Download Free Idina Menzel Songs

Idina Menzel music biography continued...

Mentzel, was in Queens, New York, on May 30, 1971, but her family soon settled on Long Island, New York. Menzel, who changed her name because it was constantly being misspelled, took to singing early and spent her childhood years performing in many school musicals. She went onto study at New York University's Tisch School of Drama. After graduating, Menzel took the life of a struggling artist in New York City. Broke and wanting to keep her dreams alive, Idina auditioned for an off-Broadway show, RENT and got the role of Maureen, a bisexual performance artist. RENT was an instant hit, it opened off Broadway on January 14, 1996 and went to Broadway opening on April 29, 1996. Idina was nominated for a Tony Award for her role as Maureen, and established herself as a performer to be reckoned with.



After an aborted solo recording career, Menzel decided to return to the stage. She was living in San Francisco and heard about a new musical Wicked, which told the true story of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz. Idina felt an instant connection to the role of Elphaba (The Wicked Witch of the West), put on some green makeup and went to audition. She got the part and Wicked was an instant hit, going to Broadway on October 30, 2003 at the Gershwin Theatre. The show has been sold out every night since then. Idina won a Tony Award, best leading actress in a musical, for her performance. After she left the cast of Wicked, Menzel took part in the filming of the film version of Rent, and acted in a few other movies. In 2007, she starred in the half live-action, half cartoon movie called Enchanted, alongside Amy Adams, Grey's Anatomy's Patrick Dempsey, and Susan Sarandon. She also went back to her solo recording career and released her third solo album, I Stand, in January 2008. Whether she's on the stage, screen or album, it seems fans can't get enough of Menzel and rightfully so—she is a gifted entertainer.