Idina In London

Last night was Idina Menzel's only UK show at The Royal Albert Hall and I was there in the 7th row. It was just exquisite. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Marvin Hamlish opened with a collection of show tunes and then Idina joined them on stage and gave an outstanding performance. Her voice was incredible but so was her sense of humour with the songs split up with stories from her time as a wedding / bar mitzvah singer, getting her break in the original Off Broadway Rent, singing for Miss Streisand, clashing with Beyonce.

The songs ranged from Wicked and Rent, to show tunes and her time in Glee with a first for the Orchestra having to learn Poker Face!

There was a huge cheer when she mentioned Rent, which seemed to surprise her as she said I thought you didn't like Rent in the UK. She told the story of Jonathon Larson dieing on opening night and singing No Day But Today which was probably the most emotional part of the night.

Telling how in college she fancied her gay music teacher and when they had to do a Cole Porter song she chose Love For Sale and bought some trashy lingerie and make up to sing it for him. He explained to her how she was coming at it from the wrong way and she should be singing the pain in the song. She had certainly learnt from him as she sang a tortured version of it and mixed it up with Roxanne, beautiful.

When she got to Wicked she sang For Good, with no orchestra and no microphone and her voice filled the entire Albert Hall, it was one of the most amazing things I have seen any singer do ever. She finished with a rousing Defying Gravity but the encore was just Marvin playing piano and Idina singing The Way We Were. It really was like seeing Streisand, both the humour and the talent along with a huge voice.