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Redwood (musical)

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Redwood
The 2025 Broadway Playbill cover
MusicKate Diaz
LyricsKate Diaz
Tina Landau
BookTina Landau
PremiereFebruary 25, 2024 (2024-02-25): La Jolla Playhouse
Productions2024 La Jolla Playhouse
2025 Broadway

Redwood is a musical with music by Kate Diaz and lyrics by Diaz and Tina Landau and a book by Landau. The show tells the story of Jesse, a woman who, after her son's death, leaves her wife and work, drives across the US to the redwood forest, and forms a relationship with a giant redwood.

The show premiered in 2024 at the La Jolla Playhouse in California and opened on Broadway on February 13, 2025.[1] The musical was originally conceived by Landau and Idina Menzel.[2] It closed on May 18, 2025.

Synopsis

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Jesse is a successful businesswoman and mother. Her son, Spencer, dies suddenly from an accidental overdose of drugs laced with fentanyl. Struggling deeply with grief and guilt, Jesse tries to avoid processing her pain, while her wife, Mel, wants to grieve openly and remember Spencer, causing tension in their marriage.[3]

Overwhelmed by anguish and feelings of helplessness, Jesse abruptly leaves her home and career, embarking on a solitary journey to the redwood forests of Northern California. There, she meets two arborists, Finn and Becca, and forms complex relationships with them and a particular redwood tree. The natural setting becomes a place of healing and self-discovery for Jesse, with the redwood tree symbolizing resilience, patience, and renewal.[4]

This musical, with music composed by Kate Diaz and lyrics co-written by Diaz and Tina Landau, explores themes of mourning, love, healing, and humanity’s connection to nature. Inspired by Landau’s personal experience of losing a family member to fentanyl-laced drugs, Redwood blends emotional storytelling with evocative music to deliver a powerful message of hope and renewal amid deep loss.[5][6]

Productions

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San Diego (2024)

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Previews for Redwood began on February 13, 2024, at the La Jolla Playhouse.[7][8] The premiere opened on February 25[9] and closed on March 31, 2024.[8] It featured direction by Tina Landau with orchestrations and arrangements by Kate Diaz, scenic design by Jason Ardizzone-West, costume design by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by Scott Zielinski, and sound design by Jonathan Deans.[9]

Broadway (2025)

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Previews of the Broadway run began on January 24, 2025, at the Nederlander Theatre (where Menzel had performed in Rent), before an official opening on February 13.[10]

Reviews on Broadway were mixed to mildly positive, with praise for Menzel's vocals, the supporting cast's performances, and the set design. Critics were generally disappointed by the use of video projections, the pacing of the book, and what they viewed as excessively sentimental and predictable lyrics and ideas throughout the piece.[11][12][13][14] Redwood closed on May 18, 2025, after 127 performances including 17 previews; the closure was announced one day after the musical failed to receive any Tony Award nominations.[15]

Musical numbers and instrumentation

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The Broadway production employs two keyboards with keyboard 2 doubling on guitar, guitar, acoustic and electric bass, drum set, two violins, one viola, and one cello.[16][17]

  • "Drive" - Jesse, Mel, Spencer
  • "The Trees"
  • "Climb" - Jesse, Becca, Finn
  • "Little Redwood" - Becca
  • "The Stars" - Jesse
  • "A Dream" - Spencer, Mel, Jesse
  • "Big Tree Religion" - Finn, Becca, Jesse
  • "Back Then" - Mel, Jesse
  • "The Ascent"
  • "Great Escape" - Jesse
  • "Roots" - Finn
  • "Little Redwood (Reprise)" - Finn, Becca, Jesse
  • "Looking Through This Lens" - Mel
  • "In the Leaves" - Jesse, Stella
  • "Becca's Song" - Becca
  • "No Repair" - Jesse
  • "The Fires" - Jesse
  • "Still" - Spencer, Jesse, Stella, The Trees
  • "Finale" - All

Characters and original cast

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Character San Diego[18] Broadway
2024 2025
Jesse Idina Menzel
Mel De'Adre Aziza
Spencer, Clerk, Man in Rain, Mateo Zachary Noah Piser
Finn Michael Park
Becca Nkeki Obi-Melekwe Khaila Wilcoxon
Vocals for Stella, The Trees Kate Diaz

References

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  1. ^ Paulson, Michael (2025-01-28). "Idina Menzel Played Elphaba and Elsa. Now She's Back on Broadway". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-01-28.
  2. ^ Malkin, Marc (2023-01-12). "Idina Menzel to Star in New Stage Musical 'Redwood'". Variety.com.
  3. ^ Brody, Caitlin (2025-02-06). "Idina Menzel Returns to Broadway for the First Time in a Decade: "It's Been Very Emotional for Me"". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
  4. ^ "Composer Kate Diaz Had Never Written a Musical Before Redwood on Broadway". Playbill. Archived from the original on 2025-04-17. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
  5. ^ "Redwood Creator Tina Landau and Composer Kate Diaz on Making the Trees Alive with the Sound of Music". Broadway.com. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
  6. ^ "Redwood, Starring Idina Menzel | Now on Broadway | Official Site". Redwood the Musical. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
  7. ^ Gans, Andrew (February 13, 2024). "Idina Menzel Stars in World Premiere of Redwood Musical Beginning February 13". Playbill. TotalTheater.
  8. ^ a b "Redwood". La Jolla Playhouse. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Kragen, Pam (February 26, 2024). "Idina Menzel inhabits a magical world in La Jolla Playhouse's moving Redwood". San Diego Union-Tribune.
  10. ^ [1]
  11. ^ Holdren, Sara (13 February 2025). "Redwood Is All Bark, No Bite". Vulture.com. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  12. ^ Green, Jesse (13 February 2025). "Review: Idina Menzel Climbs to New Broadway Heights in Redwood". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  13. ^ Kumar, Naveen (13 February 2025). "Idina Menzel is back on Broadway and hugging trees". The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  14. ^ Olekinski, Johnny (13 February 2025). "Redwood review: Idina Menzel's Broadway musical is thin and sappy". The New York Post. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  15. ^ Evans, Greg (2025-05-02). "'Redwood' Starring Idina Menzel Announces Broadway Closing After Tony Nominations Shut Out". Deadline. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  16. ^ "Redwood". Broadwaymusicians.com. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  17. ^ League, The Broadway. "Redwood – Broadway Musical – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Archived from the original on 2025-04-14. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  18. ^ "Michael Park, Zachary Noah Piser & More Join Idina Menzel in the World-Premiere Musical Redwood". www.broadway.com. January 5, 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
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