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Idina Menzel embraces decades of power
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Chatting âWicked,â âFrozen 3,â âRentâ and more ahead of her âTake Me Or Leave Me Tourâ
Published Jul 18, 2024  âąÂ Last updated Jul 18, 2024  âąÂ 6 minute read
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Chatting with Menzel ahead of her "Take Me or Leave Me Tour."Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
Idina Menzel has had many patrons under a spell since she played Maureen Johnson in the musical Rent in 1996. Her powerful voice, demanding stage presence and proud identity as a feminist have captivated audiences for decades.
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Though Rent was Menzelâs first professional job, audiences may know the Tony-winning actor from her spellbinding role as Elphaba in Wicked, Elsa in the soon-to-be trilogy Frozen and many others.
Ahead of taking off on her âTake Me Or Leave Me Tourâ (sheâll be playing Massey Hall in Toronto on Aug. 13, 2024), I chatted with Menzel to discuss her most well-known âerasâ and noticed a trend throughout her career â Menzel plays loud, proud women who must learn to love themselves for who they were meant to be.
âI believe that every character that comes into our lives as performers is there to teach us something about ourselves and something we need to learn in our own lives,â shares Menzel.
Menzel kicked off her career with one of her most confident characters, Maureen in Rent. For a year and a half, Menzel introduced Maureen to audiences by donning a small shirt and skin-tight pleather pants while harnessing theatregoers to âmooâ with her. Maureen is an unapologetic attention-grabbing performer who uses her abilities to protest the causes sheâs passionate about.
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Menzelâs next role that transcended the deep theatre world was Elphaba in Wicked, which she debuted in 2003. Wicked has remained on Broadway since its opening and is currently making headlines as the two-part movie version is set to be released later this year and in 2025.
Though Menzel wonât be reprising the Wicked Witch of the West in the movie â mentioning âIâm just older and canât play the roleâ â she shares how the experience of developing the character impacted her. âElphaba had to learn how to harness her power and to love and appreciate herself. I had to do the same as a performer and as a woman to recognize that I had all this fire and ferocity and power â and that I didnât need to be afraid of it,â Menzel shares.
Itâs hard not to see the parallels between the green-skinned witch and blonde-plaited princess Elsa, in Frozen. However, Menzel no longer needed to fear water, unless frozen. Menzel played Elsa, a Disney princess with powers that needed to be harnessed. This was when Menzel went way beyond the stage and into the living rooms of parents everywhere.
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Menzel is a sensational singer, Disney princess, childrenâs author, philanthropist, comedic actor and so much more â but as seen in many of Menzel interviews and as I experienced for myself, she seems down-to-earth. Menzel thoughtfully and eloquently answers questions with earnestness yet levity â the contrast of being a grounded superstar certainly defies gravity.
Menzel has had many great successes beyond her most defining roles, but below we cover some of those big hits while getting to know a bit more about the Broadway belter.
Rent Q: What resonates most from your Rent days?
A: Thatâs a very rich, full time in my life. Thatâs not a simple answer. It was my first professional job so it was a magical time. It was daunting. It was bittersweet and it was exciting. It was a dream come true. I had been a little girl growing up in Long Island wanting to be on Broadway and having that come to fruition.
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What resonates the most is just the cast, the family that we made. On stage and backstage with one another, our commitment to doing the best job we possibly could to honour Jonathan Larson.
Q: Whatâs one thing about Jonathan Larson that doesnât get enough attention?
A: I donât know if it would be what doesnât get enough attention. I donât think people understand, or fully comprehend that when youâre a young, aspiring theatre composer you are waiting tables and trying to make ends meet and hoping to have your vision realized. When someone finally takes a leap of faith [couldnât help myself] and gives you the funding to focus 100 per cent on your creative vision and you can stop having a second job waiting tables that is likeâ I guess Iâm projecting my own experience, but the joy and glee that he had when he was able to do thatâ is something not to be taken lightly. When any artist can focus on their creativity and not have to worry about paying rent.
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Wicked Q: What is your biggest takeaway from debuting and playing Elphaba in Wicked?
A: I believe that every character that comes into our lives as performers is there in order to teach us something about ourselves and something we need to learn in our own lives as well as the charactersâ lives. Elphaba had to learn how to harness her power and love and appreciate that about herself. I had to do the same as a performer, as a woman, to recognize that I had all this fire and ferocity and power and that I didnât need to be afraid of it. But if I just embraced it, people would really see me for who I am and in the best light.
Q: With the Wicked movie coming this fall, what do you think differentiates stage-to-screen successes vs. flops?
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A: Youâre talking to someone who has her original musical coming to Broadway [I mentioned I think too many musicals these days are remakes from popular movies], which Iâm very proud of. Thatâs all in the directorsâ vision. There are some iconic movie musicals that have done it all right and then some that havenât worked. Itâs really hard to put your finger on it. Itâs hard sometimes to transfer people singing their feelings in a scene onto a camera close-up in their faces.
Frozen Q: What do you hope is next for Elsa in Frozen 3?
A: I just want her to be happy. Iâd like her to have more joy in her life, more adventure, more bonding time with her sister.
Screen Q: How did you start collaborating with Adam Sandler? Whatâs it like to work on films with him?
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A: Itâs the best. I donât remember how I started. I think it was Uncut Gems or even before then. Heâs a wonderful human being, a very generous person on and off camera. And thatâs been a delight for me. Heâs allowed me to show the world that I can be funny, which I really owe him so much for that. Heâs great. His whole family is great.
Solo career Q: In one of your interviews, you mentioned something about being influenced by Alanis Morissette â do you mind speaking to this?
A: Sheâs been a huge inspiration to me. I love her honesty in her lyrics, melodies and songwriting.
How I write music is different in every collaboration. Some things come from me and some from the musician collaborator and working with chord progression. It all changes when writing for theatre, which is a different kind of beast. When Iâm writing my own music, I can write from my own stories, but writing from a specific character is a different skill.Â
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Q: Whatâs the most exciting and toughest aspect of getting ready and heading on tour?
A: The pressure that I put on myself to want the show to be incredible, to want to challenge myself and my musicians whoâve been with me for many years. Getting better to try new things without changing certain songs that people want to hear a certain way. How to keep myself challenged and fresh while also giving people what they want to hear. How to put together a set and a show that feels authentic and intimate, no matter the size of the venue.
Fast-fire questions
Q: Go-to snacks on tour? A: Bagel and a Diet Coke.
Q: Go to beauty brands on tour? A: Iâm using an Armani foundation that I love and I use Tatcha makeup remover and Neutrogena makeup remover wipes.
Q: What do you think is the most underrated song from your solo music? A: Itâs not underrated, itâs just, has anyone ever even heard it? Iâm going to do a couple of things from my old album.
Q: Favourite Broadway show? A: I just saw Stereophonic â thatâs pretty awesome. But West Side Story is my favourite musical.
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