Performer Profile : Idina Menzel

One of my favorite performers to grace the Broadway Stage is Idina Menzel.  Menzel is a Tony Award winning performer that has had a diverse career on stage, in film, television, and music.

            Born and raised in New York, NY, Idina has always had a love for the stage.  She spent a lot of her childhood in musicals, taking lessons, and writing her own music.  From the time she was a little girl, Idina knew that music was her passion

            Menzel went to New York University’s School of Arts where she majored in music.  She earned her bachelor’s degree and gigged here and there to make ends meet.  She received her big break in 1993 when she was offered the role of Maureen in the musical ‘Rent’ Off-Broadway.  In 1996, the show made it to the Broadway stage, really giving Menzel the exposure she had been longing for.  She left the show in 1997, but received the opportunity to play Maureen again in 2005 when it was brought to the big screen.    I fell in love with Idina in 2004 when she premiered the Broadway show ‘Wicked’.  Her role as Elphaba brought her a Tony Award for Leading Actress in a Musical.  In between her on-stage work, she took on small television roles and released a few studio albums.  Recently, Menzel has gone on to appear in the Disney hit ‘Enchanted’ and the Fox sitcom ‘Glee’. 

            Idina is currently producing a special, “Friday Night is Music Night’, for BBC Radio.  The program is scheduled to air April 24^th, 2013.  She will be performing songs that she has sung throughout her career.  Idina will have an orchestra backing her up and special guests performing along side of her (Is anyone else praying for a duet between her and Kristne Chenoweth?).

            Idina Menzel is an amazing performer that I have always admired.  She is truly an inspiration and favorite in the theatre industry.

Theater Blogging

There are hundreds of great blogs that are dedicated to the musical theatre industry.  A lot of the information I blog about, I read it on the theatre blogs I follow first.  I decided to feature a couple of my favorite blogs in this post.  My two favorite theatre blogs are Theatermania.com and Broadwayworld.com.   If you are a theatre lover or just looking for information on a particular show, you should check out these two blogs first. 

Broadwayworld.com is a blog that provides highlights, news, and updates of Broadway, Off-Broadway, and community theatre.  They are headquartered in New York, NY, but feature performances all over the world.  They provide information on new musicals, ticket sales, show reviews, and tour schedules. Broadwayworld.com is owned by Wisdom Digital Media Publishing.  In November of last year, Wisdom Digital Media announced that they were planning to launch 10 new spinoff entertainment sites with a focus on movies, television, books, fashion, music, dance, opera, comedy, classical music, and art.  Broadwayworld.com (BWW) is continuously expanding their brand and branching out into other industries as well.

Theatermania.com was founded in 2009 in New York, NY.  A lot like Broadwayworld.com, it is a great blog that features news, reviews, and interviews about the musical theatre industry.  Even though they have a musical theatre focus, they also provide information on ballet, opera, and children’s theatre performances as well.  You can also purchase tickets in major cities through this site.

Theatremania and Broadwayworld both have established social media accounts on twitter, Facebook, Pintrest, LinkedIn and Tumbler.  They also have mobile apps that can be downloaded for easy access on mobile devices.   Both blogs ranked top 10 in the theatre category on invesp.com.  BroadwayWorld.com ranked 1^st place with a site score of 100.  Theatermania.com ranked 10^th place, with a site score of 96.86.   I have subscribed to both of these blogs, have their mobile apps, and receive their newsletters.  I have researched and subscribed to many theatre industry blogs, but in my opinion, Theatremania and Broadwayworld are two of the best.

National Alliance for Musical Theatre

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre is a national service organization specifically for the musical theatre industry. Their mission statement is to “advance musical theatre by nurturing the creation, development, production and presentation of new musicals, and to provide a forum for musical theatre professionals to share resources and exchange information”.  For the past 20-years, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre has been a major force in the production of new musicals

Founded in 1985, NAMT has assisted in the success of musical theatre all over the world.  In 1989, NAMT started the Festival of New Musicals.  The Festival of New Musicals is an annual festival held in New York City to showcase promising new musicals that have been produced around the country.  Since the start, the festival has showcased 288 musicals and 510 writers.  Many popular musicals debuted at this festival such as; Thoroughly Modern Millie, Honk!, Songs for a New World and I Love You Because. NAMT has employed over 22,000 people, staged over 20,000 performance, and provided educational programs for over 1.1 million students and teachers during last season alone.  NAMT hosts many conferences, workshops, and roundtable discussions for their members throughout the year for learning and networking purposes. 

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre is important to the musical theatre industry because it provides a stage for producers, writers, and composers to gain national exposure.  NAMT also provides networking opportunities for musical theatre professionals around the world.  New musicals and the people who create them have a very hard time breaking into this industry.  It is important to have an organization like this to help advance the artistic work of individuals who desire to work professionally in this industry.  This viddler video, “NAMTHistory”, is an amazing inside look of the history of the National Alliance for Musical Theater.  It truly captures the essence of the NAMT brand and what they stand for.   

What We Can Learn From Fear; A review of Karen Thompson’s Ted.com Speech

          Karen Thompson Walker is a writer from California.  On Ted.com she discusses what we can learn from frightening situations. She discusses that we are often told to look at fear as a weakness.  As something that we should discard and overcome.  She uses the American whale-ship, Essex, as an example for her speech. The Essex was attacked and wrecked by a sperm whale.  They were left with limited resources and they needed to quickly devise a plan. They had three options; travel to the Marquesas Islands, travel to Hawaii, or sail south in hopes to reach a certain band of winds to that would eventually push them to South America.  Every option came with a fearful consequence.  The men, afraid of the consequences of the first two options, chose to take the long and difficult route to South America.  After two months, the men ran out of food and almost half of them died from starvation.  The best option for the men was to travel to the Marquesas island, but the were too afraid that they would encounter cannibals. 

           

            Karen challenges the audience to look at fear as an act of the imagination. She goes on to describe how fears and stories have the same structure.  We have to consider our fears to be stories, and we are the authors and readers of those stories.

          Karen’s speech inspires me because I have oftentimes let fear get in the way of my decision-making.  I am a very practical person, and like the men of the Essex, I try to take the least frightening route when making decisions.  When I feel fear, my logical senses shut down and I make a decision that seems easier to handle.  Karen’s speech made me realize I have to read my fears with a level head and not be swayed by what seems to be the least scary.  This speech is not specific to an industry or a business, but speaks to everyone no matter what the fear.  Her speech was very inspirational to me.  I can apply her speech to any fear I encounter in any situation.  Here is the link for this speech; http://www.ted.com/talks/karen_thompson_walker_what_fear_can_teach_us.html