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Idina Menzel is a Tony Award-winning singer and actress known for her roles in 'Rent' and 'Wicked.' She is also the voice of the Top 10 hit "Let It Go," from the animated Disney film 'Frozen.'
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Idina Kim Mentzel was born in Syosset, New York on May 30, 1971. Her mother was a therapist and her father was a pajama salesman. Idina’s parents divorced when she was 15 years old. She decided she needed to make some money, and she found a job doing what she loved, singing. She began singing at weddings and bar mitvah’s. A bar mitvah is kind of like a special birthday party for Jewish kids.
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If Idina was born with the name Idina Kim MenTzel, why do we call her Menzel? Idina changed the spelling of her last name to Menzel to better reflect the the way the Mentzel family decided to pronounce their name when they came to America. |
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In 1993, Idina Menzel graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She received a Bachelors of Fine Arts.
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In 1995, Idina auditioned for a Broadway musical called, “Rent.” “Rent” was very popular and being in the cast of that show made Idina very famous. She played a character named Maureen. She did such a good job playing this character that she was nominated for a big award called a Tony Award.
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I’m going to tell you a summary of a story, and I want you to guess what story it is. There’s a little girl who gets swept up by a tornado. Her house lands on a lady and she takes the lady’s shoes. She meets a tin man, a lion, and a scarecrow and they follow a yellow brick road to see a wizard. Do you know what story I’m talking about?
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“The Wizard of Oz” was a true classic. Broadway turned it into an award winning musical. And, can you guess who was in that musical? That’s right, Idina Menzel.
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Idina played the wicked witch whose real name is Elphaba. She and Kristin Chenoweth, who played Glinda the good witch, made the musical “Wicked” a smash hit. In fact, Idina won a Tony award for her performance in “Wicked.”
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During her performance of Wicked on January 8, 2005, she fell through a trap door and cracked a lower rib. The injury prevented her from performing in her final show on January 9. Menzel did, however, make a special out-of-costume appearance at that performance, performed her final song, and received a five-minute standing ovation.
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“Glee” was a tv show on the Fox channel about a bunch of high school kids that sang and danced together. They faced lots of challenges, like bullying and friendships. Idina Menzel made a long-running guest appearance on Glee as the mother of the main character, Rachel.
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After “Wicked”, Idina did several off Broadway musicals. She later did a revival of “Wicked” in London, where she was paid $30,000 a WEEK!!!
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“Frozen” made more money than any animated movie ever, and then, it beat all the other movies in that area too! Idina won BIG awards for her performance as Elsa. She won a Grammy Award, for singing, AND an Academy Award, for acting! People were simply amazed by Idina Menzel.
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