Idina Menzel is best known for her work on Broadway where she played characters in two of the most popular musicals of this generation, Rent and Wicked. She is a one-time Tony Award winning actress and singer who has starred in 12 theatre productions, eight films, nine television appearance... More
Idina Menzel Information
Idina Menzel is best known for her work on Broadway where she played characters in two of the most popular musicals of this generation, Rent and Wicked. She is a one-time Tony Award winning actress and singer who has starred in 12 theatre productions, eight films, nine television appearances, and has four solo studio albums.
Born and raised in New York, Menzel got her start in 1995 after auditioning for a new off-Broadway show, Rent, where she met her future husband, Taye Diggs. She got the part of Maureen and the show eventually moved to Broadway because it had such high success. That year, Menzel was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, but did not win. After leaving Rent in 1997, Menzel was in productions of Hair, Aida, Summer of ’42, The Wild Party, Funny Girl and The Vagina Monologues.
It was her role playing the misunderstood Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, in the smash hit, Wicked, that gave her huge success. Co-starring with Kristin Chenoweth, who was also nominated, Menzel won the Tony that year for Best Actress in a Musical. She reprised her role in London’s West End in 2006. After leaving Wicked, she performed in See What I Wanna See, Chess, and Nero.
Menzel’s first film appearance came in 2001 with a small role in Kissing Jessica Stein. She has also been in Just A Kiss, The Tollbooth, the film version of Rent where she reprised her role, Ask The Dust, and Enchanted. Television credits include Rescue Me, Kevin Hill, Private Practice, and Glee.
In 1998, after Rent, Menzel released her first album, Still I Can’t Be Still. Her next album, Here, came in 2004, and was followed by 2008’s I Stand, which was her first charting album on the US Billboard 200 at #58. Her first and only live album to this point was released in March 2012 and is called, Live: Barefoot at the Symphony, which is also available as a DVD. She has also been featured on soundtracks for Desperate Housewives, Beowulf, and on Elaine Paige’s album, Elaine Paige and Friends.
Menzel went on tour in promotion of her I Stand album in 2008. After performing for President Obama and his wife in 2010, Menzel went on tour where she sang with a number of Symphony Orchestras that include Boston, New York, North Carolina, and London.
This summer, Menzel will be going on tour once again. It kicks off June 1 in Vancouver and will continue on across the US and into the fall.
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