Ready for a great escape? Travel no further than the Nederlander Theatre, where Tony winner Idina Menzel is making her Broadway return in Redwood. The new, original musical arrives with direction by Tony Award nominee Tina Landau, music by Kate Diaz, and lyrics by Diaz and Landau.
Menzel does not just star in the show. She also co-conceived the project with Landau. The musical premiered in early 2024 in a sold-out run at La Jolla Playhouse. Redwood marks her first return to Broadway since starring in If/Then in 2014.
What's it all about? Redwood is a transportive new musical about one woman’s journey into the precious and precarious world of the redwood forest. Jesse is a successful businesswoman, mother and wife who seems to have it all, but inside, her heart is broken. Finding herself at a turning point, Jesse leaves everyone and everything behind, gets in her car and drives… Thousands of miles later, she hits the majestic forests of Northern California, where a chance meeting and a leap of faith change her life forever.
With its deeply personal story, refreshingly contemporary sound, and awe-inspiring design, Redwood explores the lengths –and heights– one travels to find strength, resilience and healing.
Looking for nature's remedy? It's on Broadway in Redwood!
There’s trauma after trauma. Yet what’s so puzzling about “Redwood” is that it’s a textbook tearjerker — a mom in mourning rediscovering herself midair, weighty speeches about losing everything — that leaves your eyes totally dry. The closest the musical comes to being remotely affecting is a quiet song toward the end called “Still,” beautifully sung by Zachary Noah Piser as Spencer. Jesse’s winding explanation for her son’s death should be scrapped and completely rewritten, but Piser has a velvet voice and an easily emotional presence regardless.
I don’t care how balsa-weak that joke is (will I be the 14th hack to use it, or the only one lacking self-restraint?). Redwood rhymes with deadwood, the derogatory term for people or things that no longer serve a function. Menzel has plenty to give. She could be the greatest squandered resource on Broadway in decades, which makes this well-intentioned misfire more frustrating: they are literally hanging Menzel out to dry.
2025 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Projection and Video Design | Hana S. Kim |
2025 | Drama League Awards | DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE | Idina Menzel |
2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Video/Projections | Hana S. Kim |
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