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!
Redwood might have been more effective with a powerful score, but the songs, composed by Kate Diaz and featuring lyrics by Diaz and Landau, all have a similar power-ballad sheen that quickly proves repetitious and unmemorable. That’s not to say that Menzel doesn’t sing the hell out of them, which she does. But her powerhouse vocals can only do so much with numbers that aren’t exactly “Defying Gravity” or anything from Rent, in which she appeared in the same theater nearly three decades earlier. The performer sings and acts her heart out, but you still leave the theater humming the projections.
That awesome and fascinating tree turns “Redwood” into a kind of poetry, albeit a lyrical poem rather than a narrative one. Which is a sensitive way of saying, no, “Redwood” is not a wholly satisfying Broadway musical, despite those striking visuals, as well some unusual vertical choreography and the glorious voices of the five talented cast members, who make the most of Broadway newcomer Kate Diaz’s 19 mostly serviceable musical numbers.
| 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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