Menzel to cast spell on T.O.? Tony winner may star

[aces25]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 4:24pm

Menzel to cast spell on T.O.?
Tony winner may star

in Mirvish's Wicked


RICHARD OUZOUNIAN

She'll get you, my pretty ... and your little dog, too!

The Wicked Witch of the West is flying into Toronto and she just may be bringing a Tony Award along with her broom.

My sources in Manhattan have told me that when the first national tour of Wicked begins here next March as part of the Mirvish subscription season, there's a real possibility that Idina Menzel will be recreating the role for which she won the Best Actress In a Musical Tony this past June.

Menzel is currently still with the show in New York through Jan. 2, and her electrifying performance is generally regarded as one of the reasons this prequel to The Wizard Of Oz is the only solid-gold hit to emerge from the recent Broadway season.

Consistently playing to capacity audiences and grossing more than $1 million (U.S.) weekly, Wicked has definitely captured the hearts and minds of theatergoers, even if some critics found it less than satisfactory.

For the record, I enjoyed it tremendously, and was hooked from the minute Menzel brought the house down with her first number, "The Wizard And I." At the time, I praised "her underlying sensuality and killer voice. She has a fearless way of hurling herself into a number so that the final notes seem like a daring but inevitable destination."

A subsequent encore visit reinforced that impression: this woman is the real thing. When she won the Tony over such high-powered competition as Donna Murphy, Tonya Pinkins and her co-star, Kristin Chenoweth, it may have been an upset, but it wasn't really a surprise.

The 33-year-old Menzel was born in Queens, grew up in New Jersey and studied at NYU. After a few years of all-purpose singing (rock bands, weddings, cocktail lounges) she auditioned for a new off-Broadway musical called Rent.

She was cast as the bisexual temptress, Maureen, with a show-stopping piece of performance art called "Over the Moon." Within a few months, the show had moved to Broadway and, the following spring Menzel was nominated for the 1996 Tony as Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.

While working on Rent, she also became involved with actor Taye Diggs and the two of them joined forces again for the Andrew Lippa version of The Wild Party in 2000.

They were married in 2003 and Diggs even stepped into the cast of Wicked for a month early in the run when leading man Norbert Leo Butz was on medical leave.

Menzel is currently flying high, so the question has to be asked: Why would she come to Toronto to open a tour of a show she's already triumphed in on Broadway?

There are several reasons.

The producers of Wicked have proven to be a very canny group of businesspeople, turning a show with mixed reviews into a giant hit through careful marketing and advertising. They know if the first engagement outside of New York isn't a smash, their currently shining property could acquire an unwelcome bit of tarnish.

One way to prevent that from happening is to bring along the dynamite Menzel, whose voice is guaranteed to send shivers up your spine.

And since the lady is largely unknown outside of New York, it wouldn't hurt her star status to help build up a faithful following through a few carefully placed tour dates in large cities.

Finally, Menzel has been hopping in and out Toronto frequently during recent years, since her incredibly talented husband Diggs has almost been living here — acting in the films Chicago and Cake, as well as his new TV series, Kevin Hill, which debuts this fall.

Why not let the happy couple work in the same city? The family that plays together, stays together.

At this time, the news of Menzel's appearance here is not definite. John Karastamatis, director of communications for Mirvish Productions, admitted he heard the rumours about her coming to Toronto, but could neither confirm nor deny them.

Wicked has already staked its claim as the must-see show of 2005. The presence of Menzel in the cast would turn a hot ticket into a positively sizzling one.

I, for one, am crossing my fingers.
See the article here!

[aces25]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 4:27pm

i'm not the only one who calls Toronto T.O.... MUHAHHAHAHHAHHAH!!!!!!

[NYCbabe3789]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 4:28pm

And she's not 35.

[NoDayButToday2]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 4:31pm

--lots of mistakes in the piece but im going to trust the fact that idina may start off the tour.. pretty cool

[Michael Strathmore]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 4:38pm

How did you know to come across this Article? Are you from T.O.?

--M--

[tkts]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 4:43pm

T.O.?

Time Out?
Terrell Owens?

[sabrelady]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 4:57pm

T.O. has been an expression for Toronto for more than 30 yrs that I know about.
Other less kind names:
Hogtown
Toronto the Gray
Toronto the Good.
Or (only if u are a local)
Trawna!

[zepka102]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 5:01pm

haha i hear the last one around here and im in buffalo :P

actually, people i hear say it say it more like "torana"

[Dolly_Levi]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 7:39pm

I posted this on the tour casting thread, but it bears repeating. the above article is chock full of mistakes, one of the biggest oversights -

"the following spring, Menzel won the 1996 Tony as Best Supporting Actress in a Musical."

Hello, that is simply NOT correct.

While Menzel was a nominee in the category, the winner was Ann Duquesnay (Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk)

Other nominees were: Joohee Choi (The King and I)and Veanne Cox (Company) and Idina Menzel (Rent)

[Marquise]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 7:58pm

NYCbabe3789 the article states Idina is 33 not 35.

[NYCbabe3789]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 9:10pm

I'm confused...just ignore all my posts for now. Aida closing has undone me.

[Marquise]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 9:14pm

Will do!

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 9:29pm

Oh my god.

I may get to see Idina! I am so happy...Im such a geek

AKiva

[#1Elphie]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 9:40pm

I read the article somewhere somewhere else and it definitely said 35...the poster must have changed it or something. NYCBabe, you're not going crazy!

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 3:30am

Ouzounian's article is a mess. Usually, he's pretty on top of things (he's the head theatre critic for the Toronto Star), but this is . It reeks of giddy anticipation rather than serious journalism. I wouldn't take it too seriously; he did something similar for Avenue Q when it won the Best Musical Tony, stating that the Mirvishes were in extended talks with the producers to mount a Canadian production, and that the Q would open in Toronto in just a few seasons. Now we all know what happened to that.

[DickonDefysGravity]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 6:09pm

I would die........I live for Idina.....Everyone Pray she does it and comes to Seattle...or Portland...Keep me updated please... [e-mail]