comfortable, which is the theater.<\/p>\n
\nOh, I don\u2019t know. I guess it\u2019s still the theater more than the TV, although TV obviously helps sell more tickets and introduces me to a wider audience and all that. It still feels like it\u2019s \u201cRent\u201d and \u201cWicked,\u201d because like you said, when you\u2019re sitting in the audience of a live theatrical performance, there\u2019s nothing like it. I\u2019ve had that experience, and you know that you\u2019re seeing a show that just, whatever happened that night was special and unique for that evening and for whatever it makes you feel.
\nThe shows that I\u2019ve been in are for young audiences as well; my fans are young and it helped them really deal with maybe exploring their sexual orientation or with [being] the outcast or somebody that was being alienated and made fun and all that kind of stuff. So I feel like those issues really helped connect the kids to me.<\/p>\n
\nYeah, I\u2019m sure there was. I hope there was, because that means that I was making new friends, let\u2019s say.<\/p>\n
\nYou know, and that\u2019s the name of the game. But it\u2019s interesting, that whole thing is just so interesting, because I do get recognized more now, ever since I\u2019ve been on \u201cGlee,\u201d and yet when someone comes up to me and approaches me, they don\u2019t talk about \u201cGlee,\u201d they talk about \u201cRent\u201d or \u201cWicked.\u201d So I\u2019m trying to figure that out; [I\u2019m] not sure why. Maybe they just didn\u2019t know what I looked like without green make up and they\u2019re like, \u201cOh, that\u2019s the girl that we saw in \u2018Wicked.\u2019\u201d [Laughs.] I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
\n[Laughs.] Yeah, exactly.<\/p>\n
\nIt was this incredible year and a half of really having this great balance on stage between performing with a thrilling, magnificent orchestra behind you and also trying to maintain an intimacy with the audience that I feel is important to have. I didn\u2019t want to lose that by standing in front of 80 musicians that all of a sudden dwarf me in some way and take away the personality or the connection that I feel like I have with an audience. So it was tricky, but it ended up really working and ended up being just such an incredible experience\u2026<\/p>\n
\nWe went to Toronto and we did it for two nights so we could take the best from both nights. There\u2019s a lot of spontaneity in the show and each show is very different; my dialogue and my rapport with the audience is different. I wanted to make sure I caught the best moments.
\nMarvin Hamlisch is conducting; which he\u2019s one of my new best friends and I love him very much. He did a bunch of shows with me throughout the year and we\u2019ve just become very close and I just feel more comfortable having him back there. He did the show with us for PBS and I have to say, I\u2019m really excited about it.
\nIt\u2019s called \u201cIdina Menzel Live, Barefoot at the Symphony\u201d because I never wear shoes. And it was my way of staying grounded, because like I said, you can be swept away by all of that sound and the musicians and theatricality and the drama of the situation. I wanted to make sure that I still was talking to everybody. So it\u2019s called \u201cBarefoot at the Symphony.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nYeah. Well, I was wearing high heels for a little while and the gowns and the whole thing, because I felt like, \u201cOK, I\u2019m with the New York Philharmonic tonight, I have to dress the role,\u201d you know? But I found that I didn\u2019t move the same way and I wasn\u2019t as comfortable \u2026 So I wanted to make sure that even though we have that glorious sound and these huge, wonderful arrangements and everything that I still keep talking to the audience the same way I did when I would go out with a five-piece rock band, you know?<\/p>\n
\n[Laughs.] Right, Curt.<\/p>\n
\nHonestly I do not. I\u2019ve changed the arrangement. I change it here and there to keep it fresh for myself, but I wouldn\u2019t really have to do that either. It\u2019s such an honor to have a song like that; it\u2019s such an iconic song that people are waiting to hear. In your lifetime if you have one song like that, you\u2019re just so lucky. And the response I get, as soon as I open my mouth for the first word is always so incredible that I enjoy it. And now that I\u2019ve not been in the show for so many years, it\u2019s nice to sing it and sort of revisit that moment in the show for myself and have that kind of muscle memory and just remind myself what an incredibly magical moment that was in the show, or just how incredibly emotional or intense it is for people when they hear it. It\u2019s just so powerful that I don\u2019t get sick of it.<\/p>\n
\nThey keep all of that stuff so quiet that I have no idea. Honestly, I swear to you I\u2019m not lying, I have no idea.<\/p>\n
\nI don\u2019t know how many I filmed. I haven\u2019t been there in a couple weeks, which is great because I needed some time to spend with my son, but so I have no idea what\u2019s coming up, I really don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\nI would assume, for sure, I\u2019d be spending more time with Leah\u2019s character, and singing more duets with her and obviously, hopefully resolving the Puck issue, but they skip around there a lot, so I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
\nThank you so much.<\/p>\n
\nI haven\u2019t spent that much time there, so I\u2019m looking forward to it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"