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!
Where Redwood really shines is in the physical. As she proved with the underrated SpongeBob SquarePants, Landau has a fine sense for spectacle, and much of this show is lovely to look at. Hana S. Kim’s video design, rendered on tall and curved LED columns, has a vertiginous majesty, and the gigantic central tree, designed by Jason Ardizzone-West and lit by Scott Zielinsky, is a wonder. As in 2007’s unfortunate King Kong, the colossal title character of Redwood (whom Jesse christens Stella) is the best thing about this musical, even though—or maybe because—it doesn’t sing. But arboreal splendor can’t compensate for the blandness that surrounds it. The show is all bark and no bite.
Redwood doesn’t feel like a disaster, nor did it have to be. There’s enough genuine passion in Menzel’s commitment, to the role and the overall project, to power a solid show. But none of its ideas or characters are given space to coalesce into anything meaningful, with blandly inspirational songs crowding out an ecosystem that would better thrive on more organic soil.
| 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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