Ooh, Witchy Woman

Defying the Oz

It’s ironic that Idina Menzel’s first line of dialogue in a Broadway show was “Which way to the stage?” More than eight years after her debut in Rent, this born performer shows no signs of needing directions.

Menzel, a Long Island native who grew up dreaming of one day becoming an actor on the Great White Way, has been making memorable impressions on audiences with supporting roles in Aida, The Wild Party, and, most notably, Rent. Menzel’s performance as Maureen in Rent earned her a Tony nomination and announced her arrival as one of Broadway’s most exciting new talents.

Last October, Menzel opened in her first lead role, as Elphaba in Wicked. The show tells the story of Oz before Dorothy arrived, but like the Gregory Maguire novel it’s based on, Wicked is much more than a prequel to The Wizard of Oz. The show deviates from the classic story most drastically by presenting Elphaba, the character formerly known only as the Wicked Witch of the West, as a good-hearted, optimistic girl who was misunderstood by her peers because of her green skin.

Thanks to Menzel’s portrayal of her character as vulnerable yet intense, those who have grown up thinking of the witch as a villain are surprised to find themselves feeling sympathetic toward Elphaba. The chance to change people’s impressions was what initially drew Menzel to the role. She was so set on getting the part that she showed up for the audition in an improvised costume that included green lipstick and smoky black eyeshadow. The creativity paid off. “I thought [Elphaba] was the most interesting person,” Menzel says. “We see this woman in The Wizard of Oz and she has these warts and nose and chin. But what if that was just the glasses we were wearing? If we strip away all that preconceived stuff, we see that she was really pretty once.”

Wicked costars Kristin Chenoweth (Tony winner for You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown) as Glinda, the future good witch who, as a younger woman, was Elphaba’s friend. Menzel calls sharing the stage with Chenoweth a true partnership: “It’s rare,” she says, “for two women to have the opportunity to have such great roles on a Broadway stage. So we have to remind ourselves all the time of that, that we’re really lucky.” (The show also features Broadway legend Joel Grey as the Wizard.)

For Menzel, the luck runs deeper. For six years she fronted a wedding band, playing regular gigs to pay her bills. In late 1995, as business slowed down, she tried out for a small off-Broadway show on a whim, thinking a role would keep the money coming in. The show was Rent, and it was a transforming experience for Menzel, not simply because of the Tony nomination. The show’s tragic history — composer Jonathan Larson died of an aortic aneurysm the night of the show’s first preview — created lasting friendships among the cast. Included was Taye Diggs, best known today for his roles in the film How Stella Got Her Groove Back and the TV series Ally McBeal. Menzel and Diggs started dating while they were in Rent and were married last year.

Rent changed Menzel’s life in other ways. The show opened up opportunities for her, including the chance to perform at the 1998 Lilith Fair concert festival, to appear in films such as Summer of Sam and Kissing Jessica Stein, and to record an album, which Menzel appropriately called Still I Can’t Be Still, capturing the nonstop lifestyle she was enjoying.

“I have no life,” Menzel explains on this Wednesday between shows, as she tries to fit in an interview and a quick meal before getting ready to go back on stage. Clearly, things haven’t slowed down for her. “I wake up early enough to get my voice going. I go to the gym. I warm up. I come here,” she says. “After the show, I say hello to my guests, I go home, I shut off, and put the TV on. I haven’t been able to have much of a life in order to do eight shows a week at the level that I want to do them.”

Don’t pity Menzel, though. She’s exactly where she wants to be, doing exactly what she wants to be doing: starring in an original musical on Broadway. “I try to pinch myself all the time,” she says. “This is a dream come true. I write my own music and I’ve gone on that road, but I keep coming back to the theater. This has always been the warmest, most embracing place for me.”

One need look no further than the stage door after any given performance to see proof of this. Fans — many of whom have followed Menzel’s career since Rent — crowd around hoping for a glimpse of the star. “Those fans are the most loyal, devoted people,” she says. “They were really young [when I was in Rent], and we’ve sort of grown up together.”

This month, Menzel will learn if she has a fan in Tony, but it’s something she isn’t paying much attention to: “I try not to read anything,” she says. One thing is certain: the fast lane Menzel has come to know as her career shows no signs of slowing down.

Perhaps that’s why Menzel is making no plans for when her contract ends in October. “I’m just trying to enjoy this,” she says, “When I was in Rent, it was such a whirlwind, and it passed me by. It wasn’t until afterward that I really realized how extraordinary it was. To have another show that’s doing well, knock on wood, and that people are really loving…. I’m just trying to live in the moment and enjoy it.”