After a decade since her last Broadway role in If/Then, Idina Menzel is back on Broadway in the new musical Redwood, where she plays a grieving mother who finds healing in California’s famous Redwood forest.
“I love the idea of a woman escaping in a tree and getting away from it all and pressing pause,” the actress explained on a recent visit to CBS Mornigs. “When I started researching people that had done this, I fell in love with the redwoods themselves and everything that they represent.”
For the role, she has to climb and swing on huge set pieces, a feat that she trained for extensively with the vertical dance company BANDALOOP. “They train us how to climb. We have our special harnesses [and] built-in checks in all of our scenes.” The Tony-winner also climbed an actual Redwood tree as part of the preparation, an experience that she said is “magical.” “It’s hard to put words to it, which is why singing about it is really wonderful…It was spiritiful for me.”
Menzel went on to talk about the legacy of the Broadway hit Wicked, which is currently seeing a massive resurgence due to the two-part blockbuster film. “I’m just really proud of having been a part of creating that legacy and knowing that it’s going to be seen by even more generations of kids…” Watch the full interview now.
Idina Menzel is starring in the new musical through August 17, 2025. The show opened at the Nederlander Theatre on February 13, 2025. 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.
Redwood is a transportive new musical about one woman’s journey into the precious and precarious world of the redwoods. Jesse (Menzel) seems to have it all — a successful career and devoted family — until a life-altering event drives her far from everyone and everything she knows. When she finds herself at the foot of the redwoods in Northern California, a chance encounter and a leap of faith will change her life forever. Redwood explores the lengths — and heights — one travels to find strength, resilience and healing.
