Idina Menzel is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. Menzel rose to prominence when she originated the role of Maureen Johnson in the Broadway musical Rent. Her performance earned her a Tony Award nomination in 1996 and she would later reprise the character in the musical's 2005 film adaptation. In 2003, Menzel originated the role of Elphaba in the Broadway musical Wicked, a performance for which she won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She then returned to Broadway as Elizabeth Vaughan in the 2014 musical If/Then, which earned her a third Tony Award nomination. Menzel additionally played Shelby Corcoran on the musical dramedy TV series Glee from 2010 to 2013 and Nancy Tremaine in the 2007 Disney live-action/animated film Enchanted. She is also widely known for her voice talent as Queen Elsa in Walt Disney Animation Studios' hit 2013 3D computer-animated musical film Frozen, in which she sang the Oscar and Grammy Award-winning song "Let It Go". The song reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making Menzel the first Tony Award-winning actress to reach the top 10. Menzel would continue to voice Elsa in multiple Disney projects like Frozen Fever (2015), Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017), Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), Frozen II (2019), and Once Upon a Studio (2023).
History with the Macy's Parade[]
Idina Menzel's very first performance at Herald Square was during Macy's 70th Anniversary Parade in 1996. She performed "Seasons of Love" with the cast of Broadway's Rent. She then appeared in the 2003 Parade, where she and Kristen Chenoweth with the cast of Broadway's Wicked performed "One Short Day" as the show opened at that time. She then made her third appearance in the 2008 Parade performing "I Stand" on the M&M's on Broadway float. For her fourth appearance in the 2014 Parade, Idina was featured on The Enchanting World of Lindt Chocolate float and she sang "All I Want for Christmas is You". To promote Frozen II with the Olaf Balloon, she made her fifth appearance on the Balsam Hill's Deck the Halls float during the 2019 Parade, and performed "Sleigh Bells" with The Young People's Chorus of NYC. She is now set to make her sixth appearance on the new Wondrous World of Wildlife float from the Bronx Zoo, at the 2024 Parade.