LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Idina Menzel will return to Broadway for the first time since "Wicked" in a new Broadway musical by the team behind "Next to Normal."
Titled "If/Then," the musical centers on a woman on the cusp of turning 40, who uproots herself to New York City in search of a fresh start and (presumably) a much more expensive apartment. The show's producers describe the play as being about "how choice and chance collide and how we learn to love the fallout."
Beyond that lofty description, it will reunite Tom Kitt (music), Brian Yorkey (book and lyrics), and Michael Greif (director), the creative team behind the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning "Next to Normal." David Stone will produce the show.
"I've experienced the beauty of working on original musicals and was eager to find a project where the material was exciting and new and spoke to my heart," Menzel said in a statement. "I'm thrilled to have finally found it - an original musical with a complex, flawed, and surprising central character that I cannot wait to bring to life onstage."
When Menzel last appeared on Broadway in 2003, she nabbed a Tony Award and turned "Defying Gravity," the vocally demanding ballad from "Wicked," into one of the musical world's most instantly recognizable and oft-covered songs.
Menzel also appeared as Maureen in the original cast of "Rent" and reprised the role in the 2005 film adaptation.
But there are a few stops along the way to Broadway. "If/Then" will have its world premiere at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., beginning previews on November 5 and officially opening on November 24.
The production will begin previews on Broadway on March 4, 2014 and will officially open on March 27, 2014 at a Nederlander Theatre to be announced.