Idina Menzel closes the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and kicks off her Australian Tour as only a Broadway legend could.

From the moment the opening bars of Somewhere over the Rainbow rained through from the wings, Idina Menzel had the audience in the palm of her hands. It was an incredibly special evening, for everyone, and she seemed as excited as the fans to be performing for the first time on Australian soil.

Everything felt warm and totally genuine, the banter, the stories, the laughs. And the music was sublime. Conducted beautifully by Vanessa Scammell, the 55-piece Adelaide Art Orchestra, plus some American extras, played majestically, and Menzel graced the auditorium with musical theatre numbers, new writing and personal favourites. The audience gave back in laughter, presents, tears, cheers and several standing ovations.

There is something about Broadway: it seems to bless its stars with something, indisputable and intangible. But for all her greatness and extraordinary talent, Menzel comes across as so beautifully normal. She walks on stage without shoes in a dress that is lovely but not made to make her look like a sex goddess. She jokes with a man in the front row:...