Idina Menzel Returning to Broadway for First Time Since ‘Wicked’

Idina Menzel, who won the Tony Award for "Wicked," will star in "If/Then," a new musical by the team behind "Next to Normal"

Idina Menzel will return to Broadway for the first time since "Wicked" in a new Broadway musical by the team behind "Next to Normal." 

Getty ImagesTitled "If/Then," the musical centers on a woman on the cusp of turning 40, who uproots herself to New York City in search of a fresh start and (presumably) a much more expensive apartment. The show's producers describe the play as being about "how choice and chance collide and how we learn to love the fallout."

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Beyond that lofty description, it will reunite Tom Kitt (music), Brian Yorkey (book and lyrics), and Michael Greif (director), the creative team behind the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning "Next to Normal." David Stone will produce the show.

“I’ve experienced the beauty of working on original musicals and was eager to find a project where the material was exciting and new and spoke to my heart," Menzel said in a statement. "I’m thrilled to have finally found it – an original musical with a complex, flawed, and surprising central character that I cannot wait to bring to life onstage."

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When Menzel last appeared on Broadway in 2003, she nabbed a Tony Award and turned "Defying Gravity," the vocally demanding ballad from "Wicked," into one of the musical world's most instantly recognizable and oft-covered songs.

Menzel also appeared as Maureen in the original cast of "Rent" and reprised the role in the 2005 film adaptation.

But there are a few stops along the way to Broadway. "If/Then" will have its world premiere at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., beginning previews on Nov. 5 and officially opening on Nov. 24. 

The production will begin previews on Broadway on March 4, 2014 and will officially open on March 27, 2014 at a Nederlander Theatre to be announced.  

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