By SHARON EBERSON
For as long as fans want to hear Let It Go and Defying Gravity, songs that Idina Menzel put on the map of Viral Hits, she will gladly keep singing them.
Her concert coming to the Benedum Center on August 10, 2024, is part of her Take Me or Leave Me Tour – a nod to a song from Rent, the show that brought her a Tony nomination her first time on Broadway, in 1996.
Songs such as Frozen’s Let It Go and Defying Gravity, from her Tony-winning turn in Wicked, might seem to be obligatory, but the singer sees them as something much more essential.
When someone asks if she tires of those songs, they often don’t believe her answer.
“The truth is, those particular songs have been incredible gifts to me personally and professionally, and they are opportunities every night to show my gratitude – and also for me to remind myself how lucky I am,” Menzel said in a recent telephone interview.
is in concert at the Benedum Center on August 10, 2024.
“They are also songs that are so meaningful, that really teach us all, no matter how old we are, to really embrace our power, to not be afraid, to not compromise ourselves for who we are. And that is something that I have to continuously remind myself of. So I actually really enjoy singing those songs.”
And if you’re wondering how her belting voice holds up under those particular songs, well, she’s a Broadway veteran.
“I’m a creature of the theater eight shows a week, so I’m used to singing the same thing over and over,” Menzel said. “And that’s not monotonous to me because I get to discover new things every night. And that’s my job, to figure out those nuances and make it fresh for the audience and for myself.”
Menzel recently endorsed a new Elphaba, Cynthia Erivo, when they walked together onstage at the Tony Awards. The magnitude of the moment was emphasized by the fact that they were there to present the last award of the night, to 2024 Best Musical winner, The Outsiders.
While Wicked makes its way to the big screen in two parts, Menzel will be on tour and then back on Broadway next year, starring in the new musical Redwood. The show boasts a book by director Tina Landau (the SpongBob musical and upcoming Floyd Collins on Broadway), music by Kate Diaz and lyrics by both, conceived by Landau and Menzel, who promises a taste of what to expect in her concert at the Benedum Center. (Sample Menzel singing music from Redwood here.)
Idina plays Jesse, a woman who embarks on a cross-country road trip that ends amid Northern California’s “magnificent, towering redwoods, where Jesse finds strange and powerful connections, an unexpected sense of community, and a chance at healing,” via La Jolla Playhouse, where the musical debuted in February.
Menzel said the fictional show was inspired by the story of Julia Butterfly Hill, who, lived in a redwood tree for more than 700 days as a protest against logging companies.
“I just found that so fascinating, and it made me think, what would I be capable of as a human being?,” Menzel said. “Do I have that within me? That kind of fortitude and passion to do something like that, for something I believe in?”
Since learning about Hill, New Yorker Menzel has visited California’s redwood trees “many times,” which she said has been “life-changing.”
Menzel will be on tour throughout the summer, out West at concert venues through most of July, before heading back east in August.
Ask if anything else was up before her return to the New York stage, she said, “Between this tour and then getting ready for Broadway, and trying to make every basketball game for my teenage son, and give my husband some love and attention, I think my dance card is filled for now.”
For her visit to Pittsburgh in August, the singer stopped short of naming songs to be sung here – not to play coy, but she likes having the option to retool the playlist, and she doesn’t want to toy with audience expectations.
One thing that is almost guaranteed – Menzel will begin the night wearing heels, then kick off her shoes and get comfortable.
“One thing I’m proud of is I have the ability to take a venue of any size and make it feel like my living room.”
– Idina Menzel
When last at the Benedum, in 2015, she did just that, taking the 2,800-seat arena and suddenly making it feel like an intimate cabaret.
“I am discovering that about myself,” she explained. “I think I could criticize myself on many levels, but one thing I’m proud of is I have the ability to take a venue of any size and make it feel like my living room. I really feel like I’m good at that.
“Also,” she added, “I’m more comfortable singing without heels on.”
She wasn’t talking just about physical comfort, but being barefoot helps calm her nerves by helping her “feel grounded and connected to the earth.”
Just as you may not know what Menzel may have in store as a singer – concerts have included songs associated with Aretha Franklin, Barbara Streisand and Led childrenZeppelin – you can never guess what might be on Menzel’s mind. In her 2015 concert here, she delivered a mashup that included Roxanne by the Police.
There will be songs from Menzel’s older albums that she referred to as “abandoned children … because once I’m done with them, I move on.”
However, she has heard from fans still eager to hear those songs again, “so I am not going to forget about them this time, and I’m looking forward to performing a few of those songs again.”
Between songs, Menzel is known for telling offbeat stories and speaking her mind, sometimes revealing so much, it seems cathartic, perhaps therapeutic …
Menzel laughs at that notion.
“First of all, I’m the daughter of a therapist and the wife of a therapist, so let’s get real,” she said. “I actually am going to talk about that and, you asked about what I’m going to sing? I actually sing a song that has to do with that.”
About what she might reveal, “I mean, I can’t help but put my big fat foot in my mouth,” she said.
Menzel knows her audiences likely will include. young fans of the animated and stage hit Frozen and the Enchanted films. She invited youngsters to come up to the stage in a previous concert here, and dozens ran up the aisles to join her.
Still, there’s no stopping her often confessional banter.
“Sometimes I walk off going, ‘Oh my God, did I have to reveal that?’,” she said. “But then inevitably, there’s always someone that really relates to a particular statement. So I feel, ‘Okay, I’m glad it’s honest.’ ”
Menzel said audiences can count on more thing when they come to see her in concert.
“I’m going to leave everything I have on the stage, and when I sing, I’m going to use every part of my voice,” she said. “I might hit a bad note, I might forget a lyric, but I’m going to leave everything out there. And it’s going to be a celebration of a couple of generations of music and projects that I love, that we all hopefully have shared together.”
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Idina Menzel: Take Me or Leave Me Tour is at the Benedum Center, Downtown, at 8 p.m. Saturday, August 10, 2024. Tickets: visit https://trustarts.org/production/95853/idina-menzel or call 412-456-6666.
Categories: Celebrity News, Our Posts, Preview
Leave a Reply Cancel reply