Wicked
- Where:
- New York us
- When:
- 30 Oct 2003 - 9 Jan 2005
- Venue:
- George Gershwin Theatre
Idina starred alongside fellow actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth on Broadway in Wicked, a musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman based upon the popular 1995 Gregory Maguire novel. Idina received the 2004 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. On her third to last 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 the January 9 show. Menzel did, however, make a special out-of-costume appearance at that performance, performed her final song, and received a 5 minute long standing ovation.
Offsite reviews
| Link | Reviewer | Rating | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|---|
| USA Today | Elysa Gardner | 3.5/4 | Show reviewed: USA Today loved Wicked, writing that "this is the most complete, and completely satisfying, new musical I've come across in a long time. ...Kristin Chenoweth is ideally cast as Glinda, a dizzy blonde whose peppy facade belies a fragile heart, while Idina Menzel's Elphaba is a powerfully human sorceress, particularly when delivering haunting new songs such as No Good Deed and I'm Not That Girl." |
| New York Times | Ben Brantley | Show reviewed: The high-toned NYT had reservations about Wicked, doubting that it would last long. About Idina, Ben Brantley wrote: "Despite the green skin, Elphaba is a bizarrely colorless role, all furrowed-brow sincerity and expansive power ballads. Ms. Menzel miraculously finds the commanding presence in the plainness of her part." | |
| Newsday | Linda Winer | Show reviewed: Though not entirely won over by Wicked, Newsday raved about Idina: "The news is Menzel... The actress, who created the role of Maureen the performance artist in Rent, makes a radiant soulful idealist as Elphaba, the born-green child, a political martyr whose fate is to be the Wicked Witch. Elphaba's formidable presence contrasts wittily with the tiny Glinda, just as Menzel's pungent rock-belter voice contrasts with Chenoweth's dainty-belting soprano." |
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