Cabaret Festival

Review: Idina Menzel – 2013 Adelaide Cabaret Festival


Idina
Presented by Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Reviewed Saturday 22nd June 2013

There’s no doubt many Adelaide audiences would be saying the best was saved til last with Broadway star Idina Menzel closing the 2013 Cabaret Festival in a concert that erupted in standing ovations and multiple encores.

Despite a dry throat that had the singer sucking on lozenges between songs, the power of her voice was unaffected as she belted out tunes, including a very personal a Capella rendition of “For Good” from the musical Wicked, sung without a microphone from the Festival Theatre stage.

Menzel’s broad range covered numbers from several stage shows including A Chorus Line, The Wizard of Oz, more from Wicked, and Rent; the latter including “Another Day”, a song she uses as her personal mantra. She sang songs from Joni Mitchel and mashed up Cole Porter with The Police before introducing the delighted crowd to something new.

Backed by the awesome Adelaide Art Orchestra, led by Vanessa Schemmel, Menzel’s second greatest asset is her humble, almost shy stage presence, and her generosity of spirit to her fans. She exudes a warmth not often seen from such a celebrity. As she honoured past friends and mentors like composers and songwriters Marvin Hamlisch and Jonathan Larson, she also honoured her audience with personal stories and an opportunity for three surprisingly talented members of the public to sing with her.

She often looked down at her bare feet when she spoke, but never lost her connection with the crowd or the orchestra, entertaining with funny stories, flirting with Schemmel, finding the only heterosexual male in the front row, and coming down off the stage to mingle with her other fans.

Talented, popular artists are a dime a dozen in our media driven world, but very few are true stars like Menzel.

Bravo to Menzel, and bravo to the Adelaide Cabaret Festival!

Reviewed by Rod Lewis

Venue: Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
Season: 22 June 2013
Duration: 100 mins

 

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