Once upon a time in New York City, two young talents set off on a near-impossible quest: a successful Broadway career. Since childhood, Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell had focused on their quest with…
In Long Island, Menzel, the daughter of a pajama salesman, spent her weekends singing at weddings and bar mitzvahs, and otherwise kept her big voice a secret. “No one knew how good I was at school because I didn’t want kids to know,” admits Menzel today. “I didn’t want to be the one to show off.”
Menzel made success seem easy. After “Rent,” she inaugurated the role of the resentful green-skinned Elphaba in “Wicked,” which won her that Tony, and spun her Broadway smashes into thematically adjacent roles in movies including “Kissing Jessica Stein,” “Enchanted,” the film version of “Rent,” and, of course, “Frozen.”
“If you look at the time in between those jobs, they’re close to a decade,” Menzel says. “In those off-times, I have gotten very insecure and felt that I couldn’t get a job, and was dropped from record labels, and had to go on many an auditions that I didn’t get. Having a career that goes up and down has made me really appreciate when I do have success. I know the real deal — the days where nobody is calling and you feel like crap.
She chose to stay committed to finishing high school and studying theater in New York. But when her L.A.-based co-stars in the Off Broadway production of “Reefer Madness” urged her to join them in California, on a whim, Bell decided to see if her happily-ever-after was on the other coast. “I’d always looked up to her,” Bell says. “You could never have convinced me that the first time I would meet her would be at her house to practice a duet to present to Disney executives after the ‘Frozen’ reading.”
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why it's Simply Impossible Not to Root for Kristen BellKristen Bell will receive her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today—alongside Frozen 2 costar Idina Menzel—but if we had our way, we'd celebrate her every day.
Read more »
Shaquille O’Neal puts Bell Canyon home up for sale at $2.5 millionBasketball legend Shaquille O'Neal has listed his Bell Canyon home for sale at $2.5 million.
Read more »
Jay Bell Joins Thom Browne in Merchandising RoleHe has assumed the new role of executive vice president of merchandising.
Read more »
10 things you need to know before the opening bellThis is what traders are talking about.
Read more »
10 things you need to know before the opening bellThis is what traders are talking about.
Read more »
Home Depot is slated to report earnings before the bell. Here's what to expectLast quarter, Home Depot trimmed its full-year revenue outlook, partially due to potential tariff impacts.
Read more »