Broadway legend Idina Menzel has lived in Los Angeles for years now, but she still loves an East Coast audience — especially in Philly.
“They’re my vibe. I’ve got a lot of friends and family down there, they understand my humor,” said Menzel, who lives in Encino with her husband, actor Aaron Lohr, her 16-year-old son, Walker Nathaniel Diggs, and their dog, Gino.
“I just really feel like I’m very authentic when I’m on the stage with them, and we have a great time.”
The star singer behind unforgettable characters in Wicked, Rent, and Frozen, Menzel returns to Philadelphia this week to perform her biggest hits from musicals and beyond, joining the Philly Pops for a free concert on Independence Mall on July 3.
“It’s been quite some time since I’ve done an orchestra show, this is actually the first one I’m doing in a long time,” said Menzel, who last year starred in the Broadway musical Redwood, about a mother grieving the sudden loss of her son and finding solace in the redwood forest.
“It’s the most glorious experience, just standing up there in front of 80 some musicians and performing with them…there’s nothing like it.”
At Independence Mall, she’ll likely sing her popular musical hits like “Defying Gravity,” “Take Me or Leave Me,” and “Let It Go,” as well as songs from her own discography, with some familiar arrangements and some new ones she created recently.
Outside of touring, the Tony Award-winner is no stranger to the city: As a New Yorker, Menzel has visited often before, and in college she once spent a Christmas in town with two of her New York University roommates from Philadelphia.
There’s one thing she loves to do whenever she stops in Philly — run up the Art Museum steps.
“I make it a point to, with my son, because he’s such an athlete, we run the steps. I call them the Rocky steps,” she said.
Performing as part of Wawa Welcome America’s ongoing Semiquincentennial celebrations leading up to July 4, Menzel joins a long list of celebrities coming to Philadelphia for the big national birthday bash. If there’s one song from her history that she thinks Philly audiences — and Americans overall — need to hear right now, that would be “No Day But Today.”
“Rent was my very first professional show, and it’s one of my favorite songs from that show. For me, it’s kind of like a mantra, and whenever I sing it, audiences truly come together,” she said. “It’s more about gratitude and community. People coming together, not taking things for granted, and really embracing the moment.”
It’s a message that will resonate with Philadelphians — even if Menzel is a diehard Knicks fan.
Idina Menzel will headline Pops on Independence in Philadelphia at 6th & Market Streets on the Independence Concert Series Stage at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 3.