52 years old (Born on May 30, 1971)
American actress; She is famous from Rent, Wicked, Glee.
In the 5th grade, she played Dorothy in her school's production of "The Wizard of Oz." BFA in Drama - New York University, Tisch School of the Arts (1993) Name is pronounced "Ih-DEE-nah men-ZELL." Sister, Cara, is three years younger. Has a single on soundtrack of The Other Sister (1999), "Follow If You Lead".Idina Menzel's Best Moments
Fun Facts About Idina Menzel
Graduate of Syosset High School, Syosset, New York.
Sings a duet, entitled "I Will Be There", with the late Ray Charles on the album "Genius and Friends" which was released September 20th, 2005.
Has a younger sister, Cara
Cracked a rib as a result of a fall through a trap door during a matinu00e9e show in "Wicked" on 8 January 2005, and could not perform the next day, what was to be hear last performance. Her standby Shoshana Bean covered for her, but Idina made a special out-of-costume appearance and did her final song to a standing ovation before being bid farewell at the curtain call (along with Joey McIntyre who was also leaving that day).
Won the 2004 Tony Awardu00ae Best Actress in a Musical for Elphaba in Wicked.
Recently received an honorary doctorate from C.W Post Campus of Long Island University in May '11. (liu.edu)
Her last name was originally spelled "Mentzel" but she decided to take the T out because everyone pronounced it incorrectly.
Parents are Stuart and Helene Mentzel (divorced)
She was named after her great grandmother, Ida, and her name is Hebrew for "gentle".
Won Broadway's 2004 Tony Award as Best Actress (Musical) for her role as Elphaba in "Wicked." She had previously been nominated as Best Actress (Featured Role - Musical) in 1996 for her portrayal of Maureen in "Rent."
Her song, Walker Diggs, is her biggest inspiration. (idinamenzel.com)
Oldest nephew is named Avery. He was born in 2000.
Her Rent character, Maureen, is based on Musetta from La Boheme. Two references are made to this. Roger's attempts to write a song resemble "Musetta's Waltz," which Mark directly points out. Musett'a Waltz was also the basis for "The Tango Maureen."
Met husband Taye Diggs when both were starring in the original Broadway production of Rent. They later co-starred in The Wild Party (Off-Broadway) and Wicked (Broadway).