Idina Menzel, one of Broadway’s hottest stars, joins the National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Steven Reineke on the Filene Center stage for an evening of musical surprises perfectly suited for her outgoing personality.
Arranged by her music director, Rob Mounsey, the songs she made famous on Broadway are united in an eclectic selection representing artists as diverse as Lady Gaga, Jimmy Webb, Sting and Barbra Streisand.
In addition to those songs, she promises others that soon may be heard on an upcoming album. This concert is one of 30 on her whirlwind summer tour designed to display her versatility and connect with audiences who have loved her on stage and TV.
Menzel has memories both fond and heartbreaking from “Rent,” her first major Broadway production in which she originated the role of Maureen Johnson, a lesbian performance artist. It is where she met her husband, the actor Taye Diggs. It is also the production that shocked the theater world when the playwright/composer Jonathan Larson died unexpectedly the day before opening night. It is only fitting that she honors Larson by singing “No Day But Today.”
| Onstage |
| SSLqAn Evening with Idina Menzel’ |
| » Where: Wolf Trap’s Filene Center, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna |
| » When: 8:15 p.m. Friday |
| » Info: $35 to $55 in-house, $20 lawn; 877-965-3872; wolftrap.org |
“For those of us in the cast, it was for real, and yet confusing,” Menzel said. “We weren’t sure how to feel. It was hard to celebrate at such a bittersweet moment, and yet, it was an amazing life lesson for us all because we were so young and he was a peer. Everyone had a different connection with him and the story. The characters in ‘Rent’ represented so many in the acting community, some of them gay. For all of us, there was deep loss, but it was all about love.”
If the name of Menzel was not familiar to audiences before “Wicked,” it shot to the forefront after she wowed them as Elphaba, the good witch with green skin. Laughing, she confirms that the water-based makeup was not harmful. Indeed, the procedure she followed while wearing it enabled her to take better care of her skin to this day. Her album and the concert recall that musical with two numbers, “For Good” and her signature song, “Defying Gravity.”
Although her heart belongs to the stage, she is growing very fond of television and film and has been able to join her husband frequently in Los Angeles. She recently played the role of Lea Michele’s mother in “Glee.” She continues to be excited about performing with symphony orchestras, a direction she avoided for some time.
“I always knew it would be good, but I didn’t want to lose the art of entertaining an audience,” she said. “Now I’ve discovered what a nice balance it is and how easy it is to chat with them and have a quiet moment together even with a large orchestra present.”
