Idina Menzel - The original Elphaba for Wicked on Broadway and in London
Articles: Idina Menzel Articles and interviews - Read more about Idina, her voice, her preparation for singing, etc.
Photos and Clips: Idina Menzel photos - Wicked, Rent, etc. | Wicked and Idina Menzel Clips Wicked home page index - access to over 50 Wicked-related web pages Idina Menzel CDs & DVDsIdina Menzel new album I Stand
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Like on page 31, Idina talks about wearing post-it notes in San Francisco in 2003 while the show was changing ever week and she was just learning new lines. Wicked: The Grimmerie offers fans a behind-the-curtains peek at the musical, profiles of the cast and creative team, and inside stories, with photographs and drawings. |
What Stephen Schwartz says about Menzel's voice: See StephenSchwartz.com web forum [new browser window] where he answers a question about her vocal training. See third post on the list. "....I do know that although Idina's performance style suggests that she is off-the-cuff and spontaneous, she is one of the most diligent and hardest-working performers I have ever worked with.....
www.idinamenzel.com [new browser window] Official Website includes bio, photos, newsletter, and email address for fan mail. Idina Menzel received the 2004 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical - Wicked.
Included in this Daily Mail article of April 2006 are Idina Menzel comments on working in London as Elphaba. Daily Mail article on Idina
Playbill.com's Diva Talk with Idina 11/25/05
Idina's comments posted on the RENT blog during filming
http://www.idina-menzel.com/ fan site
Rent (with Idina Menzel as Maureen) - November 11, 2005 release
Idina Menzel Q and A on Broadway.com [new browser window] | Ask a Diva feature on Playbill.com [new browser window]
An unofficial website dedicated to Idina Menzel is at Idina at Geocities [new browser window]. And there's an Idina Menzel fan group at yahoo groups.
If you like the music for Idina Menzel's solo "The Wizard and I" from Wicked, you might also enjoy the stirring song "Meadowlark" from The Baker's Wife, belted by many divas on their CDs. Check out Liz Callway's version. Read about Liz Callaway and her recordings
Video clips of Idina
ShowBusiness - New Documentary that includes interviews with Idina Menzel
Also, there's a clip of Idina Menzel's section of SHOWBUSINESS on the DVD's official site. Look down the right side of the page at http://www.myspace.com/showbusinessmovie
DVD
with bonus features: Watch Idina Menzel rehearse and perform "For Good" from Wicked in
the DVD's special feature. PLUS a 16-minute bonus feature "Wicked:
The Road to Broadway" with production footage and
interview clips, including Idina Menzel in rehearsal, on stage, and backstage. (3 DVD discs 6+ hours total Broadway
footage) Broadway
- The American Musical - DVD Amazon.com (In Europe: Broadway...
- Amazon.co.uk)
ADORABLE: Wicked in London: For an online video of Wicked's opening night and clips of the show see: Broadwayworld- London - A collection of clips from the show plus interviews after the performance. Idina tells why she wanted to be in WICKED in London.
Older but still online: CBS special with Wicked's original Broadway cast just before the Tony Awards: WICKED Tony Awards CBS video clip - Interviews of Idina and Kristin. Idina talks about her costumes and green make up.
See Rent movie trailer RENT
List of Videotaped interviews from Seth's Chatterbox - Seth interviewed Idina Menzel; she also appears on the musical compilation tape.
Idinamenzel.net Fan site with links to clips of performances, etc.
Idina on Theatre Talk Nov '03 [new browser window] - Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel speak on Theatre Talk. The show includes clips of Wicked as well as a Hairspray-related interview. The video is available - follow the order tapes link
Look for Idina Menzel radio clip (Playbill.com)
Pictured: Idina Menzel with Helen Dallimore during rehearsals for Wicked in London, where Idina played Elphaba. See http://www.wickedwestend.co.uk for info on the London production, including photos and link to video clip.
Links to more photos:
Idina Menzel as Elphaba in the Emerald City: Wicked Characters page - includes description of Elphaba and other characters.
(Want a witch hat like Idina wore for Wicked? Check out the witch hats on Half Price Costumes )
Articles on the official site wickedthemusical.com [open in new browser window] Feature story on Menzel - The Journal News | About the green make up | Makeup
Review of Rent with photos Cinemablend.com
Idina and Taye at gala May 2007: Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs
Idina and Taye at RENT concert Summer 2005 (Broadwayworld)
Photos from the cast recording session for WICKED - Menzel and others - Broadway.com
Broadway.com - Photos of Idina's final appearance on WICKED's stage [new browser window]
Photos with Norbert March 2005
Cute photos from the Wicked cast album recording sessions Cast album recording session - Broadway.com
Idina's site has photos - press page
Comments on Idina's career by Morgan LaVere: Idina Menzel literally burst onto the scene in the New York Theatre Workshop's production of "Rent," playing Maureen, a character who has one of the best entrances in musical theatre history. When the show transferred to Broadway, Idina was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Supporting Actress. She followed this up with her performance as Kate in Andrew Lippa's version of "The Wild Party" at the Manhattan Theatre Club. More recently, Idina played "Sheila" in the Encore's production of "Hair," and starred in "Aida" on Broadway.
Time Magazine said of Idina Menzel's performance: "...a mix of vulnerability and feminist passion, with a rock voice to raise the roof."
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Note for those arriving by search engine. Sometimes Idina's name is misspelled Edina Menzel or Idina Menzell.
More Idina CDs:
Genius & Friends - Idina is one of the "Friends" who sings with Ray Charles - "I Will Be There" track 8.
Idina Menzel sings "Damsel in Distress" on Desperate Housewives -- music from and inspired by Desperate Housewives TV series. A September 2005 release.
The Other Sister [new browser window] Menzel sings "Follow If You Lead" on this soundtrack CD
If you find www.MusicalSchwartz.com useful, please add a link from your website or blog.
Wicked Original Broadway Cast Album Track List with Elphaba's songs highlighted:
What is Idina doing next?
"Chess" - the rock opera by Tim Rice and ABBA will be performed in concert in May at London's Royal Albert Hall. The cast includes Josh Groban, as a Russian grandmaster, and "Wicked" star Idina Menzel as his lover. Backing them up will be a full orchestra and a 100-person choir.
Disney's Enchanted - Idina is featured as "Nancy"
Janaury 29, 2008 - Idina Menzel's much anticipated third-solo album comes out. Idina Menzel - I Stand
Tony Award winner Idina Menzel will be at the Virgin Megastore Times Square to perform songs from and sign copies of her new CD I Stand at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, January 29. Buyers must purchase the new CD beginning at 9am on January 29 at the Times Square location in order to receive a wristband to attend this special performance and signing. Space is limited.
ALSO: Saturday, February 2nd - 2pm
Borders #270
425 Jericho Turnpike
Syosset, NY 11791
516-496-3934
Check out Idina on the View on February 13th!
Mark your calendars. Idina will be joining the ladies of The View to chat about her new record "I Stand". She'll also be performing, so you won't want to miss it! Check your local listings for more information.
January 21, 2008: Idina Menzel is scheduled to participate in 24 Hour Musicals. Info on
OLDER NEWS
September 17, 2007
Tony Award winner Idina Menzel and singer-songwriter Peter Cincotti will be Michael Bublé's special guests at his upcoming concert at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Bublé, the multi-platinum Grammy-nominated singer will perform at the Manhattan venue Sept. 17 at 8 PM (doors open at 7 PM). Menzel, the original Tony-winning star of Wicked, will premiere songs from her forthcoming CD. That Warner Bros. Records disc is being produced by Glen Ballard; a release date has yet to be announced.
Singer Cincotti, also an acclaimed pianist, is scheduled to release a new CD in early 2008. Entitled "East of Angel Town," the recording will feature tunes penned by Cincotti.
The upcoming evening, entitled "One Night with Lite," is being presented by the New York radio station 106.7 FM.
Idina Menzel has been working with writer-producer Glen Ballard on her new solo album, due in the fall, 2007. Ballard produced and co-wrote songs for the album, which, he told The Hollywood Reporter, "goes way beyond Broadway." As Menzel told London's Evening Standard in November, "I can't be a character on this album."
July 19 - 29 - Cancelled: Idina Menzel was to have played at Vassar College this summer but has bowed out due to schedule conflict.
Romantic Poetry: A Musical Play,
Book and lyrics by John Patrick Shanley
Music by Henry Krieger
Directed by John Patrick Shanley
She made a statement saying "I am so sorry not to be a part of Romantic Poetry this summer. I have spent much of the last 18 months working on an album and it now has become evident that we are pushing toward a fall release, so I need to be in Los Angeles preparing for that. Powerhouse serves such an important function in the development of new shows. I'm sure Romantic Poetry will flourish there."
ENCHANTED - November 2007
In the spring and summer of 2006, Idina was busy filming Enchanted, a forthcoming Disney feature. Menzel plays Nancy, the best friend of Amy Adam's character. Read about Disney's Enchanted with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, music by Alan Menken. The latest release date for Enchanted is 2 November 2007
WICKED
In the fall 0f 2007 she finished four months playing Elphaba in Wicked in London.
ASK THE DUST
Ask the Dust is now on DVD. Ask the Dust - Idina Menzel joins Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek in the Robert Towne directed film "Ask the Dust." According to DVD reviewer Phil Bacharach, "...Ask the Dust most comes alive with the appearance of Idina Menzel as a wounded (figuratively and literally) stalker who is smitten with Bandini. She and Farrell have some memorable scenes together..." Note, there is some nudity in this R rated film (not Idina but other stars). Read reviews before buying.
Related interview: Idina Menzel interview in Newsday March 10, 2006
Idina is also recording an album for Warner Bros. Records.
According to a news service, The Tollbooth will reach NY and LA theatres in February. Blurb about the show: Mara Sokoloff ("The Practice") stars as the youngest daughter in a traditional Brooklyn-based family who defies her family's wishes by moving into Manhattan. In the process, the art school grad has to negotiate the personalities of an overbearing mother (Tovah Feldshuh), philosophizing father (Ronald Guttman) and a pair of very different sisters (Idina Menzel and Liz Stauber). It comes from first-time feature writer and director Debra Kirschner
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Idina Menzel was replaced by other Elphabas: Shoshana Bean | Eden Espinosa | Julia Murney | Stephanie Block
To Kristin Chenoweth page
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Wicked Songbooks and choral music for "For Good" - "Defying Gravity" and more.
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