I was watching Idina Menzel’s appearance on the new Jimmy Fallon Tonight Show after the Oscars — and I was reminded how blown away I was by her voice when Wicked first hit Broadway.  Previously, I  was a theater minor at Middlebury — which is a very actor-y type place to go to school.  (Besides being a language-y type place as well.) Lots of my friends are actors — and good ones.  Many went to NYU and Juilliard for grad school — and many have carved out nice and great careers that are super impressive..  I have to say that my tribe has done incredibly well in the industry….  That is due mostly to their talent, but also to our professors at Midd, who pushed and prodded us into our careers.  I’m a publicist today because of one of my Midd theater professors, who told me I had a way about me.  I to this day thank her for her support — and the private one-on-one class I had with her my senior year — the one where she taught me how to write a press release and do “marketing and publicity.” What a privilege.  (And she also visited me  in my apartment after my brain exploded. She was worried!!! And she cared.  I am going to cry now thinking about how nice that all was…..)

Anyway — forget the whole John Travolta funny flub over Idina — which was really funny — I just think that Idina is pretty amazing. And I’m not one to just give those sort of kudos to just anyone.  When I first saw her flying across the stage in Wicked with her green makeup on and all — I was just mesmerized.  Yes.  I had seen her in Rent, silly.  I know how good she was in that.  As was her hot ex-husband, Taye.  I just think that her flying scene at the end of act one of Wicked, was so over the top amazing, that I don’t know if there’s anything I can say –other than I was brought to tears.  And I’ve seen Wicked multiple times.  But her performance was the most intense for me…. She is amazing.  And there’s nothing like it.  And just so you know,  I am not often brought to tears in a Broadway musical.  As much of a theater person as I am, I am only brought to tears in serious hard core plays or when my good friend happens to nail a part — a.k.a. my friends Matt and Ana — who continually nail parts on a regular basis. I mean, Matt was the lead in Peter and the Starcatcher- he was even featured in ads on TV, and I cried every time I saw him.  He was so amazing.    Ana has fucking ruled many Broadway shows and reviews.  Even movies.  I cry whenever I see them do a slam dunk job. And my friends do not fail me at that…. But Idina is not my friend at all (yet, at least).  I have never met her.  And yet she has brought me to tears. Anyway — I cry when a good friend is good. And when I am really impressed. And when Idina  is daring people to find her and look to the western sky as the green witch, this is also mind-blowing to me……(in the metaphorical sense — not the literal one — like what happened to me in August, 2012.)

I bring this up, only because when I first saw Wicked is when I should have first known that Fucker the Psychopath was a Psychopath. And I didn’t.  I was still a stupid idiot believing lies and fake shit.   I remember telling him that I had seen Wicked that night — and being teary and blown away.  He lived in Atlanta, was working at CNN there.  I worked and lived in NYC.  And his response was… “I agree.  I’ve seen it.”  Meaning he had been to NYC, without telling me, and had seen Wicked?.  Why did I not know that he was a deceptive liar then???????  OMG… Sometimes I just think, I am such an idiot. He explained himself out of it that night, but I still just think, wow — I am mortified.  I am so stupid!!!!  I wish I could take it all back.

Anyway. I encourage everyone to love Idina Menzel and her voice.  — and anything that John Travolta refers to her as — it’s still an homage. I challenge you to Defy Gravity like she did and does.  I don’t say this often… But wow.  Look to the western sky, people. Everyone deserves a chance to fly……