Idina Menzel Quotes & Sayings

There has to be a balance between power and vulnerability. That's something I feel I have in my own life, something I struggle with and - on a good day - like about myself. — Idina Menzel

All performers get on stage because they need to feel love from an audience. I might appear confident, but those three seconds before I get out there, I'm a mess. But I have to take the risk; otherwise, I'd be miserable and would feel like I wasn't seeing through my personal destiny. — Idina Menzel

I'm a decent tennis player. Good backhand. — Idina Menzel

You can't be the vulnerable, transparent, raw person required to be an artist, and then cover that stuff up and meet the world with some kind of armor on. It just doesn't go. — Idina Menzel

Everybody thinks it's going to be so glamorous, so cool, you're on 'Glee,' you know, a hit show or whatever. — Idina Menzel

I love working with a cast and a group of people every day, which is different than recording because you're usually pretty isolated and alone. They serve as a good balance for each other. — Idina Menzel

I don't quite know how to put it into words, but I feel for the audience that I have; I know them. — Idina Menzel

Everything's always about being homogenized and following in a group. The people who stand out always have the most problems. — Idina Menzel

I think as women, the smarter and more powerful we are, the more it can be threatening and alienating to other people, more than with men. That's something we need to support each other with. — Idina Menzel

I always like to sing barefoot, but when I first started doing these dates with the symphonies, I of course thought I should clean up my act, being a Jewish girl from Long Island with a little bit of a trucker mouth. So I wore a gown and some high heels. — Idina Menzel

'Frozen' definitely isn't about a man, but about the relationship between two sisters. At different times in our lives we find ourselves either more connected to or disconnected from the people in our family, and I think audiences will really be able to relate to that. — Idina Menzel

I'm a mom - I'm lucky if I get to shower in the morning. Luckily, nail polish stays on my toes. I've been so bad on the upkeep, though. — Idina Menzel

I have a wide spectrum, a wide demographic. I have the young girls, I have the gay community, I have many regular theatergoers. I do feel a tremendous responsibility and pride to be a role model for some of these young people. — Idina Menzel

My younger sister had kids before I did, and managed to earn a master's degree while raising them as a single parent. Now she's a brilliant second-grade teacher. I'm in awe of her ability to juggle everything and still be a great mother. — Idina Menzel

That's what I love about songwriting - that you can write something about your own experiences and think it's completely specific to you, and then people can take away a completely different meaning for themselves. I really love that. I think you've been successful at writing a song when it has a larger life than yourself. — Idina Menzel

I would like to get another job in London or tour there. I miss my friends. — Idina Menzel

If I want to tuck my son into bed and read him a story, but that means I have to take a red-eye to get to a concert - which I would never think of doing otherwise - that's just the way it is. Even if I can't hit the note that night, I got to tuck my child in! — Idina Menzel

I think I hid my singing talent from a lot of my friends at school because I didn't want to alienate anyone. If everyone was singing along in the car to a Madonna song, I didn't join in because when we're younger we're afraid of sticking out or showing off, when in fact we should own those things that make us really unique. — Idina Menzel

People have these incredible expectations. So instead of being inspired by, say, Joni Mitchell's music, I look at it and say to myself, 'I'm going to quit - why would I think of writing or performing after listening to that?' — Idina Menzel

I will never leave the theater. My heart is there, and I love being on stage 8 times a week. — Idina Menzel

For me, 'Rent' was all about coming out of myself, finding out who I was, learning the power I could have as a performer. And 'Wicked' was about harnessing all that strength. — Idina Menzel

Things happen for a reason, and in their own time. — Idina Menzel

Believe me, I don't take that lightly. To have struck gold twice with 'Rent' and 'Wicked.' I know it's rare and I'm very lucky to have that kind of phenomenon in my life. They're not just great shows, they're shows that resonate with young audiences. — Idina Menzel

The sky in Texas is the most amazing sky in the whole country, I think, like you can see more sky in Texas than you can see anywhere else in the world. — Idina Menzel

Barbra Streisand, for one, is one of my idols. I've listened to her since I was a little kid - the first album I ever bought was 'A Star is Born' with Kris Kristofferson. — Idina Menzel

As an artist, you have to express yourself. I make no excuses for my versatility. I grew up singing classical arias, but I love rock n' roll and jazz standards. — Idina Menzel

'Rent,' for me, was a significant time in my life because it was my first break. It was my first professional job. I also met my husband in that cast, Taye Diggs. — Idina Menzel

I have the potential to be very strong and powerful, sometimes angry, sometimes passionate. I also can be shy and withhold that because I am afraid. I don't want to freak anybody out with my passion ... So I struggle with that all the time. — Idina Menzel

I would love to work with Matt Damon. — Idina Menzel

The truth is I love musical theatre and always have. — Idina Menzel

We are never doing anyone any favors by withholding our gifts from the world. It's scary to be fierce, but you can't compromise that for fear of losing those around you. — Idina Menzel

With young people, I always say, 'You're not doing anyone any favours by withholding your power.' As women, we do that a lot because we are afraid of being misunderstood or perceived as too strong. But the older I'm getting, the more I realise you have to let that go. — Idina Menzel

There are lots of things I'm acquainting myself with now to be a more well-rounded person. — Idina Menzel

I was once an extra in a Bruce Springsteen video where they did a live performance video at Tramps. I forget the name of the song. — Idina Menzel

They're always so serious, the orchestras, you know? It's always a fun contrast of that song and the genre of music. And me. — Idina Menzel

I definitely use my music to kind of alleviate my stress and get me through specific moments in time where I'm just being really tough on myself. — Idina Menzel

I've met so many of my idols, but the one person that has eluded me is Bono. But because he's done 'Spider-Man,' I keep thinking maybe, through a Broadway connection, somehow our paths will eventually merge. — Idina Menzel

I'm smart enough to know to work with smart people. — Idina Menzel

It's been a dream of mine to run my own summer camp. I went to one as a kid, and I put on productions, and got lots of confidence. — Idina Menzel

Growing up I studied classically and did lots of shows in school. — Idina Menzel

Performing live on stage is such a community, whether it's my musicians or a cast of a show that I'm in. And then when you're in the studio or on set, it's a much more solitary experience. Both can serve me at different times in my life. And when I go back and forth from one to the other, it helps me appreciate all of them much better. — Idina Menzel

I'd love to open a camp focusing on the arts accessible to kids from all income brackets. — Idina Menzel

I started singing weddings and bar mitzvahs at 15, lying about my age. It was a great discipline. — Idina Menzel

I'm not great at multi-tasking, so when I do one thing ... I like to do it 100%. — Idina Menzel

I made a good living for a teenager. And I had to learn all different kinds of music - jazz, swing, Motown, pop - and that inspired what kind of music I started to write. — Idina Menzel

I've been singing since I was born. It's something I do everywhere I go. In the shower, walking down the street. I don't need any impetus to do it. I just sing. — Idina Menzel

I keep saying, the older I get, the younger my audience gets. Because 'Wicked' and 'Rent' and 'Glee,' each one was a young audience, so it's a great thing to have, so then you know that as they get older and have kids, they'll maybe still buy tickets to my shows when I'm 80 and in Vegas! — Idina Menzel

You can't get it all right all the time, but you can try your best. If you've done that, all that's left is to accept your shortcomings and have the courage to try to overcome them. — Idina Menzel

I would love to play 'Funny Girl' or 'Evita,' but I idolize the women who have played those parts. I don't know if there needs to be another version of those shows. — Idina Menzel

I'm trying to focus on original material. That is what I've had my luck with. — Idina Menzel

It's the face and the body and the thing that we hide inside that can keep us from the world, but my voice is my voice. — Idina Menzel

It's hard to absorb and to allow all that attention and accolades for 'Rent' because the rest of the country doesn't know who we are. Once I walk out of the door of 'Rent,' and I'm on the subway, it doesn't matter. It's an exaggerated sense of fame. — Idina Menzel

I know I'm known for singing some of those high notes, but that's really not what giving someone goosebumps is all about. It's about really trying to find what makes you unique. — Idina Menzel

I like to originate new roles and characters for musical theater. — Idina Menzel

Who am I, if I'm not this singer with big high notes? I identify with my voice. But I'm more than just the acrobatics. — Idina Menzel

Not like [Adele Dazeems] going to follow me around for the rest of my life. — Idina Menzel

I tend to have a pattern of playing misunderstood characters. — Idina Menzel

One question haunts and hurts
Too much, too much to mention:
Was I really seeking good
Or just seeking attention?
Is that all good deeds are
When looked at with an ice-cold eye? — Idina Menzel

The cool thing is that, unlike film, the theatre roles for women get better and better as you get older. — Idina Menzel

I'd been a wedding singer through college, but after a few years of doing my best renditions of jazz standards to clinking glasses and the sound of forks on salad, I thought, 'Oh God, if this is all I do, I'll never be able to live with myself.' — Idina Menzel

Nerves are good. They keep you alive. — Idina Menzel

The cold never bothered me anyway. — Idina Menzel

That experience with 'Rent' went by so fast. I was younger. I didn't even really know what opening night was. And now I'm thinking back on the times I went to Broadway as a kid and the excitement I felt ... And I'm realizing that I'm actually a part of that, so I'm learning to take it in, 'cause so often I shrug it away. — Idina Menzel

I sing in many different colors and, hopefully, they add up to a great performance that, after you leave the theater, makes you feel like I've really shared something of myself. — Idina Menzel

The more success you get, you start to be harder on yourself or more afraid of the looking glass. You have to learn to build a thicker skin because people are paying more attention. — Idina Menzel

As I get older, I realize all I've done is sing and act and hone those skills. — Idina Menzel

Usually I'm pretty myopic. It's hard for me to multi-task, so to speak. If I'm in a show and I'm creating a character, I'm just completely into that. It's really hard for me to do anything else like write music. I have to sort of shut down different sides of my head and just focus. — Idina Menzel

I find that, maybe because I'm also a singer, I hear music in characters all the time, even if they don't sing. I hear what affects me in my heart. — Idina Menzel

Along with enough sleep and taking proper supplements, I steam - in my steam shower. I find it's very healing, more than just your typical 'tea and honey.' — Idina Menzel

I feel like I was born to do this ... I started working professionally as soon as I could, doing weddings and things like that in high school, while everyone else was having keg parties. I just felt destined to do it and really committed and driven; it was something that just felt right all my life. — Idina Menzel

The truth is I love musical theater and always have. — Idina Menzel

I wish I had read more and majored in literature rather than theatre. I think I would have been a better artist for it. I am trying to play catch-up now. — Idina Menzel

I don't think I ever really knew the right words to 'Hava Nagilah,' which isn't great for a Jewish singer. — Idina Menzel

I'm constantly trying to work on the person that I am and work on my shortcomings, and I guess I want people to know that it's ok to be a work in progress, as long as you keep trying to figure it out. But that search and that discovery is what makes life kind of rich, and it's what makes life rich ... period. — Idina Menzel

The past is in the past — Idina Menzel

I always use my husband's cocoa butter stuff. He has amazing skin! — Idina Menzel

You get to relive your childhood when you have a baby and you see these toys and these books you read when you were little - the innocence that you are able to maintain because you have to find that again in order to connect with your child keeps you in a special state of mind. — Idina Menzel

The intensity of being in front of all these incredible musicians and tremendous conductors in these elaborate halls can be overwhelming. — Idina Menzel

I used to be someone that needed nine hours of sleep; otherwise, I didn't think I was going to sound good when I sang, and I was very disciplined and anal about my preparation. When you become a parent, there just isn't that time, you know? — Idina Menzel

I always like to sing barefoot. — Idina Menzel

The most successful people are so original. — Idina Menzel

I'm more comfortable revealing myself than hiding behind metaphors. I respond to artists who reveal something of themselves. — Idina Menzel

I pretty much have no life outside of the theatre. I go home every night, and I put the TV on, and I veg out and order food. — Idina Menzel

I love my husband very much. I knew it was real true love because I felt like I could be myself around that person. Your true, true innermost authentic self, the stuff you don't let anyone else see, if you can be that way with that person, I think that that's real love. — Idina Menzel

It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small, and the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all. — Idina Menzel

As much as I appreciate people putting me in the category of these very acrobatic belters, I feel like my strength is my ... interpretation and my truthfulness with songs, and I don't want young people to think it's all about the high notes that they have to hit. — Idina Menzel

After 'Rent,' I tried to make a record, and it didn't work out, and it was the Broadway community that welcomed me back. It's where I feel the most understood, most at home. — Idina Menzel

A lot of my fans are young and hip and enjoy my pop album and know the lyrics to those songs as well, which is a real compliment to me. — Idina Menzel

As a mom, I don't have much time for beauty. — Idina Menzel

When you sit back and you just do what you love, things happen — Idina Menzel

The one who tried too hard, the outsider, the oddball. Yeah, that was me. — Idina Menzel

I can sing 'Happy Birthday' to you in twelve different places, but one of them is going to make you feel a certain thing, maybe it's a vulnerability, maybe an innocence, maybe another way is sexy and soulful or bluesy whatever it is, but with singers, exploring keys, I think, is important. — Idina Menzel

I used to take 40 minutes to warm up before going on stage. If you want to spend time with your child as well as having a career, you have to get up there even if your head's a mess. It's made me more relaxed, and I'm having some of my best shows. — Idina Menzel

The first album I ever owned was 'A Star is Born.' — Idina Menzel

For singers, I believe we can sing in a lot of keys. I know I have this big range, but the point is to find a key that emotionally connects people. — Idina Menzel

I just enjoy being onstage and relating to the audience. — Idina Menzel

My husband and I grew up with parents who supported our passion, and we're grateful to them for that. It really helps you find your identity when you're younger. It helps you become a really well-rounded person, the more you can show from different perspectives. The arts show us empathy, which is so important. — Idina Menzel

When I lived in London when I did 'Wicked' there, everyone told me the audiences might be much more reserved, but I found it was completely the opposite. They jumped to their feet sooner, even more enthusiastically than the New York audiences did, and they were just as warm and as enthusiastic and supportive as New York. — Idina Menzel

Being a role model is about being true to myself. — Idina Menzel

I think that if you're doing a new musical, you want to have the opportunity to experiment and try things without the whole city of critics looking over your shoulder. — Idina Menzel