Menzel made her Broadway debut as one of the original cast members in Rent, receiving a Tony nomination for her portrayal of Maureen. She also earned a Drama Desk nomination for her performance as Kate in MTC’s The Wild Party. She originated the role of Dorothy in Summer of ’42 at Goodspeed, starred as Sheila in the Encores! Production of Hair and appeared on Broadway as Amneris in Aida. Other Off-Broadway credits include Rent and The Vagina Monologues. In film, she has appeared in Summer of Sam, Just a Kiss, Kissing Jessica Stein, Tollbooth, and Water. She performed at the 1998 Lilith Fair summer concert festival, had her debut album Still I Can’t Be Still released on Hollywood Records and continues to write and perform original music.

Menzel holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is married to fellow performer Taye Diggs and appeared on Broadway in Wicked where she received her first Tony award (Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical). Menzel is currently in preparation to reprise her role of Maureen in the film version of Rent, which starts filming in February of 2005. (Jan 2005)