Idina Menzel brought her powerhouse vocals and her signature brand of humor to the stage for an exciting weekend of concerts in California’s Orange County this past weekend.
The Tony-winning superstar performed two shows with the Pacific Symphony on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, Calif.
Idina joined Principal Pops Conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez to open the 2026-27 season with an exciting night of music that spanned her impressive career.
Lopez-Yañez and the Pacific Symphony kicked off
Lopez-Yañez and the Pacific Symphony kicked off the evening with a 30-minute instrumental set that highlighted some of Idina‘s biggest career moments. The set featured a medley of Wickedhits followed by a medley of songs from Hercules(Idinavoiced a character in Disney Channel’s animated series about the iconic hero), and a unique arrangement of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz, which of course was the inspiration for Wicked.
After a brief intermission, Idinawas welcomed to the stage for her 90-minute show with the symphony.
Among the highlights of Idina‘s performance were soaring renditions of “Defying Gravity” from Wickedand “Let It Go” from Frozen, as well as “Take Me or Leave Me” from Rent, which featured two audience members joining her on stage.
Idina hilariously created an original song about
Idina hilariously created an original song about her “Adele Dazeem” moment at the Oscars, which she sang before “Let It Go.”
Check out the set list below!
- “The Life of the Party” from The Wild Party
- Broadway Medley: “There’s No Business Like Show Business” / “Anything Goes” / “Everything’s Coming up Roses”
- “Everybody Knows” from her Idina album
- “Tomorrow” from Annie
- “The Great Escape” from Redwood
- “Buenos Aires” from Evita
- Original song about Adele Dazeem
- “Let It Go” from Frozen
- “Twisted” (Joni Mitchell cover)
- “Why” (Annie Lennox cover)
- “Take Me or Leave Me” from Rent
- “No One Mourns the Wicked” from Wicked
- “Finale B (No Day But Today)” from Rent
- “Defying Gravity” from Wicked
We chatted with conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez to learn more about the process of creating this concert.
Just Jared: Can you explain the process of working with guest artists like Idina Menzel to curate a set list for a performance with the Pacific Symphony? How collaborative is that process?
Enrico Lopez-Yañez: The collaboration process really varies
Enrico Lopez-Yañez: The collaboration process really varies from one artist to the next. Typically, an artist has a setlist of their music that is pretty established and consistent from city to city. With the performances with Pacific Symphony though, for example, Idina Menzel will be performing her setlist, which includes fan favorites and hits from Wicked, Frozen, Rent, and more, on the second half of the program. It was then left to me to devise a first half of the show to serve as a sort of introduction to the program. For this particular show, the first half selections will all reflect highlights and iconic moments from Idina’s career to get everyone excited for her appearance on the second half.
JJ: This won’t be your first time conducting a show featuring Idina. How are you preparing for the California shows, given your previous collaboration? Will anything be different?
ELY: The previous time Idina and I worked together we did the program without an intermission which meant there wasn’t an opportunity to feature the orchestra on its own. This new format allows us to play more music for our audience and highlight even more musical talents and selections from the great film, TV, and show catalog that makes Idina’s career so iconic!
JJ: What is your favorite Idina performance of all time?
ELY: To be honest, I have to say
ELY: To be honest, I have to say my favorite performance of Ms. Menzel’s has been when we got to work together with the Dallas Symphony. All of her performances are incredible, and she has had so many momentous performances from Broadway to the silver screen. However, getting to see Idina perform as a soloist in front of an orchestra is truly a special experience. It is a much more intimate musical setting that has also been curated by Idina which means you get a deep insight into her personality, career, and one-of-a-kind charisma and charm. Of course, it is also an absolute joy to get to make music with her so that has made it a particular highlight for me personally!
Coming up soon for the Pacific Symphony are the Cody Fry Christmasshow in December, a Pink Martini All-Starsconcert in February, a celebration of artists like Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Carly Simon in March, a James Bond tribute show in April, a Sci-Fi music event in May, and a concert production ofChicago: The Musical in June.
Posted To:BroadwayEvent PhotosIdina Menzel
