posted 11-08-2007 02:46 PM                   

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Idina Menzel was injured during the end of a matinee performance in Wicked on January 8th. She was set to leave the musical after the matinee performance on January 9th. She was no longer able to perform her final performances.

A musical spokesperson told Playbill On-Line, “Yesterday at the matinee during the melting sequence, (the famous melting scene of the Wicked Witch) which comes very late in the show, there’s a trap door that opens on the stage floor. An elevated platform is exposed, just underneath the stage floor. Idina usually steps onto that platform and is lowered beneath the stage. At yesterday’s performance the elevator had already partially descended, so when Idina stepped forward, she fell and hit her side. The show was stopped, and the house curtain was lowered. An announcement was made to see if there were doctors in the house, and people did rush backstage. An ambulance came and took Idina to the hospital. During that time, Shoshana Bean, Idina’s standby, quickly got into green make-up and costume and completed the performance.

At the curtain calls, Joey McIntyre spoke to the audience and further explained the situation, and said Idina would be ok.

Idina was taken out of the theater on a stretcher still in her green makeup. At the hospital, x-rays were taken and it was discovered that she cracked one of her lower ribs. Because of the injury, Elphaba standby, Shoshana Bean, played the Saturday evening performance as well as the Sunday matinee. Menzel was scheduled to appear at the curtain call of the Sunday matinee to officially end her run.

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