Idina in Chicago tonight!

[lovepuppy]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 1:16am

Well, at this point, last night, technically.

She put on a fabulous show at House of Blues. I had never seen her live before, including her musicals. I had heard bits and pieces of the type of show she does (telling stories about her wedding singer days and singing part of her haftorah since she did not have a Bat Mitzvah, etc. She even told a beautiful story about how her sister wanted to sing too, back when they were in grammar school, and was told, "singing is Idina's thing, you should try something else." She said she overheard her sister, now a mother of two, singing to her two boys and that it's so hauntingly beautiful, she never should have been told to find other activities and Idina felt like she stole something from her. She almost looked like she was about to cry. Very compassionate.). In addition to that voice, she's become quite the showman (woman), working the stage, interacting with the audience, rolling with the punches as people shouted out things, and even as word got to her on stage that there was a curfew for the under-18'ers who might have been in the audience. (The security team didn't handle that particularly well in my opinion, but after a pause she just said, "I can't hear what they're saying!" and just rocked right into "Roxanne" and loosened up and had a great time.)

She was funny, charming, personal and connective, which impressed me just as much as the voice, which is the one thing you expect when seeing someone like her, live. When she's been on TV or photographed, she somehow comes off smug, but she was fun and goofy most of the time. Some obnoxious girls even shouted from the balcony, "we love you EYE-dina!" She didn't miss a beat, smiled and said, "thank you. But...can I please correct you on the pronunciation of my name? I used to not have the guts to correct people in high school but now that you know who the **** I am...well let's just say that anyone who calls me 'EYE-dina' now...I know they're probably from Lawng Oyland." The theatre queens in the audience were much better behaved and respectful. She handled it as if she's seen and heard it all (and probably has), and even though I disagree with critics of her "arms" and think they're as muscular as they're going to be on a skinny girl like her, she made fun of them when she saw them in the monitors.

And oh yeah, she sang "Brave," "Finale B," among other things, and finished with a beautiful version of "Defying Gravity" for an encore. Very enjoyable. Good show, Idina.

Updated On: 8/7/08 at 01:16 AM

[mauriposa]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 3:07am

Yup. She was pretty snazzy. I had to duck out early (right after For Good) because I have a really bad cold and couldn't stand up any longer, but I'm so glad that I came out tonight. It was a wonderful show, and she's such a lovely lady. My favorite part was when she said something about how sometimes she likes to play with friends her own age. That cracked me up.