Jewish Actresses Biography
The Jewish actress was born Idina Kim Mentzel on May 30, 1971 in Long Island, New York to a pajama salesman named Stuart Mentzel and his therapist wife, Helene. She has younger sister named Cara whom she grew up with in Syosset, N.Y. Menzel had been exposed to the wonderful world of performance since she was really young. At the age of 9 she had watched the popular musical 'Annie' and was impressed by the performance of its leading actress, Andrea McArdle. She became a fan of the production and often sang the songs featured in it to the top of her lungs. Seeing a potential and great will from her little daughter, Menzel's mom brought her to a singing teacher who quickly channeled her talent to useful traits. Menzel went on studying classical music and performed at weddings and bar mitzvahs. She also earned the help of vocal coach Tanya Travers in emphasizing on singing techniques that later proved useful for her theater career. Upon reaching teen phase, Menzel also wrote her own songs but never got the opportunity to showcase it. But she was indeed following her heart to move into that artistic direction.
Menzel chose to enroll at New York University's School of Arts and majored in music instead of drama. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and continued to be wedding singers within a couple of years. Her big break came in 1993 when she was cast in 'Rent', a musical production developed by Jonathan Larson loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's Opera 'La boheme'. The show's brilliant concept, its bold subject in mentioning sensitive issues like AIDS and homosexuality within young people in New York plus the tragic death of Larson before its premiere in early 1996 have garnered the attention of theater lovers. On April 29, 1996, the show was moved from an off-Broadway venue to the larger Broadway's Nederlander Theatre on 41st Street. Menzel played a struggling singer who dumped her boyfriend Mark Cohen for a woman. So extravagant was the ensemble cast that the production took in 10 nominations in prestigious award event for theater performances, the Tony Awards in 1996 and won six of it. Menzel did not win her nomination, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, but it opened the public eyes for her presence as a potential contender in the industry.
left the show in July 1997 to enroll in a couple of small TV roles and work on her debut studio album 'Still I Can't Be Still' which was released in 1998. It was not much of a commercial success but her theater passion kept rolling. In 2000 she played in two productions 'The Wild Party' and 'Summer of '42' before making her big screen debut in 'Kissing Jessica Stein' the next year. In January 2003, she married her co-star Taye Diggs who played the landlord Benjamin 'Benny' Coffin III in 'Rent'. By that time she has been praised as an acclaimed theater actress which was further enhanced with a performance as the green witch in the Stephen Schwartz-penned 'Wicked'. Her role as Elphaba brought her the first Tony award winning in 2004 for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. After this she released another studio album entitled 'Here' in 2004. It was a joint decision when Broadway's 'Rent' was brought to the big screen in 2005, and among the original cast, Menzel and her husband, Diggs said yes. The film earned $10 million in its opening weekend in U.S. and received a number of awards nominations .
Jewish Actresses 
Jewish Actresses
The Jewish actress was born Idina Kim Mentzel on May 30, 1971 in Long Island, New York to a pajama salesman named Stuart Mentzel and his therapist wife, Helene. She has younger sister named Cara whom she grew up with in Syosset, N.Y. Menzel had been exposed to the wonderful world of performance since she was really young. At the age of 9 she had watched the popular musical 'Annie' and was impressed by the performance of its leading actress, Andrea McArdle. She became a fan of the production and often sang the songs featured in it to the top of her lungs. Seeing a potential and great will from her little daughter, Menzel's mom brought her to a singing teacher who quickly channeled her talent to useful traits. Menzel went on studying classical music and performed at weddings and bar mitzvahs. She also earned the help of vocal coach Tanya Travers in emphasizing on singing techniques that later proved useful for her theater career. Upon reaching teen phase, Menzel also wrote her own songs but never got the opportunity to showcase it. But she was indeed following her heart to move into that artistic direction.
Menzel chose to enroll at New York University's School of Arts and majored in music instead of drama. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and continued to be wedding singers within a couple of years. Her big break came in 1993 when she was cast in 'Rent', a musical production developed by Jonathan Larson loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's Opera 'La boheme'. The show's brilliant concept, its bold subject in mentioning sensitive issues like AIDS and homosexuality within young people in New York plus the tragic death of Larson before its premiere in early 1996 have garnered the attention of theater lovers. On April 29, 1996, the show was moved from an off-Broadway venue to the larger Broadway's Nederlander Theatre on 41st Street. Menzel played a struggling singer who dumped her boyfriend Mark Cohen for a woman. So extravagant was the ensemble cast that the production took in 10 nominations in prestigious award event for theater performances, the Tony Awards in 1996 and won six of it. Menzel did not win her nomination, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, but it opened the public eyes for her presence as a potential contender in the industry.
left the show in July 1997 to enroll in a couple of small TV roles and work on her debut studio album 'Still I Can't Be Still' which was released in 1998. It was not much of a commercial success but her theater passion kept rolling. In 2000 she played in two productions 'The Wild Party' and 'Summer of '42' before making her big screen debut in 'Kissing Jessica Stein' the next year. In January 2003, she married her co-star Taye Diggs who played the landlord Benjamin 'Benny' Coffin III in 'Rent'. By that time she has been praised as an acclaimed theater actress which was further enhanced with a performance as the green witch in the Stephen Schwartz-penned 'Wicked'. Her role as Elphaba brought her the first Tony award winning in 2004 for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. After this she released another studio album entitled 'Here' in 2004. It was a joint decision when Broadway's 'Rent' was brought to the big screen in 2005, and among the original cast, Menzel and her husband, Diggs said yes. The film earned $10 million in its opening weekend in U.S. and received a number of awards nominations .
Jewish Actresses
Jewish Actresses
Jewish Actresses
Jewish Actresses
Jewish Actresses
Jewish Actresses
Jewish Actresses
Pictures Of Idina Menzel On Glee!-Defying Gravity Glee Cast Version
Glee- I dreamed A Dream
No comments:
Post a Comment