Music
Idina Menzel
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Keith Bruce
five stars
IT is some rollercoaster, an Idina Menzel show – and climbing aboard is the only option. The first highlight of her set – Funny Girl's Don't Rain On My Parade – is preceded by an intro of enquiry about what we have all been up to since her last visit. That sets up her sharing of some personal news of her own, and the dedication to her fiance of Cake, one of the best cuts on her recent pop cross-over album, Idina, from which I Do is another gem of the night. For most singers combining the tasks of promoting that set and satisfying her musical theatre and movie soundtrack fanbase would be challenge enough, but Menzel ranges fearlessly beyond that. Into the middle of Cake she segues a generous – and powerful – chunk of Led Zeppelin's Black Dog, and later on she wraps The Beatles' Dear Prudence around Frozen's Do You Want To Build A Snowman. Prefer it funky? Just listen to her superb eight-piece band join her in a hip-shaking soul review work-out of Aretha's Rock Steady.
Yet there is still room for her to duet on Wicked's I'm Not That Girl with Mia from the audience, who had sung it for her Higher Music, and involve a creche of little girls in party frocks in the inevitable concluding Let It Go – while simultaneously chiding their pushy stage mums, and slipping in a sly word of acknowledgement for her gay following.
I am struggling to think of another artist, not excepting the great names of the past as well as superstars of today, who could have pulled off this eclectic showcase with such apparently effortless ease. Ms Menzel is a unique talent.
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