Disney fans will soon have a behind-the-scenes look at the life of Frozen star Idina Menzel. Disney+ has released a new trailer for the upcoming documentary Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage?, which will highlight her career through shows and films like Rent, Wicked, and Frozen.
The trailer begins with an audience at one of her shows cheering her name, and shows Menzel on her way to the first rehearsal for her national tour. The tour runs for 17 shows, and conclude with a performance at Madison Square Garden, which is somewhere that she’s always dreamed of performing at. The trailer than focuses on Menzel’s career, and how she originally focused on wanting to be a singer. While waiting to become a singer, she was cast in the stage musical Rent as Maureen Johnson. After being cast, Menzel was able to get an agent and a record deal. Her album Still I Can’t Be Still was released in 1998, but did not do well in sales. In the trailer, Menzel says that the low sales of her album led to her having to start her career over again.
She then talks about how being cast as Elsa in Frozen, as well as the success of the film, was a defining moment for her. The film went on to make over $1 billion and receive an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. “Let it Go” also received an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Menzel then talks about how being a working mother, a Broadway girl, and a pop girl make up who she is.
Menzel reprised the role of Elsa in 2019’s Frozen II, as well as the short films Frozen Fever and Olaf’s Frozen Adventure. When talking to Collider about returning as Elsa in Frozen II, Menzel said “It never really ended, from Frozen 1 to 2, because I’m singing the music from it, all the time, all over the world, and looking out to an audience and seeing people, of all ages, really signing this music and reminding me how they’ve been touched by it, and how they’ve learned to celebrate that thing inside of them, that makes them feel extraordinary in the world.” Outside of Frozen, she also played Nancy Tremaine in Disney’s 2007 film Enchanted. Menzel will return as Nancy in the sequel Disenchanted, which will be released on Disney+ on November 18.
Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage will premiere on Disney+ on December 9. In the meantime, check out the trailer for the documentary below:
