Idina Menzel replaced by ‘Adele Dazeem’ in ‘If/Then’ playbill joke
Adele Dazeem was a big hit at the Academy Awards when she sang “Let It Go” from the Oscar-winning Disney animated movie “Frozen.” And now the exotically named actress will be headlining a Broadway musical.
In a social media joke circulating on Twitter, a fake playbill notice for the Broadway musical “If/Then” states that its star, Idina Menzel, will be replaced by her alter-ego, Adele Dazeem. The notice says that Dazeem’s previous Broadway credits include the musicals “Nert” (i.e. “Rent”) and “Wicked-ly” (i.e. “Wicked”).
The notice says Dazeem also provides the voice of Elsa in the hit Disney movie “Farfignugen” (i.e. “Frozen”).
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The renaming of Menzel became a worldwide joke after Oscar presenter John Travolta mangled the pronunciation when introducing her Sunday at the ceremony. Travolta announced the actress’s name as “Adele Dazeem,” though the exact spelling of his botched effort varies.
Since the Oscars, the late-night talk shows have been making fun of Travolta’s goof. Conan O’Brien recently began his show by saying, “I’m Conan O’Brien, or, as John Travolta calls me, Kevin Ozeem.”
On “The Tonight Show,” host Jimmy Fallon similarly introduced himself as “Jelan Fejallah.” David Letterman provided a top 10 list of ways to mispronounce Menzel’s name (e.g. “Idling Mazda”).
In reality, Menzel -- and not Dazeem, or is she? -- is scheduled to begin preview performances Wednesday of “If/Then” at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York. She appeared last year in the musical at Washington’s National Theatre. The show is written by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt, the team behind the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Next to Normal.”
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