Menzel stars as a woman starting her life over in New York City in the original musical created by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal writers Tom Kitt (music) and Brian Yorkey (score). The writers earned the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize for penning Next to Normal.
If/Then arrived on Broadway March 5, 2014, and officially opened March 30. The pop-driven musical, which was met with enthusiastic audiences, received a mixed critical reception. Read reviews here.
"Working on If/Then over the past several years has been one of the most professionally satisfying and personally fulfilling experiences of my career," said producer David Stone in a statement. "I am extremely proud of this musical, the entire creative team and cast and the remarkable work they have done in bringing this story to life. We all look forward to sharing it with audiences for the next ten weeks."
Next to Normal and Rent director Michael Greif helms the production that played a pre-Broadway out-of-town tryout at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. in fall 2012.
The show earned Tony Award nominations for Best Actress (Menzel) and Best Original Score (Kitt and Yorkey). Read: "What If?" A Track-by-Track Breakdown of the If/Then Cast Album Upon closing, If/Then will have played 29 previews and 401 performances. The $10 million musical recouped a portion of its investment.
"It was my salvation," Menzel said, describing her past year with the musical in a recent interview with Playbill.com. In her first Broadway outing since winning the Tony Award for Wicked, Menzel found If/Then's themes struck a personal chord in a year of highs and lows, which included the Disney hit "Frozen" and her divorce from actor Taye Diggs. Following If/Then, Menzel is set to embark on a worldwide concert tour.
If/Then has musical direction by Carmel Dean and orchestrations by Tony Award winner Michael Starobin, who previously collaborated with Kitt on Next to Normal.
The cast of If/Then also includes Tony Award winner LaChanze (The Color Purple, Once on This Island), Anthony Rapp (Rent), James Snyder (Cry-Baby), Jerry Dixon (tick, tick…Boom!, Once on This Island), Jenn Colella (Chaplin, High Fidelity), Jason Tam (A Chorus Line, Lysistrata Jones), Tamika Lawrence (Matilda) and Jackie Burns (Wicked).
"Art is literally imitating life for me," Menzel said when she first began the If/Then journey. Read the Playbill feature: From Then, Till Now: Idina Menzel, Anthony Rapp and Michael Greif of Broadway's Rent Reunite in New Musical If/Then.
Also featured are Joe Cassidy (Working), Miguel Cervantes (American Idiot, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Curtis Holbrook (West Side Story, Xanadu), Stephanie Klemons (In The Heights), Tyler McGee (Ghost), Ryann Redmond (Bring It On), Joe Aaron Reid (Catch Me If You Can), Ann Sanders (Leap of Faith), Jackie Burns (Hair, Wicked), Marc de la Cruz (Allegiance), Charles Hagerty (Wicked), Janet Krupin (Hands on a Hardbody) and Pearl Sun (Next to Normal).
If/Then has choreography by Larry Keigwin, set design by Tony Award nominee Mark Wendland (Next to Normal, The Merchant of Venice), costume design by Emily Rebholz (Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson; Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike), lighting design by Tony Award winner Kenneth Posner (Kinky Boots, Wicked) and sound design by Tony Award winner Brian Ronan (Next To Normal, The Book of Mormon). Casting is by Telsey + Co, Craig Burns CSA.
According to the creators, "If/Then is a contemporary new musical that follows two distinct storylines in the life of Elizabeth, a city planner who moves back to New York to restart her life in this city of infinite possibilities. When her carefully designed plans collide with the whims of fate, Elizabeth’s life splits into two parallel paths. If/Then follows both stories simultaneously as this modern woman faces the intersection of choice and chance."
The Richard Rodgers Theatre is located at 226 West 46th Street. Visit ifthenthemusical.com.
