Idina Menzel kicked off her sold-out performance with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra with a rollicking rendition of The Life of the Party.
"I don't really like parties," said the singer-actress, who was part of the original Broadway cast of Rent and won a 2004 Tony Award for her portrayal of Elphaba in Wicked. "I don't want you to think I'm the life of the party just because I started off with that one."
The cheering Thursday night crowd at the Meyerson Symphony Center disagreed. Part of the show was certainly a first: a Broadway star in a floor-length, halter-style black gown, a packed house, the sounds of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra swelling in the background, and Lady Gaga's Poker Face.
Fresh off her recent string of appearances on Fox's hit Glee, Menzel broke out another of her songs from the TV show, Funny Girl, for the first time for a live audience during this tour. And throughout the performance, she was refreshingly funny.
She drew chuckles from the crowd with a mash-up of Cole Porter's Love for Sale and the Police's Roxanne, charmed the audience with a story about how nerve-racking it was to sing Don't Rain on My Parade in front of Barbra Streisand -- at a dinner after the show, Streisand said, "Did you sing Don't Rain on My Parade? I wasn't wearing my glasses" -- and joked that she felt as if she were back in her wedding singer days when the crowd was throwing out suggestions for an encore song.
Menzel poured all her love for her 91/2-month-old son, Walker, into a song written just for him, Good Morning, Walker. "He doesn't sleep at all, but he's very happy," she said. Her husband is Private Practice actor Taye Diggs.
Though she displayed her abundant sense of humor, she also proved that she has vocal talent to spare. The concert covered the range of her career, from Gorgeous, off the album I Stand, to tunes from the Broadway shows that made her famous, including Defying Gravity, and even one she sang a lot as a wedding singer ( Embraceable You).
Taking advantage of the Meyerson's glorious acoustics must be irresistible to a great singer, and Menzel can count herself in that number.
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