When Idina Menzel took the stage at the 86th Annual Academy Awards to sing the Oscar-winning “Let it Go” from the Oscar-winning “Frozen,” becoming an internet meme was probably the farthest thing from her mind.
But after John Travolta butchered Menzel’s name in his introduction of her performance, calling her “Adele Dazeem,” the Tony-winning actress quickly found herself frozen in pop culture hilarity. Social media pounced on the flub, giving Adele Dazeem a life of her own in a handful of Vines, GIFs, and parody Twitter accounts. Slate.com launched a “Adele Dazeem Name Generator,” allowing everyone -- including Hollywood’s biggest stars -- the ability to Travoltify their names. Even David Letterman got in on the action, with a “Top 10 Ways to Mispronounce Idina Menzel” list last night.
And now Adele Dazeem is coming to Broadway.
Well, sort of.
Fans of “If/Then,” the new Broadway musical starring Idina Menzel that begins previews at the Richard Rogers Theatre on March 5, are having a little fun with Adele Dazeem. One has even made it appear that Dazeem will be taking over for Menzel in an upcoming performance. “If/Then” cast-member Janet Krupin photo posted to Instagram of the Playbill-ready insert. It lists a bio for Dazeem filled with -- you guessed it -- flubs.
“Adele made her Broadway debut as Moritz in the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winner, ‘Nert,’ for which she received a Tony Award nomination” it begins, referencing Menzel’s turn in “Rent.” It then goes on to mispronounce some of Menzel's other hits, such as “Wicked” (“Wickedly) and “Frozen” (“Farfignugen”).
The photo of Adele’s bio can be seen here.
Broadway
The marketing team of “If/Then” have also been having fun with Adele Dazeem. They created a fake poster for Idina on Monday afternoon with the headline “You Know Her Name.” Though they tell NBC New York they have no plans to insert the fan-made "at this performance" art in their Playbill at any time.
For what it’s worth, Menzel has yet to publicly acknowledge the existence of Dazeem. Knowing her, she's probably already let it go.
