Music
Idina Menzel performed the song in the initial production of ‘Wicked’. However, Menzel also gave us another rendition of the song that’s horrid.
One of the most famous Broadway songs ever is “Defying Gravity” from Wicked. Idina Menzel performed the song in the initial production of Wicked, and many people love her version of the song from the musical’s original cast recording. However, Menzel also gave us another rendition of the song that is probably the most misguided cover ever.
Everyone has covered “Defying Gravity,” including Cynthia Erivo in the 2024 Wicked film adaptation. It’s been done by so many Broadway and West End performers, and there is no shortage of metal covers on YouTube. Some fans even like to combine it with Mendel’s signature song: “Let It Go” from Frozen.
Menzel attempted to transition into the world of top 40 music by putting out an album called I Stand. The record was produced by Glen Ballard, the hitmaker behind Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror,” Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know,” and Josh Groban’s “Believe.” Ballard and Menzel decided to create a new version of “Defying Gravity” that sounds more like a pop song than a show tune.
It’s awful. It sounds like the disposable soft rock they used to play in Kohl’s changing rooms 20 years ago. It’s like they cut the wings off the song. If Menzel wanted to write a pop song, she should have written a pop song. Instead, she shouldn’t have neutered one of Broadway’s big hits.
Obviously, Menzel never became a pop star. After the success of Wicked, she later appeared in Glee and the Disney films Enchanted and Frozen. In the latter, she played Queen Elsa, one of the most popular characters in recent memory.
All of these projects were rooted in the sound of musical theater. Apparently, audiences like Menzel when she sticks to her strengths. They don’t want her to pretend to be “Soak Up the Sun” era Sheryl Crowe.
During a 2008 interview with Broadway World, Menzel discussed working with Ballard on the pop version of “Defying Gravity.” “I got signed to Warner Brothers toward the end of my Wicked run, and as soon as I got signed, I started to think about collaborators and people I always wanted to work with,” she said.
“Glen Ballard was at the top of my list, although I didn’t think it would be possible. Thankfully, I begged the label to set up a meeting, and we hit it off. From there I spent the next year and a half writing music with him and a couple of other people as well. Mostly, I sat with him, especially for the first half of the process, to really try to zone in and find the right sound.”
Menzel discussed her approach to the album. “I didn’t set out to do anything but try to be true to myself and be ‘in the moment’ and work with Glen … and to just kind of sing and write about my experiences and my life,” she said. Well, maybe she should have had a more interesting game plan.
Menzel and Ballard have done great work — but there’s no saving their “Defying Gravity.”
