"This is the first time I'll be doing eight shows a week with a child," says Menzel of her return to Broadway in If/Then. "I've taken him on the road with me. I've taken him on a tour bus," she says of son Walker, 4, whose dad is actor Taye Diggs. (He and Menzel separated last year.)
So, how's it working out? "(It) can be chaotic, but it's also just made me more calm. It sets my priorities straight," the Tony winner says. "I don't get as much sleep, but whatever it may be, I get up there and I'm more relaxed."
And of course, coming from acting DNA, Menzel is not surprised that Walker is "oozing" drama.
At a recent parent conference, his teacher reported that "he's always leading the class in games and improvisation."
That's just how Mendel got her start as a kid in Syosset, N.Y. "I was inspired when my parents brought me to Broadway, noting that one of her favorite memories was seeing Sandy Duncan in Peter Pan as a child. "Hearing the overture, the lights go down, that pretty much changed the course of my life."
Now she's the Broadway doyenne who thrives onstage reveling in "the community" and "the live audience." What's left on her "mental" bucket list? "I'd like to do a concert at Madison Square Garden; that would be great."