Idina Menzel is capitalizing on the momentum generated by her recent box office hit Frozen. Menzel, best known for her role as green faced witch Elphaba in the Broadway hit Wicked, is starring in a completely new musical If/Then in Washington, D.C. She and 10-year husband Taye Diggs, who has been openly cheating in recent weeks, have officially announced they are divorcing.
The 42-year-old Idina Menzel’s animated movie and its accompanying soundtrack are both doing pretty well.
So, while the iron is still hot, she is headed to Washington, D.C. to be the headlining star of a brand new musical.
If/Then is a modern day story of rebirth and renewal, Menzel explained in a recent interview with Inquirer.net:
“It’s a beautiful piece,It’s 100-percent original, and it’s about a woman my age who comes back from Phoenix, Arizona, to New York City, where she went to school. She’s getting a chance to start over. The music is just beautiful.”
If/Then will not only center on Menzel, but she gets the added bonus of being surrounded by people she loves and has worked with before.
Menzel went on in the interview to explain how much it means to work with people you trust, especially at a time when her ten-year marriage is falling apart:
“It’s written by Pulitzer Prize-winning composers, Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, and it’s being directed by my old friend, Michael Greif, who gave me my first professional job in Rent. It’s being produced by David Stone, who gave me my Wicked job. So, I’m surrounded by family.”
There is little doubt she will catapult this project into another overnight success, just like she always does.
