It was announced today that Tony Award winner Idina Menzel will return to Broadway next year in the new musical Redwood. Written and directed by Tony Award nominee Tina Landau, with music by Kate Diaz, and lyrics by Diaz and Landau, Redwood is conceived by Landau and Menzel, with additional contributions by Menzel.
“I’m so thrilled to be returning to Broadway, and the fact that I get to do it with Redwood, a musical that means so much to me, makes it even more special,” Menzel said. “This show has lived in my bones for fifteen years, from the very first time Tina and I discussed working together. Finally getting to do it on Broadway is really a dream come true.”
Reviewing its sold-out world premiere engagement earlier this year at La Jolla Playhouse, the San Diego Union-Tribune called Redwood “intimate, unique and breathtaking. It feels like the American Musical of tomorrow.”
Redwood is a transportive new musical about one woman’s journey into the precious and precarious world of the redwood forest. Jesse (Menzel) 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.
Redwood was originally developed and produced by La Jolla Playhouse (Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director & Debby Buchholz, Managing Director). A theatre, ticketing information, along with additional cast and creative team members for the Broadway production of Redwood will be announced at a later date.