Tony winner Idina Menzel appeared on the May 18 broadcast of The Kelly Clarkson Show to surprise Broadway's newest Elphaba in Wicked and open up about her experience with performance anxiety.
The long-running hit Broadway musical welcomed a host of new cast members to the Gershwin Theatre May 24 including Wicked national tour alum Talia Suskauer (Be More Chill) as Elphaba, Tony winner Cleavant Derricks (Dreamgirls) as The Wizard, James D. Gish as Fiyero, Tony nominee Clifton Davis (Aladdin, Two Gentlemen of Verona) as Doctor Dillamond, and Mikayla Renfrow as Nessarose.
READ: Watch: Brittney Johnson On Breaking Barriers to Play Glinda in Wicked on Broadway
Suskauer appeared on the talkshow with her vocal coach Craig Wich to discuss their viral social media video of the singer telling her longtime coach about her new role. Halfway through their conversation, Broadway's original Elphaba Idina Menzel surprised the two. Watch the full video above.
Menzel also sat down for a solo chat with the "Since U Been Gone" singer to talk about her experience with performance anxiety, her upcoming children's book, and new fashion line.
"I get so in my head. I feel like the older I am getting, I am getting a little bit more neurotic. I don't know if that is with success and social media, and feeling like the lens is always on me," said Menzel.
"I will say that becoming a mom helped me because I felt the need to be perfect was not as crazy," she continued. "If my son has a fever, I'm not going to not be with him in the middle of the night before I have to get up. I get on stage and I'm like 'If you screw it up tonight, well whatever, you had to make a choice. If you don't hit that big note, big deal.' That's life."
Wicked features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman, and is based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire.
Since opening October 30, 2003, the musical has been performed in over 100 cities in 16 countries. In October 2019, the international hit musical surpassed Les Misérables to become the fifth longest-running production in Broadway history.
Brittney Johnson
Brittney Johnson and Sam Gravitte
Brittney Johnson and Lindsay Pearce
Brittney Johnson and Lindsay Pearce
Brittney Johnson
Brittney Johnson
