Idina Menzel

Early life and education

Idina Kim Mentzel was born on May 30, 1971, in Manhattan. She grew up in New Jersey until about age three; her family moved to Syosset, New York, on Long Island. Her parents are Stuart Mentzel, a pajama salesman, and Helene Goldberg, a therapist. She has a younger sister named Cara. Menzel is Jewish and her grandparents emigrated from Eastern Europe. She attended J. Irving Baylis Elementary School in Plainview, New York; H. B. Thompson Middle School in Syosset; and Syosset High School.

When Menzel was 15 years old, her parents divorced and she began working as a wedding and bar/bat mitzvah singer, a job that she held while a student at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts; she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama there in 1992. Idina changed the spelling of her surname to "Menzel" to better reflect the pronunciation that the Mentzel family had adopted in the United States. She was friends with actor Adam Pascal before they worked together in Rent.

In 2017, Irish songwriter Jimmy Walsh who was based in New York City said that in 1992, Menzel had recorded a demo for him of the song "In Your Eyes", which went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 for Irish singer Niamh Kavanagh. Menzel was paid $75 for the recording.

Career

Theater career

In 1995, Menzel auditioned for Rent, which became her first professional theatre job and her Broadway debut. Rent opened Off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop on January 26, 1996, but it moved to Broadway's Nederlander Theatre due to its popularity. For her performance as Maureen Johnson in the original cast of the musical, Menzel received a Tony nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical, losing to Ann Duquesnay for Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk. Her final performance in the musical was on July 1, 1997. Despite the Tony nod, Menzel said she faded into "obscurity" for eight years.

After the success of Rent, Menzel released her first solo album entitled Still I Can't Be Still on Hollywood Records. Menzel also originated the role of Dorothy in Summer of '42 at Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, starred as Sheila in the New York City Center Encores! production of Hair and appeared on Broadway as Amneris in Aida. Menzel earned a Drama Desk Award nomination for her performance as Kate in the Manhattan Theatre Club's 2000 Off-Broadway production of Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party. Her other Off-Broadway credits include the pre-Broadway run of Rent and The Vagina Monologues.

In 2003, Menzel was cast to star alongside Kristin Chenoweth in Wicked, a musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman based upon Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. Shortly after a San Francisco tryout, Wicked began previews at Broadway's Gershwin Theatre on October 8, 2003, with an official opening night on October 30. Menzel's performance as Elphaba, the misunderstood Wicked Witch of the West, garnered critical acclaim, for which she won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. Menzel's character also earned her a devoted fanbase, particularly among young girls who empathized with her misunderstood character, as well as a gay following. She can be heard on the show's Original Broadway Cast (OBC) recording. During her penultimate performance on January 8, 2005, she fell through a trap door during the melting scene and cracked a lower rib. This injury prevented her from performing in her scheduled final show on January 9; her standby, Shoshana Bean, played Elphaba at that performance. Menzel did, however, make a special appearance, in a red tracksuit, at that performance, performed her last song, and received a five-minute standing ovation. Five years later, Broadway.com readers voted Menzel their favorite Elphaba performer out of the eleven actresses who had by then played the character on Broadway.

Music career

Menzel initially struggled to crossover into a solo music career beyond stage musicals, claiming the industry did not take her seriously as a pop or rock singer due to her Broadway origins. Menzel performed at the 1998 Lilith Fair summer concert festival and continues to write and perform original music. She has toured extensively and frequently performs in various venues throughout New York City. She produced and released her debut album, Still I Can't Be Still, for Hollywood Records in 1998. One single from the album, "Minuet", made the Radio & Records CHR/Pop Tracks chart at number 48 in October 1998. Following the album release, she embarked on a promotional tour, but after selling fewer than 10,000 copies in the US and missing the Billboard 200, Menzel's label put the album out of print, and she was dropped from the label. However, the album was re-released once she began to rise to greater fame with her Tony-winning performance in Wicked.

Her second album, Here, was released independently by Zel Records in 2004. Menzel contributed to the soundtrack of Desperate Housewives in 2005. She also appears on Ray Charles's album Genius and Friends, which was also released in 2005, on the track "I Will Be There". In 2007, she appeared on the Beowulf soundtrack singing the end credits song, "A Hero Comes Home". Also, in 2007, Menzel's powerful singing voice led her to be asked to accompany the baritone British X Factor runner-up, Rhydian Roberts, on his debut album, duetting on the song "What If".

Her third solo album, I Stand, was released on January 29, 2008. Produced by Menzel's "top choice" collaborator Glen Ballard, the album features soaring pop ballads and includes many new songs, including the lead single, "Brave", the title track "I Stand", and a song released on EP, "Gorgeous". The album debuted at number 58 on the Billboard 200, making it the first solo album by Menzel to make the charts. There are five versions of this album: the original version, the special limited edition, the iTunes version, the Barnes & Noble edition, and the Borders edition. Menzel wrote 9 of the 10 songs on her album, and was the sole writer on the song "Forever."

On April 1, 2008, Menzel kicked off her 2008–2009 I Stand tour in support of her new album performing four sold-out legs. The concert at Rose Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City was filmed for the PBS television series Soundstage. Menzel was joined by special guests, superstar Josh Groban and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane.

Film and television career

Menzel's feature film debut was the 2001 romantic comedy Kissing Jessica Stein in which she had a minor role as a bridesmaid, followed by an uncredited appearance as Linda in the dark comedy Just a Kiss (2002). While starring in Wicked, she appeared in the coming-of-age dramedy The Tollbooth (2004), playing main character Sarabeth's (Marla Sokoloff) pregnant sister, Raquel Cohen-Flaxman.

Menzel starred in her first major film venture in 2005 when she reprised the role of Maureen Johnson in the film adaptation of Rent, directed by Chris Columbus. Menzel was one of six original Broadway cast members who returned for the film, including then-husband Taye Diggs. Although rumors of a Rent movie had persisted for several years before it was green-lit, Menzel did not consider herself eligible because she assumed A-list Hollywood actors would be preferred if a film version ever materialized, until Columbus approached her directly. However, Menzel was the musical's only main female cast member not replaced by a younger actress, despite all actors being several years older than their characters by the time the film was released. Menzel felt the film's chemistry benefited from retaining most of the show's original cast. Rent was released to mixed reviews and underperformed at the box office, but Menzel's performance was highlighted by reviewers for Entertainment Weekly and IGN. The following year, Menzel and her castmates were nominated for Best Acting Ensemble at the 11th Critics' Choice Awards.

In 2006, she played Vera Rivkin in Robert Towne's Ask the Dust, a romantic drama starring Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek. Menzel's character, a mysterious Jewish woman, harbors unrequited feelings for struggling writer Arturo, played by Farrell. Despite her limited screen time, she considers Vera one of her favorite film roles, citing her character's lack of singing and difficulty overcoming difficult situations as essential to demonstrating her versatility. Ask the Dust was poorly received by film critics. However, Kim Newman of Empire cautioned audiences to remember Menzel's name, writing, "the film comes to life when she barges in and finds it hard to keep it together after she's gone". The San Francisco Chronicle's Ruthe Stein said Menzel enlivens the material by sharing more chemistry with Farrell during their brief scenes together than Hayek does throughout the entire film.

In 2007, Menzel appeared in the musical fantasy film Enchanted as Nancy Tremaine, the fiancée of Patrick Dempsey's character, Robert, and Giselle's (Amy Adams) romantic rival. Despite being a musical, Menzel famously does not sing in the film; several songs composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz had written for her character were ultimately omitted from the final version. Menzel was offered the role without auditioning, and was flattered that Disney would cast her solely based on her acting. Menzel explained that singing would have been out of character for Nancy, who is a New York native unlike the film's more fantastical characters. She opted to portray Nancy with vulnerability as opposed to "a typical mean girlfriend that everyone's going to hate". Enchanted was a critical and commercial success, but The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt and Jim Lane of the Sacramento News & Review felt the film underused Menzel's talents. Some critics and fans also expressed disappointment over Menzel's lack of musical numbers.

Artistry

Voice and influences

Menzel possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range that spans approximately three octaves. For the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sharon Eberson wrote that Menzel's voice "could be categorized as coquettish to flat-out belter and everything in between—and with a stage presence to match—she usually is labeled a mezzo-soprano. But why pigeonhole someone so intriguingly offbeat?" Eberson observed that she "interprets songs as much as an actress as a singer," believing, "therein lies her connection to the music and her fans." Describing Menzel as a loud soprano similar to Broadway actress Ethel Merman, Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote "The sound she creates when she belts ... is a primal cry embedded in her being that insists that we listen and pay attention." Holden observed that her voice can alternate between "babyish and demanding, or it can sound grand and imperial" depending on the song choice. According to Andrew Gans of Playbill, Menzel has "one of the most unique voices of her generation, a pliable alto that can be sweet and girlish in its middle register and then easily soar to pop-influenced top notes way above high C." Frozen songwriter Kristen Anderson-Lopez described Menzel's voice as "a warm hug" with "this warmth and this vulnerability down low. And then, as you bring her higher and higher, she gets stronger and stronger, and more powerful. She just reaches into your soul when she's singing these big, giant songs."

Menzel is known for her signature high belting style; the Kennedy Center website cites Menzel as a prime example of a "Broadway Belter" who uses the technique to her advantage. Theater critic Charles Isherwood said the singer "has a voice that is very much her own," describing it as "totally distinctive" with "a great belt and a great range." Describing Menzel's voice as "husky ... which sometimes veers toward shrieking until she effortlessly reins herself in or, amazingly, kicks it up another notch," Melissa Ruggieri of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution believes she possesses "a superior instrument" both live and in-studio. Explaining her own technique, Menzel said she avoids moving her shoulders while singing and prefers "to take a smaller breath for a bigger, longer note because there's less air that will come pummeling out." She also maintains her voice by constantly steaming and practicing vocal warm ups, describing her routine as "very ritualistic" and "disciplined". Despite her live vocals earning consistent acclaim, some critics have criticized Menzel's belting for sounding "screechy". Schuyler Velasco of The Christian Science Monitor observed that the singer "made a career out of belting notes that would fry the vocal chords of mere mortals", but felt the emotion of her performances sometimes suffers at the hands of her vocal proficiency. Velasco cited her rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XLIX as an example of Menzel sacrificing excitement and inspiration for technique, yet delivering an adequate performance nonetheless. Menzel addressed such criticisms during a 2014 concert, explaining that she wishes to sing loud, proud and "from the heart" like her idols Merman and Aretha Franklin. Tim Smith of The Baltimore Sun wrote that Menzel's "high-wattage vocal cords and intense phrasing ... [make] a mark whenever she sings." Menzel admits that she finds some of her most famous songs challenging, namely songs from the Frozen films, which "push her to vocal extremes" and require constant warming up and sometimes lowering the key for live performances. The term "powerhouse" has often been used in the media to describe Menzel's vocal ability.

Musical style

Professionally trained as a classical singer from age eight, Menzel decided to pursue different genres such as R&B and jazz once she began high school. Upon becoming a wedding singer, Menzel was eventually exposed to a wide variety of musical genres, ranging from jazz to rock and Motown, and often experimented with new arrangements of traditional songs. She credits her wedding singer background with training her to improvise new vocal arrangements, which in turn helps her ad-lib alternative versions of songs when she is feeling unwell or her voice is tired. Her set lists tend to incorporate an eclectic combination of original material and covers of popular pop, rock, musical theatre and film songs, selecting an assortment of songs she expects fans want to hear and feels inspired to attempt new interpretations of. Jay Handelman of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune opined that Menzel's song choices "reinforce her own offbeat personality." According to Menzel, her song selections usually indicate a milestone, choosing to convey a stories and memories about her life using music. Menzel often opts to perform barefoot in concert, which has become a trademark of her live performances. She also enjoys conversing with audience members in-between musical performances. In addition to her vocal prowess, Menzel has been noted for her charming and witty banter; Smith described her as "a pro at delivering stage banter and as quick on the draw with one-liners as seasoned stand-up comedians." On her stage presence, The Denver Post critic Ray Mark Rinaldi wrote that Menzel delivers "the kind of self-assurance that can only come from beating out Kristin Chenoweth for a Tony. She comes out on stage, dressed like she doesn't care, acting a little dizzy, but knowing all along she's gonna hit the right notes."

Menzel has become closely associated with songs about self-empowerment, specifically her Signature Songs "Defying Gravity" and "Let it Go". Discussing Disney author Amy M. Davis believes Menzel's voice "has become associated with rebellion for Broadway fans." However, the artist claims such themes have made her feel fraudulent at times because she herself does not always feel empowered. Subsequently, she began incorporating more emotional material into her sets, such as Radiohead's "Creep". Although Menzel co-writes most of her own material as a singer-songwriter, she considers herself a collaborator rather than a songwriter, explaining that she prefers working with professional songwriters or producers: "They start playing some music, and I like to sing… I can sing melodies, I come up with titles and lyrical ideas, but I'm really not good at making decisions." She has frequently collaborated with songwriter and producer Glen Ballard, and tends to draw upon lyrics from her personal diary and melodies from a tape recorder. Menzel claims she has never completed writing a song entirely on her own, finding the process to be too stressful: "I never had a good song that I wrote, so to ... act like I'm this great songwriter, I would be just a fraud. But, I'm good at bringing myself to it—being a good collaborator in the room." She cites Joni Mitchell and Annie Lennox among her musical influences, describing them as "singer-songwriters who had these amazing voices but also were incredible storytellers and lyricists", while expressing admiration for musicians Bono, Sting and Seal. The Ithacan's Preston Arment observed that "what Menzel may lack in songwriting ability, she makes up for with stunning vocals that remind us why listeners will never stop loving her." AllMusic biographer Marcy Donelson described Menzel's studio albums as a combination of Adult Alternative, vocal, and contemporary pop music. Menzel's fifth studio album, which she considers to be her most personal to date, contains a combination of ballads and upbeat tracks that explore themes about home, personal loss, empowerment, relationships and starting over, much of which was inspired by her divorce from Taye Diggs. Bailey Flynn of The Heights believes the album demonstrates several trademarks for which Menzel has become known: "power ballads that give her huge vocal range and mind-blowing control all the chance they need to show off."

Legacy and public image

Menzel has been called one of Broadway's greatest performers. Tim Beedle of DC.com declared her "arguably the most widely recognized Broadway star in the country". Several media publications have nicknamed her the "Queen of Broadway" due to her success and impact on the genre. Often described as one of the defining singing voices of her generation, Apple Music referred to her as "one of the 21st century's premier vocalists". Jenny Singer of Glamour declared Menzel one of history's greatest musical theatre vocalists, while Valerie Complex of Deadline Hollywood called her an influential performer who has "left an indelible mark on the industry". The Toronto Sun's Jim Slotek dubbed her "this generation's Broadway icon". In a 2020 retrospective, Cleveland.com's Troy L. Smith named Menzel the best vocalist of 2013, claiming the success of that year's "Let It Go" only cemented her legacy as "one of Broadway's greatest stars of all time". The previous year, BroadwayWorld recognized Menzel as one of the decade's 10 most influential Broadway stars. Time Out ranked Menzel the 19th greatest female Broadway actress of all time, observing that she established a "stratospheric reputation" largely based on the popularity of only two roles: Rent and Wicked. Vulture's Jackson McHenry attributed the popularity and endurance of "Defying Gravity" to Menzel, believing few singers can service the song as successfully as she has. In 2018, NPR named "Let it Go" one of the 200 greatest female-performed songs of the 21st century, at number 182.

Menzel's successful crossover from stage actor to television, film, and music star has been discussed at length, with Redbook dubbing her "One of [Broadway's] biggest crossover success stories". Menzel's biography on Starz described her as the kind of stage-to-screen star Broadway seldom produces anymore. Marty Hughley of The Oregonian shared a similar sentiment, writing in 2012 that although Broadway does not guarantee global superstardom as often as it used to, Menzel is "a notable exception to the rule of Broadway's declining clout". Original Broadway cast recordings of Rent and If/Then, both albums prominently featuring Menzel as a soloist, debuted within the top-20 of the Billboard 200. In a 2014 article, Billboard theorized that Menzel's crossover success "bodes well for Broadway's would-be stars", believing "Let It Go" "kicked open the door for future composers of stage and screen". When Menzel returned to Broadway in 2014 shortly after the success of Frozen, Suzy Evans of Billboard observed that audience reception was more akin to that of a "rock star" than a musical theatre performer. Menzel's fanbase has nicknamed themselves "Fanzels". In addition to her perceived authenticity, Isherwood attributes the artist's large following to the successes of Rent and Wicked: "two era-defying, hugely successful Broadway musicals". Toronto Star theatre critic Richard Ouzounian credits the same two shows with solidifying her reputation as one of the industry's "most dynamic musical theatre stars". She has been described as "Broadway royalty", due to a combination of her successful stage career and playing royalty in several Disney projects.

Personal life

Menzel married Taye Diggs on January 11, 2003. They met in 1995 during the original production of Rent, in which Diggs portrayed Benjamin Coffin III, the landlord. They appeared in several films together. On September 2, 2009, she gave birth to their son. In late 2013, it was reported that Menzel and Diggs had separated after 10 years of marriage. Menzel cited negative public reaction to the "interracial aspect" of their marriage as a factor in the divorce, as well as other unnamed "complicated reasons." The two continued to co-parent their son.

Menzel began dating actor Aaron Lohr, and in August 2015, they bought a home together in Encino, Los Angeles. On September 23, 2016, Menzel announced that she and Lohr were engaged. They were married September 22, 2017, in a backyard ceremony at their home.

Menzel identifies as a feminist, saying, "I love that I play all of these strong women. But they're not just strong—they're women who have a really deep vulnerability and need to go through a journey in order to harness their power."

Philanthropy and other ventures

Menzel was an honorary chair of the Imperial Court of New York's Annual Charity Coronation Ball, Night of A Thousand Gowns, on March 21, 2009, sharing the title with Elton John, Patti LuPone, John Cameron Mitchell, Joan Rivers, and Robin Strasser.

On May 17, 2009, Menzel performed at a special benefit concert in Atlanta, Georgia, to raise money for the Pace Academy Diversity Program in coordination with the Ron Clark Academy. The event resulted in the funding of two scholarships for Ron Clark Academy students to attend Pace Academy. The event was organized and hosted by Philip McAdoo, a former Rent cast member and current Diversity Program Director at Pace Academy.

In 2010, Menzel founded the A BroaderWay Foundation with then-husband Taye Diggs as a means of supporting young people in the arts. A BroaderWay sponsors camp programs, theater workshops, and innovative educational programming, and offers scholarships and opportunities to experience professional performances. In Summer 2011, Camp BroaderWay welcomed girls from under-served metro New York communities to a 10-day performing arts camp, run by Menzel and a team of acclaimed professional Broadway artists including Taye Diggs. During this camp, the girls collaborated with Broadway artists to write an original musical that was performed at a theatre in New York. The camp was held at Belvoir Terrace Summer Camp in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Menzel has long championed LGBT rights by partnering with organizations like The Trevor Project, the Give A Damn Campaign (filming a public service announcement and designing a T-shirt) and the NOH8 Campaign, posing for one of their trademark duct-taped silence photos.

In April 2014, Menzel presented at Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Easter Bonnet Competition with Bryan Cranston, Fran Drescher, and Denzel Washington, after raising donations at her Broadway show If/Then.

In 2022, Menzel launched a clothing line with QVC called Encore by Idina Menzel. Also in 2022, Menzel co-wrote a children's book with her sister, Cara Mentzel, called Loud Mouse with illustrations by Jaclyn Sinquett. The book is semi-autobiographical about a mouse named Dee who loves to sing loudly. The book was published by Disney-Hyperion on September 27, 2022. In promotion of the book, Menzel released "The Loud Mouse Song", which she co-wrote with Laura Veltz, on September 23, 2022. In 2023, Menzel and her sister Cara Mentzel released a sequel to Loud Mouse, called Proud Mouse, with Jaclyn Sinquett returning for illustrations.

Discography

Still I Can't Be Still (1998)

Here (2004)

I Stand (2008)

Holiday Wishes (2014)

Idina (2016)

Christmas: A Season of Love (2019)

Drama Queen (2023)

Concerts

Awards and nominations