Adele Dazeem the 21st Century Broadway Star

[ljay889]

Well Audra and Chenoweth have yet to have a top 10 song on the Billboard hot 100. That is a major feat for the song, especially being that it's the standard Idina version, not the god awful Demi Lovato version.

[bwayphreak234]

Great summary. What is happening with If/Then and Idina Menzel is thrilling. Not only do we have a Broadway star, but we also have a completely original musical with a GREAT book and score. I couldn't ask for more.

[promisespromises2]

IJay that may be true, but I'm sure Audra and Cheno's solo albums sold a ton more than Idina's. I don't think you can compare someone getting on the Billboard from a Disney film and then two people who release their own solo albums.

[MrTaylor]

No matter how you feel about Menzel, the fact that this is happening in 2014 is wholly heartening. (And I happen to think she's excellent.)

[adamgreer]

Oh please, Audra and Chenowith are much bigger stars than Idina, just due to their presence in Hollywood. Kristen is a regular on all the talk shows, pals around with Cher and Kathy Griffen, starred on TV shows and won an Emmy...she'll never make that transition to Hollywood, where, with the price of tickets, our true Broadway stars' worths are measured.

I love Kristin Chenoweth, but let's be honest about her "Hollywood career" you speak so highly of. Her self-titled sitcom was a flop. She won an Emmy for a critically acclaimed show no one cared about. She was featured for the final three seasons (post Aaron Sorkin) on The West Wing (and was wonderful, I might add). GCB or whatever it was called was canceled its first season.

And then there are her film roles, a stellar list which includes those cinematic classics Four Christmases, Space Chimps, RV, The Pink Panther, Bewitched, and Family Weekend.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

I think that McDonald and Chenoweth prove my point. Porgy and Bess averaged 50% of gross during its run and Chenoweth's Apple Tree averaged 49%. Considering the "perceived" stardom of those two names, their shows should have sold out. Right? Even with their pedigree, awards and some TV work, neither one of them really sold tickets.

And, yes they should sell tickets. I feel that a lot of work from the producer/agent/artistic side of the business has let down lots of talented respected theater people from becoming the kind of star that I defined at the beginning of this thread.

The current business model on Broadway is a movie star who can sell premium tickets for 16 weeks, or a musical revival or movie adaptation without stars that runs for 3 years.

Neither of these scenarios create real Broadway stars.

[ljay889]

Peak positions on the Billboard top 200 albums chart for their most recent solo albums.

Kristin Chenoweth "Some Lessons Learned" - #50
Idina Menzel "I Stand"- #58
Audra Mcdonald "Go Back Home" #147

Also note: Idina's "Barefoot at the Symphony" live album peaked at #53.

None of their albums are particularly hot mainstream sellers.

[CarlosAlberto]

It's impressive that Idina's version of "Let It Go" has cracked the Billboard Top 10. Imagine that! A "show tune" in the Billboard Top 10 in 2014! That wasn't what "was supposed to happen". Disney had Demi Lovato record a pop (read: radio friendly) version of the song in hopes that it would get radio play and become a hit. The exact opposite happened - the original version from the film sung by Idina Menzel was the one to accomplish that feat. Again - impressive.

[ljay889]

^ EXACTLY!!

[Liza's Headband]

But then it becomes an argument about WHY "Let It Go" is so popular and widely known. Idina is not the [sole] reason for it being a top 5 song on the billboard charts.

[promisespromises2]

Yeah, I don't think television shows help Broadway actors. Even now I lm continually shocked when I IMDB someone and see that they were on Broadway prior. I love Cheno, but she really does pick the most lame and weird movies to be in (except for Into Temptation which was EXCELLENT and showed off her acting talents far better than any movie she has been in).

Anyway I hope I didn't give the impression that I'm not impressed with Idina because I totally am. And I'm glad she has all of this during her personal dealings of life as well. I just really dislike animated movies so anytime someone brings up Frozen (which I saw purely to hear Idina) I recoil a bit.

[GilmoreGirlO2]

But then it becomes an argument about WHY "Let It Go" is so popular and widely known. Idina is not the [sole] reason for it being a top 5 song on the billboard charts.

True, she is not the sole reason, but considering that it IS the Idina version of the song that is making it onto the radio (as opposed to, as has previously been said, the Demi Lovato radio-primed version), I don’t think it would be ludicrous to give her voice the majority of credit for her version taking off. There are certainly other factors, but, to me, this shows that the general public wants to hear Idina’s vocals over Demi’s on this song.

[qolbinau]

"Idina Menzel was the original star of two Broadway megahits. When you think about that it perhaps shouldn't be all that surprising that she can sell a show on Broadway. But we have been so conditioned to think that the only thing that sells is a different strata of celebrity that we do find it surprising. "

For very good reason though - the conditioning is coming from the punishment or poor grosses rather than us being told. Even Bernadette and Patti can't sell a show very strongly anymore. Norbert and Kelli have been mentioned in this thread but we have seen from this season alone that they can't sell a show very strongly on their names alone.

I think this is a great, unusual accomplishment.

[Steve721]

Wicked has a rabid fan base--Kelli O'Hara has never been in a show like that--and that together with the success of "Frozen" and "Let It Go" have made Menzel into a draw. (The publicity from John Travolta's butchering her name on the Oscars didn't hurt either.)

Without Idina, the grosses for If/Then would probably be in the same territory as Bridges. Much as I would love for it to have happened, Kelli O'Hara's Broadway peformances have clearly not turned her into a draw for a mixed review show like Bridges, even though she got raves.

[CarlosAlberto]

Idina Menzel has had a pretty solid fan base and now it's just expanded thanks to her participation in FROZEN a film that has given her a hit single, the now-infamous mispronunciation of her name on one of the most highly watched Oscar telecasts in recent memory as well as appearances on the the talk show circuit including one on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, which also garners high ratings nationwide. Not to mention the ever-escalating YouTube views for "Let it Go" on YouTube in any number of languages. If people didn't know who Idina Menzel was before they sure do now.

[Liza's Headband]

"There are certainly other factors, but, to me, this shows that the general public wants to hear Idina’s vocals over Demi’s on this song."

Not that I completely disagree, but to play devil's advocate: maybe they just want to hear the version that's in the movie they saw. Makes sense, doesn't it?

[darquegk]

It does make sense, but would be brought into question by the long-standing success of Disney's "pop single versions" in the past 20 years.

[blaxx]

So the show is now a mega hit and it is all because of her? Wow, that was fast.

Not an overly dramatic premature assessment at all. They should just move it to the Foxwoods and rename it the Menzel.

[MikeInTheDistrict]

I also think Idina's recent prominence is mostly due to the success of FROZEN. IF/THEN wasn't a particularly hot ticket during its run here in D.C. before that film was released. Half-price tickets were available from Goldstar (like Groupon, but for live events) throughout its try-out.

Re: the success of Idina's "Let It Go"... it could also have something to do with the fact that Lovato's version just sucks and doesn't have any of the sentiment or dramatic oomph of the version from the film. I don't find the fact that "Let It Go" broke the Billboard Top 10 all that surprising. It's the main song from the second highest grossing animated film of all time (after TOY STORY 3).

I will say that there's one thing that separated Menzel from people like Kristin Chenoweth and Audra McDonald: she's picedk projects that have landed her a very young, enthusiastic fanbase. What FROZEN, RENT, and WICKED all have in common is they all appealed to young people (albeit, at different degrees of youth). Idina's name cachet has grown mostly thanks to her association with these projects, rather than anything that really differentiates her as a star, IMO. Since she left WICKED, there have been many Elphaba replacements who have been as good or better singers and are more charismatic than her.

Chenoweth (who was also on GLEE, as has Lupone) and McDonald have not really been involved with projects that have had that youth appeal. All that said, I think Disney and the Oscar mishap are really what has lent some "juice" to her name cachet this season. I'm not sure how much it will sustain IF/THEN through its run.

[delongpre]

Just thrilled for the success Idina is experiencing right now. I love that the fans were smart enough to realize that her version of "Let it Go" was the one to listen to. I think the stars (celestial, not performing) have all lined up for Idina this year, with FROZEN, "Let It Go," IF/THEN and Adele Dazeem, and have catapulted her to the spotlight beyond the Broadway stage. Within one week, Idina was on stage, on TV, on the radio, and in movie theaters SUCCESSFULLY. AMAZING feat for an AMAZINGLY talented woman. Her success bodes well for the arts. Local NY kid makes good!

[BroadwayGirl107]

Hmm. A few big things that have helped Menzel become a bigger star than the likes of McDonald, Chenoweth, and Foster:

-Being on the casting recording of shows that ran over a decade. She was, and still is gaining fans every day as people see Wicked (and saw Rent) and then buy the cast recording nearly a decade after she left the show. The other women never had shows with such a potent afterlife.
-Her sound. I say this with nothing but the greatest respect and awe for the crop of bona fide Broadway stars we have right now, but Menzel is the only one who has a voice that fits right into the landscape of modern day popular music. Even now in her 40s, her voice has a certain youthful quality and is far more rock/pop influenced than classic musical theater. The other women fit within a mold and she has broken it. As big a fan I am of hers, I think the fact that she's found a home in musical theater is really 100% thanks to Wicked. There was a time between Rent and Wicked where it seemed like maybe she'd never quite fit in. I wonder what her career would have been like without it as there are so few projects she's right for.
-And I guess to piggy pack off that last point, it's huge that she's insisted on only doing original pieces, and I hope she continues to hold that standard for as long as possible. The fact that people CREATE shows around her instead of REVIVE shows around her sets her up as an artist who is contributing exclusively to original theater.

As far as the "Let It Go" phenomenon, I think it has to do with what I mentioned above. She is the extremely rare star who can sing and perform with a musical theater sensibility yet has a 100% radio-friendly 21st century voice. Past pop versions of Disney hits replaced their very musical-theater sounding voices with pop voices, but Disney didn't need to do that this time, which I'm sure they now realize.

[Sutton Ross]

"She is the extremely rare star who can sing and perform with a musical theater sensibility yet has a 100% radio-friendly 21st century voice."

I completely agree, it's very rare, and her sound is very distinctive. I also think she is the main draw for If/Then. Evita knew it couldn't survive with Ricky Martin (judging by the numbers during his vacation), and I think it's a similar thing here. She is a true star though, and it was a pleasure to hear her live.

[blaxx]

Hmm. A few big things that have helped Menzel become a bigger star than the likes of McDonald, Chenoweth, and Foster:

-Being on the casting recording of shows that ran over a decade. She was, and still is gaining fans every day as people see Wicked (and saw Rent) and then buy the cast recording nearly a decade after she left the show. The other women never had shows with such a potent afterlife.

Totally. I wish Chenoweth had been involved in Wicked and the casting recording. Then she would still be gaining fans.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Well, she IS benefitting from it, but the difference is, like I said, Menzel has a more mainstream friendly voice, and it certainly didn't hurt her that she was playing the relatable protagonist while Chenoweth played more lighthearted comic relief. I think it's safe to say Idina is feeling the benefits of having sung "Defying Gravity" more than Chenoweth is.

[amoni]

Apparently Idina Menzel peed on Liza's Headband's Playbill at one time or another.

[blaxx]

I think it's safe to say Idina is feeling the benefits of having sung "Defying Gravity" more than Chenoweth is.

I hope so, because Chenoweth didn't sing that at all in the show.