January 13, 2017 – Hollywood, California, U.S. – IDINA MENZEL promotes TV Movie ‘Beaches.’ Idina Kim Menzel (May 30, 1971) is an American actress, singer and songwriter. Menzel rose to prominence when she originated the role of Maureen Johnson in the Broadway musical Rent. Her performance earned her a Tony Award nomination in 1996. She reprised the role in the musical’s 2005 film adaptation. In 2003, Menzel originated the role of Elphaba in the Broadway musical Wicked, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Menzel returned to Broadway as Elizabeth Vaughan in the 2014 musical If/Then, which earned her a third Tony Award nomination. Additionally, Menzel is known for portraying the role of Shelby Corcoran on the musical dramedy TV series Glee from 2010 to 2013 as well as portraying Nancy Tremaine in the 2007 Disney film Enchanted and being the voice of Queen Elsa in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 2013 film Frozen, in which she sang the Oscar and Grammy Award-winning song ‘Let It Go’. The song reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making Menzel the first Tony Award-winning actress to reach the top 10.[3] She ultimately won a Grammy award for the film’s soundtrack. Her album Holiday Wishes was released in 2014 and reached number 6 on the Billboard 200 album chart, making it her highest charting album to date. Upcoming: Olaf’s Frozen Adventure (TV Short 2017), Beaches (TV Movie 2017), Frozen 2 (announced), LEGO Frozen Northern Lights (TV Mini-Series 2016). (Credit Image: © Armando Gallo via ZUMA Studio)
  • Music

On Music: Idina Menzel Takes On Bette Midler ‘s Classic Role in “Beaches”

January 18, 2017
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Armando Gallo

An amazing actress-singer with a formidable stage presence, Idina Menzel was the Tony-winning star of such hits as Rent and Wicked, before raising her profile on the popular musical series Glee – nominated 10 times for the Golden Globes, winner of 4. On the big screen, she voiced the Snow Queen in the Disney animated feature Frozen (winner of two Golden Globes, including Menzel’s recording of the song ‘Let It Go’). Menzel stars this Saturday, January 21, on the world premiere of the Lifetime remake of the 1988 film Beaches, directed by Garry Marshall and starring Barbara Hershey and Bette Midler.  The show features new takes on the classic songs “Wind Beneath My Wings” and “The Glory of Love” and includes several other songs recorded specifically for the TV movie. We asked Idina  to describe what music means to her:

“I am not a religious person, but when I perform, it’s the closest I feel to some sort of transcendence, where I am free and I can get outside of myself.  Not all the time, sometimes I am saying to myself you suck, you suck.  But there’s certain days where it’s all flowing and it just all makes sense and I feel a sense of a connection to the universe in some way. So that is sort of my religion I guess. “