Idina Menzel Makes NY Philharmonic Debut, 2/5

Tony Award-winning actress, singer, and songwriter Idina Menzel, star of Broadway's Wicked and the original stage production of Rent, will make her New York Philharmonic debut Saturday, February 5, 2011, at 8:00 p.m. The concert, a benefit for the New York Philharmonic, will be conducted by multi-award-winning conductor/composer Marvin Hamlisch. Ms. Menzel - who appeared in the hit television show Glee - will perform a repertoire of classic pop, musical theater favorites (including hits from Wicked and Rent), as well as selections from her album of original songs, I Stand.

Artists Tony Award winner Idina Menzel has a diverse career on stage and in film, television, and music. She recently appeared in the television hit Glee, and is currently on a sold-out tour, performing with leading orchestras around the country. In 2009 Ms. Menzel co- starred with Josh Groban in the concert version of Chess: The Musical, recorded at London's Royal Albert Hall and broadcast on PBS. In December 2005 she completed her role as the misunderstood Elphaba in Broadway's Wicked, for which she received a Tony Award for Lead Actress in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award nomination. She reprised the role in London's West End in September 2006, receiving the Theatregoers Choice Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She also starred in Michael John LaChiusa's musical See What I Wanna See, directed by Ted Sperling at The Public Theater, garnering Drama Desk and Drama League Award nominations. Other honors included a Tony nomination for her debut performance as Maureen in the original production of Rent, and a Drama Desk nomination for her performance as Kate in Manhattan Theater Club's Off-Broadway original musical, The Wild Party.

As a composer, Marvin Hamlisch has won virtually every major award - three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony, and three Golden Globe Awards. His ground- breaking musical, A Chorus Line, received the Pulitzer Prize. Other Broadway credits include They're Playing Our Song, The Goodbye Girl, Sweet Smell of Success, and Imaginary Friends. Mr. Hamlisch is also the composer of more than 40 motion picture scores, including his Oscar-winning score and song for The Way We Were, and his adaptation of Scott Joplin's music for The Sting, for which he received his third Oscar. His prolific output of film scores includes original compositions and/or musical adaptations for Sophie's Choice, Ordinary People, The Swimmer, Three Men and a Baby, Ice Castles, Take the Money and Run, Bananas, and Save the Tiger. Marvin Hamlisch is principal pops conductor for the Pittsburgh, Colorado, Milwaukee, Dallas, and San Diego symphony orchestras. He was music director and arranger of Barbra Streisand's 1994 concert tour of the United States and England, as well as the television special Barbra Streisand: The Concert (for which he received two of his Emmys. Mr. Hamlisch made his New York Philharmonic debut on May 20, 2008, as conductor and host of Broadway's Greatest Showstoppers, and last appeared with the Orchestra on April 20, 2009, as host and conductor of New York Moments.

Tickets, which start at $35, will go on sale for subscribers and donors on November 23,
2010, at 10:00 a.m., and for the general public on November 30. All tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets may also be purchased at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office or the Alice Tully Hall Box Office at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 65th Street. The Box Office opens at 10:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and at noon on Sunday. On performance evenings, the Box Office closes one-half hour after performance time; other evenings it closes at 6:00 p.m. To determine ticket availability, call the Philharmonic's Customer Relations Department at (212) 875-5656.

Photo Credit: Stewart Shining