14-02-2025
'Redwood' review: Idina Menzel goes out on a limb in hollow new Broadway musical
NEW YORK – There's a beautiful show somewhere in "Redwood," a sort of "Eat, Belay, Love" about a grief-stricken mother (Idina Menzel) who finds solace in climbing trees.
But despite Menzel's very best efforts, the musical's lofty ambitions never quite take root. "Redwood," which opened Feb. 13 at the Nederlander Theatre, is a long-gestating passion project for Menzel, who last graced Broadway a decade ago in another original work, "If/Then." The show is loosely inspired by a woman named Julia Butterfly Hill, who in the 1990s, spent more than two years living in a 1,000-year-old tree to save it from being chopped down.
"Redwood" takes the seed of Hill's story and turns it into something far more contrived, and frankly, uninteresting. The show begins with Jesse (Menzel), overcome with losing her wayward son, Spencer (Zachary Noah Piser), as she hops in the car and drives from New York to California, where she stumbles on a redwood forest. Enamored by the trees' majesty and mysticism, she quickly ingratiates herself with scientists Finn (Michael Park) and Becca (Khaila Wilcoxon), who begrudgingly show her the ropes of scaling the mighty conifer.
Tina Landau, the show's director and book writer, spends ample time establishing what the climb would mean to Jesse, who has buried herself in work and shut out her wife, Mel (De'Adre Aziza), in order to avoid discussing Spencer. But when Jesse finally ascends to the treetops midway through the nearly two-hour musical, the story seemingly has no where else to go. Instead, composer Kate Diaz pads out the proceedings with a repetitive score of new-age anthems about clarity, peace, healing, and rising from the ashes.
Menzel, of course, is known for her formidable pipes and piercing belt, which she's showcased throughout her career as the original Maureen in "Rent," Elphaba in "Wicked" and Elsa in Disney's "Frozen" franchise. Diaz attempts to play to her prodigious talents by giving the Tony winner a relentless string of park-and-bark ballads that she delivers from the redwood canopies. But as we've witnessed in recent Broadway outings "Lempicka" and "& Juliet," there's no glory in trying to blow out your leading lady's voice, and Menzel often struggles to keep up with the onslaught of "Let It Go" rehash she's been saddled with.
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It's too bad, because when "Redwood" has the good sense to take its own advice and just sit in the silence, Menzel is fantastic. The actress endearingly conveys Jesse's gung-ho attitude and naivete as she tries to rough it in the great outdoors, forging an unlikely friendship with the no-nonsense Becca. And in later scenes, as Jesse finally confronts Spencer's death, her ineffable pain is etched across Menzel's achingly expressive face. It's a deeply present performance that makes you wonder what the "Enchanted" star could achieve were she not beholden to throat-busting vocal theatrics.
Menzel is buttressed by a game supporting cast, with a star-making turn from the extraordinary Wilcoxon, and an affecting 11 o'clock number from the golden-voiced Piser. Melecio Estrella's aerial choreography is impressive, if underutilized, while Jason Ardizzone-West's wrap-around scenic design relies too heavily on Epcot-ready projections of verdant woodlands.
"Redwood" certainly means well, and with the renewed bout of "Wicked" hysteria, audiences will likely flock to see Menzel's much-ballyhooed return to her theatrical roots. But for a musical that should soar, it most often feels dreadfully earthbound.
"Redwood" is now playing at the Nederlander Theatre (208 W. 41st St) in New York.
