Idina Menzel wants “emotional connection” in her voice.
The Let It Go singer appeared in the original Broadway production of the musical Rent and reprised her role in the 2005 film adaptation. The 43-year-old actress, songwriter and singer looks to Barbra Streisand as a role model.
"It was her, really her [in A Star is Born]," the performer told PBS via Broadway World. "It was the first album I ever owned, I used to just listen to it constantly. Something about her voice, she had so much control over it but yet was so unabandoned at the same time, her emotional connection and the range just struck a chord with me and I just wanted to achieve that."
The singer-and-actress voiced Elsa in the Disney-animated film Frozen, which grossed over $1.2 billion worldwide. The Tony Award winner is currently starring in the production If/Then, which marks her return to Broadway after nine years.
“Exciting day. We've worked so hard. For several years. I love all involved. @IfThenMusical,” she tweeted hours before opening night.
The show is an original story of two people leading parallel lives, and Idina was thrilled to take up the opportunity. After a residency in Washington, DC, the actress was also excited to get back “home”.
“I’ve experienced the beauty of working on original musicals and was eager to find a project where the material was exciting and new and spoke to my heart. I’m thrilled to have finally found it - an original musical with a complex, flawed and surprising central character that I cannot wait to bring to life on stage,” she previously told Browadway.com.
