DID YOU KNOW: The magic of a Live Theater performance. You never know what exactly can happen. Great moments and scary moments. One notable mishap that made the headlines happened back in 2005 during a performance of the smash hit WICKED.
On a mattinae performance on January 8th, 2005 at the Gershwin Theatre….. the 2nd to last day before DEFYING GRAVITY for the last time…. Wicked‘s Tony winning original star Idina Menzel had one of the most terrifying onstage mishaps ever. During the climatic scene where “Elphaba” (also known as The Wicked Witch of The West) is melted by “Dorothy”, Menzel fell through an elevated trap door on the stage fracturing her lover rib. The show was stopped for 45 minutes for the EMS team to come taking her out of the trap, onto a gurney, and straight to a nearby hospital. At the same time upstairs, Menzel’s standby who eventually became the first “Elphaba” replacement on Broadway herself Shoshana Bean has to get GREENIFIED in just 7 minutes to do the last 2 minutes of the show. Following the curtain call, then-cast member New Kids On The Block favorite Joey McIntyre (the 1st fulltime replacement “Fiyero”) who was set to depart with Idina the very next day, spoke to the sold out crowd letting everyone know she was going to be okay.
Shoshana Bean was set to take over as the fulltime “Elphaba” on January 11th, 2005. With Menzel not being able to complete the remainder of her Broadway run, Bean went on for Idina for her last 2 performances….. the evening on January 8th, 2005 and the initially scheduled final performance that very next day of January 9th, 2005.
With doctors orders, Menzel did not have to stay overnight in the hospital and have surgery. She was given painkillers to heal the broken rib and was discharged. Since she also couldn’t do her last 2 WICKED shows full out, the creative team knew they wanted to something special as a way for the company and the fans to say farewell to the original Green Girl. On January 9th, 2005, Bean played “Elphaba” till that climatic melting scene. In the scene right afterwards, Bean stepped out and Menzel went on surprising the audience appearing in the show’s FINALE scene….. a Red Track Suit (from ex-husband Taye Diggs). When Menzel entered the stage, the sold out crowd of the Gershwin Theatre ROARED into a Thunderous 5 minute standing ovation. Many of the fans (known as The Fanzels) called her out during the show. Even Jennifer Laura Thompson (the first replacement “Glinda”) adlibed a line from the bubble…… FELLOW OZIANS, I LOVE IDINA MENZEL!!! After singing the final FOR GOOD reprise, Menzel along with Joey McIntyre exited together through the time dragon clock…. and blackout.
The curtain call, Bean and Thompson bowed together before a speech was given saying Happy Trails to Joey McIntyre. Afterwards, WICKED’s director Joe Mantello walked onto the stage to give an emotional speech bringing Idina Menzel back on.
Menzel recovered from her WICKED accident just in time to start production on the film version of Rent. However, her journey with WICKED was not over….Menzel would eventually would go back to the role of “Elphaba” a year and a half later reprising the role and launching the show’s London company. Luckily, that final curtain call she was able to finally FLY and DEFY GRAVITY for the last time.
Later on during her ongoing concert tours, Idina has shared the story of her experience of that traumatic fall in WICKED. People knew of what happened but most people don’t know what it was like from Idina’s point of view. Really crazy. Check out this audio recording from a Boston show back in the Summer of 2005.
BREAKING NEWS: Following a triumphant engagement at The Green Room 42, Broadway favorite Eden Espinosa (WICKED, Brooklyn, Rent, Tangled, Falsettos, and the upcoming Lempicka) is bringing her critically acclaimed UNPLUGGED & UNPLANNED cabaret act to the Las Vegas strip this Summer. The powerhouse is set to play The Space LV on August 7th, 2021 at 8pm.
In addition for those who can’t make it to Vegas, you do NOT have to worry. The concert will also be LIVESTREAMED via The Space LV websites.
Tickets for both to be there in person or to watch it online is available now!!!
In case anyone may not know, Espinosa’s UNPLUGGED & UNPLANNED is stripped down acoustic solo concert. Accompanied by acoustic guitar, piano, and light percussion, It features a full diverse selection of Musical Theater and Pop/Rock favorites. You can expect to hear songs from Eden Espinosa’s unbelievable career from Broadway, Film/TV, and songs from her 2 acclaimed solo albums LOOK AROUND and REVELATION. It also features a Broadway Request selection where Espinosa will pull out Musical Theater songs out of a hat (based on suggestions from the audience).
2021 marks a huge year for Tony Award winning powerhouse Idina Menzel. Last month, she celebrated her 50th Birthday & the 25th Anniversary of the professional gig that started it all….. her Broadway debut in Rent. What an unforgettable legacy she has left within those past 25 years. We all love her success on stage and on screen. However, Menzel’s also had an amazing career as a Pop star releasing 8 solo albums. Get ready for a THRILLIFYING rare seen performance like no other…. during the early era before her career even skyrocketed as a global phenomenon with WICKED, Glee, and of course Frozen. Here is the music video of her debut single MINUET from her 1998 cult smash hit album STILL I CAN’T BE STILL.
The music video itself for MINUET is soooooooo hot!!!! It features Menzel in an old Volkswagen van driving through an automatic car wash. It also features an appearance by her fellow RENT co-star and now ex-husband Taye Diggs.
In case anyone may not know the story, Menzel’s journey to becoming a solo artist began back while she was performing in her Tony nominated breakout Broadway debut as the original “Maureen” in Rent. While doing the show 8 times a week, she got offered a record deal with Hollywood Records. After departing RENT in 1997, Menzel went straight to work on the album. Recorded in upstate New York, she worked with some incredible musical talents, geniuses, and creators. It was produced by Milton Davis. All the songs together were written by Menzel and Davis.
STILL I CAN’T BE STILL was released on September 13th, 1998. MINUET became the only single from the album reaching #48 on Radio & Records’ CHR/Pop tracks chart. To promote the album, Idina did various performances including in-store events, singing at the Lilith Fair Music Festival, and went on tour serving as the Opening Act for Francis Dunnery. The album sadly failed to top the charts, sold less than 10,000 copies, and Menzel was dropped from Hollywood Records. The label put the album out of print.
For Menzel, she went to a moment of obscurity but still had the courage, passion, and drive to write music. She and Milton Davis continued working together for a 2nd album done independently.
However, when Idina’s career took off with her Tony winning performance as “Elphaba” in WICKED, her expanded fanbase (known as THE FANZELS) began demanding to re-release STILL I CAN’T BE STILL. Thanks to them, it was re-released in September 2005.
Today, STILL I CAN’T BE STILL is still available to download digitally. There are also physical copies on Amazon.com as well.
Today, Menzel has continued to perform songs from that debut album in her ongoing solo concerts around the world.
As of March 2018, STILL I CAN’T BE STILL has sold over 18,000 copies.
How amazing is this video?
Anyone have that original debut album of Idina’s?!!!
OK BROADWAY FANS!! Tomorrow is the big night we've all been waiting for…. The 73rd Annual Tony Awards. We at New York Broadway Tours are proud to present the # 1 performance for our TOP 40 TONY AWARDS COUNTDOWN. Here it goes….
At # 1 on our countdown is another one of Broadway's most beloved hot tickets. If you think you know the story of The Wizard of Oz so well, think again. Get ready to experience the story from the perspective of 2 girls…. one blonde and the other one green long before a little girl from Kansas named Dorothy crashed the scene. You guessed it, this is WICKED The Musical. With a score by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman, the show is based on a novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire. . From the 2004 telecast, the show's original Witches who started it all… Tony winners Idina Menzel as "Elphaba", Kristin Chenoweth as "Glinda", and the entire original Broadway cast perform the show's iconic Act 1 finale anthem DEFYING GRAVITY.
WICKED was first conceived by top Hollywood producer Marc Platt who was adapting Gregory Maguire's acclaimed novel WICKED: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST as a film for Universal Pictures. At the time, composer Stephen Schwartz was reading the novel and knew that the story would be a unique musical. However after finding out the rights were given already, Schwartz thought of an "impassioned plea" to Marc Platt to collaborate together on the production. Fell in love with it being a stage musical adaptation instead, Platt signed on as joint producer of the project with Universal Studios and David Stone. In addition, Schwartz collaborated with book writer Emmy winner Winnie Holzman expanding the flow of the story about the political, social and ethical commentary on the nature of good and evil in the Land of Oz. They took inspiration from both the L. Frank Baum books and the beloved 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz. With director Joe Mantello and Choreographer Wayne Cilento on board, the show went into many stages of readings and workshops.
The show originally had its world premiere in San Francisco at the Curran Theatre in the Spring of 2003 earning initial mixed reviews (due to technical problems and several moments that confused the audiences). Following the world premiere out of town tryout as the company headed back to New York City, they spent 8 weeks updating the scripts with scenes being cut, new dialogue and songs written, and 4 parts being recast including the role of "The Wizard of Oz" himself.
WICKED officially opened on Broadway in the Fall of 2003 (opening the day before Halloween) at the Gershwin Theatre earning rave reviews and it broke its box office records. The Broadway production continues to run at the Gershwin and sell out every single night. It's made over $1 billion ever since. The show most recently celebrated its 15th Bewitching Anniversary on Broadway. Under the direction of Joe Mantello and choreography by Wayne Cilento, the original cast consisted of…
Tony winner Idina Menzel as "Elphaba", Tony and Emmy winner Kristin Chenoweth as "Glinda", Tony and Oscar winner Joel Grey as "The Wizard of Oz", Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz as "Fiyero", The late Carole Shelley as "Madame Morrible", Tony nominee Christopher Fitzgerald as "Boq", Michelle Federer Butz as "Nessarose", and William Youmans as "Dr. Dillamond".
With the Broadway production still open and playing to packed houses every night, there have been a huge lineup of numerous replacements on Broadway for the past 15 1/2 years.
The show was nominated for 10 Tony Awards in 2004 winning 3 including Best Leading Actress in a Musical (for Idina Menzel). It went to receive many more Awards as well including the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater album.
In addition to its Broadway success, WICKED went on to become a worldwide Blockbuster hit with productions continuing to play everywhere from Chicago, 2 National Tours, London's West End, Japan, Germany, Holland, Mexico City, Korea and much more.
Isn't this show so THRILLIFYING?!!
Well, that's it!! We hope you all enjoyed our selection of Broadway shows on our TOP 40 TONY AWARDS COUNTDOWN. Tomorrow is going to be a really exciting morning to tune in to Broadway's Biggest Night of the Year… The 73rd Annual Tony Awards. We are excited to be celebrating the best of the 2018-2019 season. So many shows nominated this year, exciting talked about most likely winners, presenters, and musical performances.
We cannot wait to do this countdown next year as we countdown 365 days till the 2020 Tony Awards.
And of course if you want to learn more about some of Broadway's Award winning and nominated shows, be sure to join us on one of our Walking Tours this summer or anytime if you're coming to NYC. We will visit the Broadway houses where many of your favorite musicals were in, learn about theater traditions, and belt out several showtunes at the top of our lungs. PLEASE BOOK YOUR TICKETS!!
