Idina Menzel is one of many stars who’ll be performing in Thursday’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, but she says after she’s done, she and the rest of the cast from her Broadway musical If/Then are going to chow down.
“A Broadway schedule doesn’t really leave a lot of time for a normal Thanksgiving. We do have the day off, so that’s great. So, yes, I will come home from the parade, but I’m making a bunch of my castmates come over, but it’s pot luck,” the Frozen star tells ABC News Radio, laughing. “I’m not cooking for them! I’m too tired! So everyone’s bringing something. I said I’d provide the turkey and they have to bring the rest.”
As for what she’ll be most thankful for this year, Idina tells ABC News Radio, “I’d say I’m thankful for my little boy for sort of showing me where my priorities are and giving me the real, true perspective on life.” That’d be Walker, her five-year-old son with her ex-husband, actor Taye Diggs.
“I’m thankful for all my friends and family that have been a great support system,” the Tony-winning star adds. “And then, thirdly, I’m thankful to get to do what I love — to sing and to act and to perform for a living.”
Idina is doing the full New York City holiday event rounds this year, in support of her new Christmas album Holiday Wishes. In addition to performing in the iconic parade, she’ll be singing at NBC’s annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting special, and earlier this week, she sang at the unveiling of the holiday windows at Bloomingdale’s flagship New York City store. Idina says it all brings her back to happy times growing up in the suburbs of New York City.
“I grew up in Long Island,” she tells ABC News Radio. “So my parents would bring my sister and I into the city all the time. We’d do the windows, and we’d go to Rockefeller Center and see a Broadway show. So, it’s a special time in my life. It’s got a lot of memories.”