Idina Menzel is a beautiful and talented American actress and a signer from New York who became famous for her roles in Broadway musicals. Idina is a mezzo-soprano, praised for her special vocal technique.
Early years
She was born as Idina Kim Mentzel on May 30, 1971 in Queens, which is a neighbourhood of New York. Her mother, Helena Menzel, was a therapist and her father Stuart Menzel was a very hardworking salesman who worked in the clothing line business.
She had a very happy childhood, spending time mostly in the company of her younger sister Cara. They are very close.
Her parents are Jewish and she was raised in religious surroundings accordingly.
Her ancestors were emigrants from Europe and came to America running away from the war and in fear of life.
Idina was a student at Syosset High School on Long Island. She was in her fragile teenage years when her parents started arguing and fighting until it came to the point that they filed papers for divorce.
Idina loved to sing from a very early age and after her parents split up, she started working as a singer on many formal events, such as weddings, bar mitzvah and baptisms. She earned money of it but it also gave her great joy.
She started studying at Tisch School of Arts (mostly known as Tisch), a respected study center in New York. After she finished her studies, she gained a degree in Drama.
She sang at events al through her studies: it was her way to finance herself through schooling.
Career development
In 1995 she decided to go on an audition for a rock musical called “Rent”. She was chosen for the role of Maureen Johnson in it and this musical became her debut in Broadway. In 1996, it became so popular that it had to be moved to a bigger theater so it was relocated to “Nederlander Theatre”.
Idina was the star of the musical and it was no surprise for anyone that she was nominated for a Tony Award for the role. She hasn’t received the award at the end but it was a huge thing that she even got nominated since it was her first role.
Idina knew that she had to use her current success so she published her first album: “Still I Can’t Be Still”, released by Hollywood Records (owned by the Disney Music Group).
She returned to stage as Dorothy in a musical called “Summer ’42”, after which followed the roles in musicals “Hair” and “Aida”.
An off-Broadway show “The Wild Party” brought her a nomination for Drama Desk Awards, an organization focused only on Broadway shows.
Idina was invited to play in “The Vagina Monologues”, which was also an off-Broadway show.
Her first Tony Award came in 2004 for her performance in “Wicked”, a Broadway musical created by Stephen Schwartz. She portrayed the Wicked Witch of The West in this musical and gained the award for Best Leading Actress.
She had a misfortune that she hurt herself during one of the shows so she couldn’t perform on the final show but she came to sing her final song.
Two more nominations (one for Drama Desk Award and one for Drama League Award) came with an off – Broadway show called “See What I Wanna See” in 2005.
Her success made her the best paid performer in her branche (amongst female performers). Her income was three, four times higher than before.
In 2008, she starred as Poppea in “Nero”.
She gained a nomination for Tony Award in 2013 for her performance in the musical “If/Then”. She left the show in 2016 to make time for some new roles.
As for her music career as a singer and a songwriter, she continuously wrote her own songs and lyrics and went on tours, festivals and other events. She is full of energy and always finds time to sing in front of her fans.
After the release of “Still I Can’t be Still”, she went on the same named tour but it wasn’t very successful. The album was put out from sales because it didn’t sell well.
In 2004, a record label called Zel Records, released her new album titled “Here”.
She became popular so she was invited to help in making the soundtrack for a known TV series called “Desperate Housewives”.
Ray Charles called her as a guest appearance on his album “Genius and Friends”. Idina was especially honored when Ray invited her to sing on his album.
She sang on the soundtrack of “Beowulf” movie in 2007. The movie was a big hit. In 2008, she released her 3rd album titled “I stand”.
This was her first album that made a Billboard chart: it was also the album where most of the songs were written by her.
In 2010, Menzel gained an invitation for a very special event: she was called out to sing in front of President Obama and his wife Michelle.
In 2010, she decided to start her new tour which included collaborations with all America’s greatest Symphony Orchestras.
She was called to London to perform at Royal Albert Hall, which is a huge honor for a musical artist.
In 2013, she began her Australia tour. She wasn’t aware how many fans she has in Australia until she arrived there.
Her Christmas album called “Holiday Wishes” came out in 2014. This album made very high on the Billboard 200 Chart, it came to No.10.
In 2015 she went on her first tour in Europe and also in Asia.
In 2015, she received a very special invitation to sing the National Anthem at Phoenix Super Bowl event.
She tried herself in films too: her first big role was in the adaptation of the musical “Rent”. She also appeared in the romantic comedy film “Enchanted” from 2007, produced by Walt Disney.
She had a guest appearance in a popular TV series “Glee”. This series is made as a musical so she has fit in like she is at home.
In 2013 she received great critics for her role as Elsa in a musical called “Frozen”. Her performance of a song “Let It Go” won a Grammy and Oscar. She received a Grammy for her role in the soundtrack of the same film.
She performed the same song at thr 86th Academy Awards where she was announced by John Travolta.
In 2017, she starred in the movie “Beaches”.
Personal life
In 2003, she married an actor Taye Diggs to whom she was in relationship for 8 years before the marriage. They met while they both starred in “Rent”.
In 2009, she gave birth to her son Nathaniel Walker and five years later she divorced her husband. After the divorce she started a relationship with Aaron Lohr, who is also a singer and an actor. They got married in 2017.
She was involved in a lot of charity events and in 2010 she founded an organization which supports young people in their education, especially if it is connected to arts.
She is a known supporter of LGBT groups and she raised money for AIDS research. Her nickname is Dee and most of her friends call her that.
She appeared in a commercial for Hewlett Packard tablet. She is a great fan of steam showers and claims that they are great for her voice.
She is a big fan of sushi and grilled fish. She loves everything natural and healthy and is not affraid to try new kind of food. She trains boxing and she attends yoga lessons to keep herself in good shape.
She adores animals and her pet dog is named Sammy. She is considering to get one more dog so Sammy wouldn’t be alone all the time.
Quick summary
Full name: Idina Kim Mentzel
Date of birth: May 30, 1971
Birthplace: Queens, New York, United States
Age: 47
Profession: singer, actress, songwriter
Height: 163 cm
Weight: 55 kgs
Net Worth: $ 10 million
