Idina Menzel adds personal touch to Cincinnati Pops

When the Cincinnati Pops booked Idina Menzel, it landed the big name to anchor the orchestra’s summer season at Riverbend.

And when it came time Saturday to hit the stage in her strapless yellow dress, that big name delivered a show full of big personality to match.

Menzel’s hour-and-25-minute performance was a crowd-pleasing union of non-linear storytelling, purposeful singing and poignant moments. Pops shows rarely feel this off-the-cuff and natural, and it felt good.

Though nobody was complaining, the 40-year-old Broadway star blamed a few of her more random spells of stage chatter on a red-eye flight and the fact that she was performing outside by the light of the sun.

“What time does the sun go down around here? Geesh,” she exclaimed at 9:03 p.m., drawing laughs from the crowd. “You guys are good looking, but it’s like doing a Broadway show with the lights on.”

The audience was full of fans of her Broadway work. Menzel’s performances of songs from the hit shows “Rent” and “Wicked,” in which she originated the roles of Elizabeth and Elphaba, respectively, received loud rounds of applause. (The Pops did not provide an attendance figure.)

Here’s how she introduced the ballad “I’m Not That Girl”: “The next song is from a show I was in called ‘Wicked.’ You saw it? I was the green one.”

She closed the set with a pair of “Wicked” tunes, an a cappella rendering of “For Good,” followed by “Defying Gravity,” which received the full Pops treatment. Each song earned one of the night’s two standing ovations.

Menzel explained how the death of “Rent” creator Jonathan Larson at age 35 has had a lasting impact on her life. She went into the show’s “No Day But Today,” a song with a live-for-the-moment message that she took as a lesson from losing Larson.

Her own composition “Gorgeous,” written for a friend who had lamented the inability of same-sex couples to legally marry, became a celebratory song thanks to a new law in the state of New York. “I’m very excited about being a New Yorker today,” Menzel said.

She told a great story about having to sing “Don’t Rain on My Parade” for her hero Barbra Streisand at a Kennedy Center Honors event, and Babs’ halfhearted acknowledgment of the performance. She sang that tune again Saturday, preceded by a version of “Funny Girl.” “I still love you, Barbra!” she proclaimed.

WTF do I do with him?! - Military Spouse Support Network

We have had Sam since mid-January. He was having accidents in the house when we first got him, but after we established a routine, it stopped. That is, until about a week after we moved into the new house. He goes out three times a day, and is kenneled while I'm at work, because he likes to destroy things or go potty on the carpet. I thought we fixed the problems. Today, I went up to our bedroom to change the sheets and put our mattress pad back on, and found out he peed a lake in the middle of the bed and all over the side. I honestly feel like a lot of things he does out of spite, but I was home and he just went out. I honestly don't know what to do with him. I feel like seriously hurting him when he does stuff like this. Does he get enough exercise? I feel like a lot of dogs "act out" when they just dont get enough exercise. If I dont take my dogs out for walks my youngest likes to destroy anything paper in the living room. If he is having potty problems you may need to take him out like a puppy, every 30 min...and work your way to longer spells in between. Our puppy did the same thing when moving. She was completely housebroken and when we have moved to a different place, she uses the bathroom...everywhere. We had to just keep her kenneled until she realized that she is only allowed to go outside. If we weren't in the same room with her, she was in the kennel. I would even take her to the bathroom with me and shut the door so she couldn't go in the 2 minutes I wasn't watching her. My vet said it was just the shock of the move and that she would eventually get over it. SHe finally did but it took awhile. We have had Sam since mid-January. He was having accidents in the house when we first got him, but after we established a routine, it stopped. That is, until about a week after we moved into the new house. He goes out three times a day, and is kenneled while I'm at work, because he likes to destroy things or go potty on the carpet. I thought we fixed the problems. Today, I went up to our bedroom to change the sheets and put our mattress pad back on, and found out he peed a lake in the middle of the bed and all over the side. I honestly feel like a lot of things he does out of spite, but I was home and he just went out. I honestly don't know what to do with him. I feel like seriously hurting him when he does stuff like this. I agree that its going to take some time for him to adjust to moving.

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