by Peter Feher
This article was originally published on Cleveland.com
CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — Misfortune almost strikes during Act 1 of the musical “Wicked” when Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, gets caught mid-song in a rain shower. Funnily enough, she doesn’t melt. For an audience that knows “The Wizard of Oz,” it’s an early hint that the show is destined for a happier-than-expected ending.
You could say it was an auspicious sign, then, that the skies opened up right before Idina Menzel took the stage at Blossom Music Center on Sunday, July 26, even as the rain persisted throughout her first several numbers.
A distinctive voice in theater and film for three decades now, Menzel has a characteristic way of transforming any setback into a kind of encouragement — a power ranging well beyond her Tony Award-winning turn as Broadway’s original Elphaba.