Idina Menzel at the Tilles Center

I thought Idina Menzel had dropped off the face of the earth until a friend offered me an extra ticket to tonight's season opener at the Tilles Center on Long Island.

In the past, I've found her to be a particularly cold performer (her and Sherie Rene Scott in a revival of SIDE SHOW would be positively icy), but tonight, Menzel, chunky-with-baby-weight in an aqua strapless gown, exuded a great deal of warmth.

Her set, backed by a full orchestra, lasted no more than 80 minutes, but was packed with an eclectic mix of tunes and quirky stories.

For the record, the songs I remember include "Life of the Party," "I'm Not that Girl," a roof-shattering "Defying Gravity," "Funny Girl/Don't Rain on My Parade," (a rendition that her TV daughter must watch to see how that song SHOULD be performed), "Look to the Rainbow" (a bit overdone), "Embraceable You," and the GLEE version of "Poker Face," with a neat story of how inappropriate she felt singing it as a duet with a character who's supposed to be her daughter.

The tweens and teens were out in full force, and it was hard not to be intoxicated by their enthusiasm. Over all, a lovely night, and I can't wait to see what Menzel has up her sleeve next.

(For the record, the Tilles Center season includes upcoming performances by Christine Ebersole, Kelli O'Hara, Patti Lupone's "Gypsy in My Soul," Marvin Hamlisch/Michael Feinstein, the touring companies of SPAMALOT and SPRING AWAKENING and more.)

I too was at the concert and thought it was wonderful. I was surprised how diverse the audience was. There weren't nearly as many screaming fan girls as I expected. I think Idina sounded great tonight. She was very relaxed and personable onstage. She had a great connection with her audience. I also think the fact that she was performing at "home" added a lot to her performance. I saw her back in 2004 in Wicked and thought she was excellent. Her voice has a much more mature and controlled sound now, which is equally as powerful and expressive. Her song choices were great. Again, she ended the show with Defying Gravity and proved how strong the connection is between the song and the performer.

I saw her last Sunday at the Cincinnati Music Hall. I thought she was great. Along with the songs that had been mentioned, she also did "I'm Not That Girl", a mashup of "Love for Sale" and Roxanne", "Gorgeous", and a sweet acappella "For Good" sans mic. She held about half the audience in the palm of her hand. The older audience members near me didn't seem to enjoy her banter. She had mentioned something about writing a song while her son was "on the boob" and jokingingly referred to Beyonce as a b**** for singing her favorite Barbra song. I don't think my neighbors cared for that.

When she came back for her encore some of the audience started moo-ing. She turned to the conductor to explain that she did a performance piece in "Rent" and that's why the audience was moo-ing, not that they were calling her fat. She then leaned into the mic "Last night I had a dream..." The crowd went nuts. We thought she was going to do the whole thing. She sang "I am forbidden to produce milk. In cyberland we only drink..." then pointed to us. We screamed "Diet Coke!" She did the echo "coke...coke...coke..." It was really cute. Made me happy.

I thought she did a great mix of songs- Broadway, solo stuff, and classics. I thought it was just going to be song after song. I didn't expect her to be so charming and funny in between.

You would have thought a Beatle was leaving the theatre based on the crowd outside. She signed a few things before getting into her car. I did get her autograph which was exciting because I didn't think I stood a chance.

I think the best thing about her concert is that all the music is written in a great key for her. She has always been involved in productions where the music is set way too high for her vocal range (except maybe See What I Wanna See). She really gets to shine in her concerts. Her voice was fine in Wicked for the first 6 months or so. She overstayed her welcome by a few months though. I'd be excited to see her in something new. I think she's ready.