‘REDWOOD’: (left to right) Khaila Wilcoxon, Michael Park, Idina Menzel, Zachary Noah Piser & De’Adre Aziza. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

REDWOOD
Book by Tina Landau
Music by Kate Diaz
Lyrics by Kate Diaz and Tina Landau
Directed by Tina Landau
Nederlander Theatre
208 West 41^st Street
https://www.redwoodmusical.com/

By Scott Harrah

Idina Menzel is back on Broadway, starring in the new musical Redwood—a show that is anything but standard musical-theater fare. The story is set in the redwood forests of Northern California and revolves around a troubled woman, Jesse (Ms. Menzel).

Jesse has a career and is a wife and mother. The trouble is, she’s grieving the recent loss of her only child to a drug overdose and has left her wife Mel (De’Adre Aziza) behind back east after an argument. She has traveled to Eureka on the California coast to explore the redwoods.

Deep in the forest

Jesse meets two dendrologist scientists in the forest: Seasoned climber and aging hippie Finn (Michael Park) and his young colleague, Becca (Khaila Wilcoxon), a tough, no-nonsense young woman. Jesse also meets the real stars of the show: scenic designer Jason Ardizzonne-West’s high-tech California redwood trees, enhanced by video designer Hana S. Kim’s curved LED columns, lit by lighting designer Scott Zielinski.  The central large redwood tree is theatrical high-tech at its best.

The other main attraction here is, of course, Idina Menzel and her incredible vocals. The 105-minute one act features 17 songs, of which Ms. Menzel sings 13, and seven of hers are solos. Her voice is as pure, powerful and soaring as it was 21 years ago when she debuted as Elphaba in Wicked.

Redwood has a running theme of the importance of finding oneself, but the musical is often too heavy-handed and comes across as contrived at times. Creating a musical based on drama instead of comedy is no easy task. Although Tina Landau and Kate Diaz have constructed a thought-provoking tale and composed many solid songs, Redwood is hardly in the same league as Hamilton, Sunset Boulevard or Wicked. A musical about a woman with a troubled marriage and a recently deceased child is not exactly lighthearted material. However, Ms. Landau is a gifted musical-theater creator and director—as anyone who saw the excellent and underrated 2017 musical SpongeBob SquarePants can attest.

Extraordinary cast

Despite the show’s shortcomings, Redwood features an extraordinary cast. Standouts include Khaila Wilcoxon as Becca. Her performance is consistently intense and engrossing, and she is in fine voice. De’Adre Aziza as Jesse’s wife Mel, and Michael Park as Finn, are both great in their roles. The real surprise of the show is Zachary Noah Piser as Jesse’s late son, Spencer. Mr. Piser is touching and poignant when he sings the musical’s best song, “Still.”

Redwood will certainly thrill Idina Menzel fans simply because she has so many songs. Although not all  the songs are memorable, her voice is consistently mellifluous and exhilarating. In spite of the often-awkward premise of Redwood, Ms. Menzel truly shines whenever she’s on stage, belting her heart out.

Published February 24, 2025
Reviewed at press performance on February 20, 2025

‘REDWOOD’: Idina Menzel & Khaila Wilcoxon. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘REDWOOD’: Zachary Noah Piser & Idina Menzel. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘REDWOOD’: Idina Menzel. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘REDWOOD’: Khaila Wilcoxon & Michael Park. Photo: Matthew & Evan Zimmerman.

The post ‘Redwood’: Idina Menzel delivers in new musical appeared first on StageZine.

DIVA IN THE CITY: Idina Menzel in ‘If/Then’. Photo: Joan Marcus

IF/THEN
Music by Tom Kitt
Book & lyrics by Brian Yorkey
Choreography by Larry Keigwin
Directed by Michael Greif
Richard Rodgers Theatre
226 West 46th Street
(877-250-2929), www.IfThenTheMusical.com

By Scott Harrah

If you were hoping the new Idina Menzel vehicle would be a cerebral Manhattan musical about the single life, then you will be disappointed by this overstuffed, overlong show. If you’re an Idina fan, you won’t care (and you’ll cheer and scream along with her adoring minions, many of whom idolize her with the passion teenage girls have for One Direction or the “Monsters” exude for Lady Gaga). Be forewarned: This is no Wicked or Rent. Yes, Idina, the golden-throated diva (the one John Travolta called “Adele Dazeem” on the Oscars) reigns supreme here and gives the role everything she has, belting out Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey’s mid-tempo pop songs with her powerful voice. However, even La Menzel, with all her talent, cannot transcend such shoddy material. One might think this could have been a distaff, modern-day version of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, that 1970 classic about a “thirtysomething” single guy in New York, but If/Then lacks the sophistication, simplicity, humor and edge necessary to make any urban stage epic ring true.

Book writer Brian Yorkey tries so hard to make this a hipster saga of 21st century New York, but it has as much veracity about metropolitan life in our beloved Big Apple as a half-baked old episode of TV’s “Friends.” Granted, there are all the contemporary nuances and characters here, from bearded street musicians to military dudes to young gays wanting to marry and adopt kids, and nice touches such as a scene depicting the daily annoyance of being stuck under the East River on an “L” subway train, listening to some garbled MTA worker on the lousy PA system mumble gibberish about delays. Mark Wendland’s colorful, kitschy sets, with umbrella-covered tables in Madison Square Park, fluorescent skies, cartoonish skylines and reflecting mirrors in the sky seem like a 1960s, acid-dropping Los Angeleno’s vision of a cleaner, Technicolor New York that has never, ever existed.

Ms. Menzel plays Elizabeth, a woman who sings about “flirting with 40” (she’s about to turn 39), is recently divorced and has just returned to New York after 12 years in Phoenix. Here’s where the truly contrived and inane part comes in: She’s a woman torn between two worlds, and some songs illustrate the concept of “what/if” we chose a different path in life. One part of Elizabeth is “Liz,” the romantic type who wants to swing in the dating world, while “Beth” is the serious career woman, ready to use her PhD in urban planning to focus on work. Picture a hornier, older, neurotic version of Mary Richards on “The Mary Tyler Moore” show and you have Elizabeth/Liz/Beth. Instead of Rhoda Morgenstern as a best friend, Elizabeth has Kate, a spunky lesbian kindergarten teacher (Tony winner LaChanze, giving the show’s true standout performance and bringing badly needed stage presence and electricity to an otherwise stillborn show). However, Mary Richards in “Mary Tyler Moore” had enough sense to live in the read world, but Elizabeth keeps singing song after preposterous song about a parallel universe and what she might have been had she chose a different path, fell in love with a different guy, blah, blah, blah. One wonders if the creators of this show realize that career women have had families for decades, so there is no need for any “Liz” and “Beth” in a parallel universe here.

Yes, this is a musical, but the Playbill has no song list, and one of the most memorable numbers (only because it is particularly amateurish) rhymes that oh-so-eloquent musical theater catchphrase “what the fu*k” with luck, and so on. Mr. Yorkey and Mr. Kitt spin a turgid, pseudo-intellectual soap opera mired in platitudes and clichéd characters. There is the radical activist Lucas (Anthony Rapp, Idina’s former Rent co-star). Lucas is an old school pal of Elizabeth’s, and he has a cute doctor boyfriend, David (Jason Tam). Josh (James Snyder) is a good-looking Army doctor just back from overseas duty. After meeting her in the park, Josh asks Elizabeth out on a date and sparks fly.

Elizabeth, who taught urban planning back in Arizona, lands a nice city government job from her old friend Stephen (Jerry Dixon), a married man who becomes her boss and has the hots for her. There are various characters, ranging from office assistants to a flight attendant and a bartender, all rather one-dimensional and adding nothing to the already confusing narrative.

Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt and director Michael Grief are best known for Next to Normal, the musical about a bipolar woman nominated for 11 Tony Awards in 2009. A show with this much pedigree and a star of Idina Menzel’s magnitude had a lot of potential. The show’s journey to Broadway and its out-of-town tryout in Washington, D.C. has been well documented in the showbiz world, and one would think director Michael Greif had plenty of time to tweak the show and cut out many of the pointless, go-nowhere scenes and songs. Although it is a thrill to have Idina Menzel back on Broadway, she deserves a show more solid and worthy of her many gifts than this.

SHE’LL TAKE MANHATTAN: Idina Menzel as a 39-year-old divorcee in ‘If/Then.” Photo: Joan Marcus

‘RENT’ REUNION: Idina Menzel & Anthony Rapp in ‘If/Then.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

KITSCHY NY STATE OF MIND: Idina Menzel in the colorful Manhattan fantasy world of ‘If/Then.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

PARTY GIRLS: Friends toast Idina Menzel in ‘If/Then.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 4, 2014
Reviewed at press performance on April 3, 2014

The post ‘If/Then’: Sex, fate & the single 39-year-old appeared first on StageZine.