Idina Menzel Plays OCPAC with Orchestra, 11/7

Broadway powerhouse Idina Menzel - the Tony Award-winning Elphaba from internationAl Blockbuster Wicked - performs together with a full symphony orchestra for one night only November 7 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center November in Segerstrom Hall. With a diverse repertoire of classic pop, musical theater favorites (including hits from Wicked and Rent) as well as songs from her album I Stand, Menzel demonstrates why she is one of the great vocal performers of our time.

Tickets to Idina Menzel start at $55 and go on sale September 26. They will be available at OCPAC.org, at the Center's Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling 714.556.2787. For inquiries about group ticket discounts for 15 or more, call the Group Services office at 714.755.0236. The TTY number is 714.556.2746.

Last season, Menzel joined the cast of Glee, the Fox juggernaut about a varied group of high school kids who come together to sing as the underdog of glee clubs. Menzel plays the coach of rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline, McKinley High Glee Club's main competition. Recently, Menzel concluded a national tour promoting her album, I Stand. A skillful songwriter, Menzel writes and performs her own music. She released the Glen Ballard-produced album for her record label, Warner Bros. Records, and played to sold out houses around the United States. Menzel performed her show in New York as part of the Mastercard Soundstage series, which aired on PBS. PBS also aired the concert version of Chess: The Musical, recorded at the Royal Albert Hall where Menzel shared the stage with Josh Groban.

In film, Menzel appeared opposite Susan Sarandon, Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams in Disney's hit, Enchanted, directed by Kevin Lima. Prior to that, Menzel was seen in director Chris Columbus' film version of the Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning musical Rent, in which she reprised her role as Maureen. This was on the heels of her co-starring role in Robert Towne's Ask the Dust opposite Salma Hayek and Colin Farrell. In television, Menzel completed an arc on the Grey's Anatomy hit spin-off, Private Practice on ABC. In September 2006, Menzel premiered the Broadway hit Wicked in the West End in London to rave reviews and received the Theatregoers Choice Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She starred in Michael John LaChiusa's musical See What I Wanna See directed by Ted Sperling at The Public Theater.

This role garnered Menzel a Drama Desk Award nomination as well as a Drama League Award
nomination. Menzel completed her Tony Award-winning performance, for Lead Actress in a Musical, in Wicked in December 2005. Helmed by Tony Award-winning director Joe Mantello, Wicked played to packed audiences at the Gershwin Theatre since it opened in October 2003. Additionally, Menzel was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her role as the misunderstood green girl.
Menzel received a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut performance as Maureen, in the original production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning hit Rent. She also earned a Drama Desk nomination for her performance as Kate in Manhattan Theater Club's Off-Broadway original musical The Wild Party. She appeared as Sheila in the Encores! production of Hair and starred as Amneris in Broadway's Aida. Her other Off-Broadway credits include the pre-Broadway, original, buzz-creating production of Rent and The Vagina Monologues.

The remaining performances in the Center's 2010-2011 Cabaret Series.
Broadway Up Close and Personal: A Tribute to Cy Coleman
December 9 - 12, 2010 in Samueli Theater
Sutton Foster | Center Debut
January 6 - 9, 2011 in Samueli Theater
Nathan Gunn | Center Debut
March 24 - 27, 2011 in Samueli Theater
Orange County Performing Arts Center

The Orange County Performing Arts Center presents a wide variety of the most significant national and international productions of music, dance and theater to the people of Southern California. It is committed to supporting artistic excellence on all of its stages and offering unsurpassed experiences, engaging the entire community in new and exciting ways through the unique power of live performance and an array of inspiring programs. As Orange County's largest non-profit arts organization, the Center owns and operates the 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall and intimate 250-seat Founders Hall, which opened in 1986, and the 2,000-seat Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, which opened in 2006 and also houses the 500-seat Samueli Theater, and the Lawrence and Kristina Dodge Education Center's studio performance space and Boeing Education Lab. These state-of-the-art facilities are united by a community arts plaza. The Center's Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and community plaza, along with facilities of the adjacent Tony® Award-winning South Coast Repertory and a site designated as the new home of the Orange County Museum of Art, are located at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The Orange County Performing Arts Center presents a broad range of programming each season for audiences of all ages from throughout Orange County, and beyond, including international ballet and dance, national tours of top Broadway shows, intimate performances of jazz and cabaret, contemporary artists, classical music performed by renowned chamber orchestras and ensembles, family-friendly programming, free performances open to the public from outdoor movie screenings to dancing on the
plaza and many other special events. It offers many education programs designed to inspire young people through the arts. These programs reach hundreds of thousands of students of all ages with vital arts-in-education programs, enhancing their studies and enriching their lives well into the future. The Orange County Performing Arts Center is proud to serve as the artistic home to the region's major performing arts organizations: Pacific Symphony, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and the Pacific Chorale. For more information, visit OCPAC.org. The Center can also be found online at Blogger, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Flickr.

Idina Menzel
Orange County Performing Arts Center - Segerstrom Hall
Sunday, November 7, 2010 at 3 p.m.
Orange County Performing Arts Center
600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA
Tickets: Start at $55
In person - The Center Box Office
600 Town Center Drive
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Open 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily
Online - OCPAC.org
Phone - 714.556.2787
Open 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. daily
TTY number - 714.556.2746
Group Services - 714.755.0236

Information provided is accurate at the time of printing, but is subject to change. Orange County
Performing Arts Center is a private, non-profit organization. "Orange County Performing Arts Center" is a registered trademark.

 

Photo Credit: BWW-Staff