|
|
 |
DIVA TALK: Catching Up with Tony Winner Idina Menzel Plus News of Peters and Andrews
By Andrew Gans
13 Jun 2008
 |
|
Idina Menzel
|
News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.
IDINA MENZEL
It's a busy time for Tony Award winner Idina Menzel, who is gearing up to launch her first major concert tour later this summer. The soulful-voiced Menzel, who will kick off her tour June 18 at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, CA, will be accompanied by Joe Kennedy on keyboards, Simon Smith on bass, Jimmy Paxson on drums, Emerson Swinford on guitar and Holly Palmer on acoustic guitar with back-up vocals by Palmer and Fannie Bell Johnson. The singing actress, who re-created her critically acclaimed work as the misunderstood, green-faced Elphaba in the London production of Wicked, has also just released her second solo recording, "I Stand," on the Warner Brothers label. Songs from that recording, which were penned by Menzel and Glen Ballard, will comprise much of the actress' upcoming concert tour, although fans can also expect a good dose of songs from her musical theatre outings. Menzel also recently took part in starry concerts of Chess at London's Royal Albert Hall, which will be televised on PBS in 2009, and she will be seen on the June 15 Tony Awards with other members of the original (and current) cast of the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Rent, which will end its lengthy run in September. I recently had the pleasure of chatting with the humorous, down-to-earth performer, who spoke about her upcoming tour as well as her work in London's Wicked and her recollections of Tony night 2004. That interview follows.
Question: How have your concerts been going?
Idina Menzel: We didn't really start yet. I taped a PBS special last month . . . so I went on a small tour to rehearse for that, [but] in two weeks I start my actual summer tour. . . It's something I've always wanted to do. I'm going to be on the bus with the band!
Question: Tell me about your songwriting process. Does music come first, lyrics?
Menzel: It comes all different ways. I collaborate. In this case I collaborated mostly with Glen Ballard, who is an incredible producer and songwriter. He is really known for sitting in the studio with an artist and encouraging them to bring their own ideas. Sometimes I would come in with lyrics from my diary, and other times just melodies from my little cassette recorder that I [use] walking in the street or in the shower. Other times he had an idea, and he'd play me some chords, and we'd set up a mic, and I'd just sing what came to me, and we'd record for a while and see what happened.
Question: What's it like singing your own music versus singing a song from a show?
Menzel: It's different — I guess it's a little scarier. You're a little bit more transparent. There's no costume or character I'm hiding behind. It's just me and my words and my stories. So, in that regard, it's more challenging, and yet sometimes it's more rewarding because of that. Once you put yourself out there and people are singing along to your songs that you wrote, it's an incredible feeling. On the other hand, doing a new role on Broadway is pretty challenging itself. I think you're only good when you make yourself vulnerable anyway, so performing is going to be that for me in any medium.
Question: I enjoyed the song you had written that you performed recently on the Memorial Day concert.
Menzel: Thank you. That was called "Where Do I Begin?"
Question: What was it like performing at that outdoor event?
Menzel: I was very flattered because I did a World War II medley to pay tribute to the soldiers from that time. Then they asked me, in addition to that, to do this song that they liked from my album. That was really an honor for me that they picked that, knowing that most people wouldn't know it. That they had the faith in me to sing that at that time was really, really wonderful. I didn't write that song with soldiers in mind and families saying goodbye to their loved ones, so it's such a gift when you write a song and it takes on new meanings.
Question: Who would you say were your musical influences?
Menzel: I have lots of different influences. It's sort of all over the spectrum. I have my singing influences in Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan and Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday, people like that. And, then there are the Joni Mitchells and Annie Lennox, the singer-songwriters who had these amazing voices but also were incredible storytellers and lyricists. And, then there are people like U2 and Bono and Sting and Seal — I just think their music is so beautiful and sort of timeless. I'm kind of all over the map I guess.
Question: Will you be doing any of your musical theatre songs in the concerts?
Menzel: Yeah. It's not such a hard stretch because the shows I've been in are contemporary. I take them out of their context and unplug them a little bit and strip them down and put them more into the context of my show. They seem to work really well, and they're not changed so much that die-hard theatre fans would be disappointed, I don't think. I feel like I'm getting a good response. So that's really nice for me, to kind of join all my worlds together, and it doesn't feel like it's so erratic. It feels cohesive, and it feels like all one artist.
Question: What was it like for you revisiting the role of Elphaba for the London production of Wicked?
Menzel: That was a life-changing experience. I didn't expect to have such a spectacular time. I guess I was going over there as the only American in the cast, and I just made really wonderful friends that showed me the city in a way that I didn't feel like a tourist. I felt like a local, so that's always great. I also had the confidence, having come from doing Wicked [on Broadway]. It's really nice to rediscover a role like I got to do with Rent [on film]. I feel really lucky in that respect. To come back to something years later with a little bit more confidence, you take even more risks. I feel like I was able to discover new things about these characters, and mostly I was able to enjoy myself. I wasn't worrying about getting fired or what people thought as much. I was able to just say, "Okay, this is something I know connects with an audience, and I should just be excited to help further it to an international [audience]." What an honor to be able to do that.
|  | |
Menzel in Wicked
|
| photo by Joan Marcus |
Question: You also were able to have a real final performance this time around.
Menzel: That's true. I had "closure," quote, unquote. I hate that word, but it's true. I got to finish the show without falling through a hole. [Laughs.] Helen Dallimore, who became one of my closest friends, who played Glinda, gave me a magnificent speech that really just made me feel so good. And, the cast gave me this gift that no one else has except me and Martin Ball, who has it in his computer.
It was a calendar that looked like it said "Wicked," but it really said "Naked." It used all the same graphics. It looked like "The Grimmerie," the book that people buy at Barnes and Noble — the coffee-table book that they made for Wicked. If you open ["Naked"], each month there's a different person, different actor, different character from the London cast naked! But somehow their costume covers just their privates. So January was Glinda blowing bubbles sitting on her fridge in her dressing room, crossing her legs just perfectly so that you couldn't see anything. And, the Scarecrow, Adam Garcia, was sitting in a box of straw with a little bit of his scarecrow makeup on, but he's got his great bod popping out. And, they got the whole cast, all the guys and the girls separately, to do one…The boys all got on the roof and took their robes off in the freezing cold, all at once took them off, and they arranged their positioning so that each person's body was covering some private part of the next guy. They were on the fire escape on the roof. It was just incredible! And I'm the only one who has it. It's a limited edition. [Laughs.] As soon as the curtain came down, they gave that to me after the last matinee. That's just an example to show how I felt very loved over there and had a wonderful time. And, I got to go back recently to do Chess with Josh Groban and Adam Pascal.
Question: How was that experience?
Menzel: That was fantastic! I got to see all my friends, and I made new friends with this cast. Something about taking on a new city, being by yourself and doing it, is such an accomplishment. You get to know your way around, and you make new friends and you understand the culture. To go over there and do Chess and meet a new cast… it's something I love. I love to travel and meet new people.
Question: Is there any talk of bringing Chess over?
Menzel: I think if they did anything, it would remain in its concert form, so we'll see what happens with that. But I got to spend some time with Tim Rice, which was great, and Adam Pascal, who was in Rent with me. That was really nice because we haven't been able to spend any quality time in awhile. And Josh, just singing with Josh is incredible. He's actually guest-appearing on my PBS special. He's doing me a really big favor, and we've become friends. I guess I should keep it a little bit of a surprise, but we sing one of his songs that we turn into a duet. So that was really exciting for me. . . .They recorded the Chess thing for PBS as well. So this summer should be a fun summer. I'm going to be doing the Tonys. We're going to go and say goodbye on the Tony Awards. I'm waiting, actually, to find out what I'm supposed to be memorizing and relearning. [Laughs.] They always assume we remember all these songs, and it's like, "Come on now, let us do some homework!" [Laughs.]
Question: What are your thoughts about Rent closing?
Menzel: It's always been a bittersweet experience. It's been the most wonderful, rewarding experience of my life and the most sorrow-filled, sad time because all of this stuff happened without [Rent creator] Jonathan [Larson]. It always kept it a very unique perspective for all of us . . . I feel like it kept us all grounded at a time when we were all young and didn't know what was going on. It's something that I hold onto now, and it's sort of living in the moment and trying to appreciate what I have when I have it and not let the stresses and the pressures of this industry chip away at that. Continued...
Contact Us | Advertise | Privacy Policy
Send questions and comments to the Webmaster
Copyright © 2008 Playbill, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|
|
|