For Idina Menzel and prize-winning team, D.C. is a Broadway tryout town reborn Idina Menzel, one of the original cast members of "Rent" and a Tony winner for the role of Elphaba in "Wicked," will star in a new Broadway-bound musical by the creators of "Next to Normal" that will have its world-premiere tryout in the fall in Washington's National Theatre. "If/Then" is the name of the show, for which composer Tom Kitt and book writer and lyricist Brian Yorkey had written a six-page treatment late in 2008, as "Next to Normal" was formulating plans for Broadway. That musical would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize and three Tonys, including one for Kitt and Yorkey's score. Washington has been a locus of good karma for Kitt and Yorkey, as well as for "Next to Normal" director Michael Greif and producer David Stone, who are also on board for "If/Then." After "Next to Normal" received tepid notices in an off-Broadway run, it was to this city for a retooled production at Arena Stage that Stone brought the show, about the collapse of a mentally ill suburban wife and mother. The musical's enthusiastic reception here cleared the path to Broadway and further glory. The "If/Then" engagement is a huge coup for the 1,676-seat National, a once-proud playhouse on Pennsylvania Avenue NW that was forced to cede its position to the Kennedy Center as Washington's most desirable address for out-of-town bookings. Its illustrious history includes the Broadway tryouts of "Show Boat," "West Side Story," "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Hello, Dolly!," among many others, but the theater had been relegated to afterthought status of late under the management of the New York-based Shubert Organization. SMG, an arts-programming company out of Philadelphia, recently took over booking responsibilities from the Shubert, along with Chicago's JAM Theatricals. "Historically, Washington has been one of the great tryout towns," said Stone, whose Broadway credits include the blockbuster "Wicked" and "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." Most importantly is that our spiritual home feels like it's in Washington. It has been a seeming lifetime since Washington was cast in the marquee part of true tryout town: A blunder called "Hot Feet" started at the National on the way to Broadway several years ago, and revivals of "Ragtime," "West Side Story," "Follies" and "Man of La Mancha" have been groomed here over the past decade before heading up Interstate 95. But as a midwife for new Broadway musicals, Washington (and other cities close to New York) long ago lost that job to San Diego, Seattle and Chicago. "If/Then" which will run from Nov. 5 to Dec. 8 and has scheduled its official opening night for Nov. 24 - after which reviews will run - is described as the story of a woman on the cusp of 40, an urban planner played by Menzel who moves to New York from Denver to start again. The musical's unusual structure, hinted at in its enigmatic title, is a reflection of its concern with the question of how much of what happens in life is determined by design or fate.