Idina Menzel News

Today, in an extension of the FLASH FRIDAY column, we are sharpening our focus on the six upcoming revivals of musicals that are soon to hit the boards in the next few months (post-FOLLIES) and battle it out for the Best Revival as the Broadway season heats up just when the weather begins to cool: the classic Jule Styne/Bob Merrill musical that originally starred that star-of-stars, Barbra Streisand - FUNNY GIRL; the groundbreaking rock opera that rewrote the theatrical rulebook thanks to young creators Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice - JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR; the hippie, flower child take on the Christ story covering some similar Biblical ground to that of SUPERSTAR, with this one being the composing debut of WICKED songwriter Stephen Schwartz - GODSPELL; another Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice collaboration that won seven Tony Awards and acted as the vehicle for Patti LuPone's blazing Broadway debut in a starring role - EVITA; the significantly reworked, revised and rewritten new version of the beautifully scored time-travel musical by Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner, this time starring a male movie star crooner - ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER; and, the landmark American opera composed by the Gershwins with DuBose Haywerd - PORGY & BESS. While each and every one of these entities has a huge hit song or two that nearly everyone on the planet knows by heart - "Don't Rain On My Parade", "I Don't Know How To Love Him", "Day By Day", "Don't Cry For Me Argentina", "On A Clear Day…" and 'Summertime' included - each of these revivals also comes after a film version (or two) that, in more than a few of these cases, will be relatively difficult to top as far as expectations of many audience members undoubtedly will go. So, by taking a listen to the smash hit crossover songs from these musicals as well as looking at their respective film version's trailers - as well as a couple of surprises, too - perhaps we can glean some insight into what makes these generally pretty terrific properties so well worth reviving on Broadway, here, now, today, in 2011. Furthermore, all of this crystal ball commentary is not even taking into account the starry assortment of performers that have already been announced for these productions so far - especially with FUNNY GIRL's Lauren Ambrose and Bobby Cannavale, GODSPELL's Hunter Parrish, SUPERSTAR's lauded Josh Young, EVITA's Ricky Martin and Michael Cerveris, PORGY's Norm Lewis and Audra McDonald, as well as the leading man in what was once a leading lady's role (that of Barbara Harris) in ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER, Harry Connick, Jr.! What a tight race it is turning out to be for these new productions, particularly come Tony time in June! With rock to rhumba and borscht belt comedy to messianic hosannas and even full-out opera, seemingly every conceivable customer base is more than covered by this packed, potentially, well, awesome, season of shows - and many Broadway babies around BroadwayWorld are undoubtedly looking most forward to these six forthcoming revivals - with particularly good reason given the relative dearth of new musicals announced so far. So, let these revivals revive your flagging spirits as we leap into the 2011-2012 season with this comprehensive prospective and retrospective all about what makes them work so well in the first place and so worthy of another look!

The thirteenth edition of Carols for a Cure is now in production and each week BroadwayWorld has been bringing you photo coverage from inside the recording studio. Next up in the line-up is THE LION KING, who recorded their interpretation of Silent Night.

Tony Award winner Idina Menzel has a diverse career on stage and in film, television, and music. In 2009 Ms. Menzel co- starred with Josh Groban in the concert version of Chess: The Musical, recorded at London's Royal Albert Hall and broadcast on PBS. In December 2005 she completed her role as the misunderstood Elphaba in Broadway's Wicked, for which she received a Tony Award for Lead Actress in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award nomination. She is currently starring as Rachel Berry's biological mother, Shelby Corcoran on GLEE. Menzel recently chatted with the UK's MusicalTalk, where she chatted about everything from originating Elphaba to her new summer camp- A Broader Way. Click here to listrn to the interview!

The thirteenth edition of Carols for a Cure is now in production and each week BroadwayWorld has been bringing you photo coverage from inside the recording studio. Avenue Q went into the studio recently to contribute their bit and BroadwayWorld brings you coverage below.

Last night's GLEE, titled "Asian F" (referring to an A-), was an A+ in almost every respect, managing to pack all the musical power, dramatic pathos, fabulous diva-tude and off-the-wall comedy that made GLEE the international sensation that it is and also push a few buttons over the course of an hour - and make a new star or two of its impossibly talented cast in the process, with that individual walking away - or, should I say, strutting away - with the night undoubtedly being Harry Shum, Jr., thanks in no small part to his premiere solo song sung on the show so far in his two seasons on the show. Indeed, Shum's "Cool" from WEST SIDE STORY was imbued with more choreographic tics and embellishments than even Jerome Robbins could have dreamed up in a week's time to get on film this swiftly and speedily. Besides the ultra-hip-swingin' awesomeness of Shum, last night's GLEE also set in motion a number of plots that will surely be a central focus of this fresh-faced and bold newly focused season - Santana/Brittany's relationship, the new Glee club member arriving next week and Idina Menzel's continuously ingratiating and increasingly impressive arc as Shelby, Rachel (Lea Michele)'s estranged mother, foremost among them. What will next week hold for New Directions? Plus, how did the famous recitative sequence from DREAMGIRLS - "It's All Over" - work outside of the classic r&b musical's context? Did Mercedes (Amber Riley) deliver in true Oscar-winning Effie fashion by taking on Jennifer Hudson's hit single "Spotlight" and making it her own? What about Heather Morris and Beyonce's "Run The World (Girls)"? And, most importantly, which semi-secondary lead stole the whole show? To see the answers to these pressing "Asian F" queries and some explanations of many of the reasons why GLEE continues its sterling winning streak with the third episode of the resoundingly successful Season Three, read on! Merely calling it "cool" doesn't even begin to cover it!

The Coterie today announced that Broadway star James Snyder will join Julie Garnyé in her previously-announced concert Julie Garnyé Does Her Friends tonight.

The thirteenth edition of Caorls for a Cure is now in production and each week BroadwayWorld has been bringing you photo coverage from inside the recording studio. Check out CATCH ME IF YOU CAN's Sabrina Sloan in action below!

It was March 12, 1994 when a young, 15 year-old Rob Diamond saw THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA on Broadway for the first time, and came home on 'cloud nine', my life forever changed. I still remember vividly falling asleep that night listening to and discovering Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman, Steve Barton and more on the show's original cast recording. I did this listening to a cassette tape that my parents had (which I had of course never before listened to), on my Walkman.

The Coterie today announced that Broadway star James Snyder will join Julie Garnyé in her previously-announced concert Julie Garnyé Does Her Friends on Wednesday, October 5th.

Tony Award-winning actress, singer, and songwriter Idina Menzel, star of Broadway's Wicked and the original stage production of Rent, will open the 2011-12 Knight Masterworks Season Pops Series at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on December 3, 2011 at 8 p.m. in the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall.

Kara DioGuardi, Ashley Argota, and Daniel Rodriguez make special appearances, adding their voices to the 2011 Broadway's Carols for a Cure, Vol. 13, the annual holiday music 2-CD set which benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

The latest goings-on from McKinley.

In the third season of Fox's GLEE, the students at McKinley are preparing to take on the school musical, WEST SIDE STORY.

The board members of the North Carolina Symphony Society, Inc., and North Carolina Symphony Foundation met in a joint session and annual meeting Tuesday to elect new members.

First reported by the Toronto Star this afternoon was news that Tony-winner Idina Menzel would be filming her second PBS special in Toronto on November 17-18 with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony at Koerner Hall. Now, as an addition to her interview with BroadwayWorld.com earlier this week, the star tells us exclusively that 'I feel really flattered and honored that PBS has asked me to film my concert. We were looking for the perfect venue and the perfect night with the perfect audience, and the stars are aligning for Toronto. I'm really excited about that because when you're performing when the cameras are running and the red light is going you feel the pressure of doing your absolute best performance that you've had all year because this time it's being recorded. You want to feel like the audience is behind you and Toronto has been very, very supportive in the past.'

The thirteenth edition of Caorls for a Cure is now in production and each week BroadwayWorld has been bringing you photo coverage from inside the recording studio. Below, we've captured the cast of Anything Goes!

Martha Wash has lent her powerful voice to this year's Carols For A Cure album, recording with the cast of Pricilla, Queen of the Desert on the track, 'Light It Up!' The tune was written especially for this recording by Jason Michael Webb and Lelund Durond Thompson. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the recording session and brings you photo coverage below!

Martha Wash lends her powerful voice, recording with the cast of Pricilla, Queen of the Desert for the 2011 Broadway's Carols for a Cure, Vol. 13. The track, entitled "Light It Up!" was written especially for this recording by Jason Michael Webb and Lelund Durond Thompson.

Idina Menzel is about to wrap up an 18-month concert tour - that is, when she's not busy filming episodes of Fox's hit show Glee, bringing the arts to young people, and being a wife to fellow performer Taye Diggs and mom to their 2-year-old son Walker. Somehow she found time to talk to me about her multifaceted career and give a little insight into what's in store for her for the rest of 2011.

One of the central joys of GLEE for theatre fans is the constant stream of top-tier triple-threat talent on display, oftentimes the very best and brightest stars on Broadway - and the epic return of Idina Menzel on GLEE last night was certainly a cause celebre of the highest order on that accord. While Idina's WICKED co-star Kristin Chenoweth has certainly made more appearances over the seasons - and racked up Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her splendid work, as well; as recently as in the Season 2 finale and the "Rumours" Fleetwood Mac tribute episode - it is Menzel who has a pivotal role in the story of the show in a way perhaps no other guest star does: she plays Rachel Berry's estranged mother, Shelby. While the physical similarities in the appearance of Menzel and Lea Michele are easy to see (and, in some ways, hear) - although they bare no actual relation - it is in their masterful musical marriage that some of the best moments of GLEE arise and have arisen in the past - many the most heart-breaking and heart-warming among them. "Poker Face" is the gold standard by which every other duet is held up to since Season One and their take on the LES MIZ (and Susan Boyle) classic "I Dreamed A Dream" fulfilled the promise of its title for every Broadway baby - and even Idina's "Funny Girl" left a little footprint on our hearts. Yet, what about these two titanic Broadway leading ladies taking on one of the most well-known and best-loved musical theatre songs of all time - from one of the greatest musicals ever written, no less - "Somewhere" from WEST SIDE STORY? Furthermore, what about Chris Colfer essaying yet another grand dame show-stopping number, this time in the form of FUNNY GIRL'S "I'm The Greatest Star"? And, most of all, how did the hotly anticipated performance by Darren Criss of the WEST SIDE STORY staple "Something's Coming" come off - a song that had its audio world premiere in this very column this weekend - and did it ultimately pan out onscreen on GLEE as stupendously as it sounded it would? To find out all about how last night on GLEE the divas dominated, Criss catapulted to the top of the gleek heap and Colfer channeled Barbra Streisand herself - as well as all the other McKinley High-related drama and overall epic entertainment value that the show offers every week - read on.