Monday, October 14, 2024

Exclusive: Idina Menzel Used a TelePrompter to Sing “If/Then” Song on Tony Awards

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There were lots of performances last night on the Tony Awards, all live, none lip synched. Everyone sang songs from the shows they’re in for 8 shows a week. Some people sang songs they’d never sung before, like Jennifer Hudson introducing a number from the still cooking “Finding Neverland.”

Only one performer used a TelePrompter, however. Idina Menzel read the words to the turgid “Always Starting Over” as they scrolled by in HUGE letters. I know, because I was sitting just to the side of the TelePrompter, which was otherwise used to cue presenters and remind them of what they were doing.

Of course, the screechy “Always Starting Over” isn’t a song as much as it’s a filibuster, a speech, a declamation, and a bore in my opinion. Maybe Idina can’t remember all those words. Maybe she’s too busy getting ready for her one woman show next Monday at Radio City, which she’s fitting in between performances of the dreadful “If/Then” to capitalize on her “Frozen” success.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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