Oof, you guys. First of all, let me say that I love Idina Menzel. Sadly, I did not love her new musical, Redwood. The show runs a whopping 110 minutes without an intermission. (Something tells me this was a strategic move to avoid people leaving at intermission.)
The concept is tough to begin with: a grieving mother decides to live in a tree so she can process recent tragic events and battle her demons. So, yes, much of the show involves Menzel’s character living alone in a tree. Perhaps this all could have led to an interesting story, except for the fact that this protagonist is wildly selfish and unlikable from the jump. She abandons her wife and her job without even letting them know. She is purposely annoying, spoiled and nagging in book scenes as she tries to convince two environmentalists to let her climb the redwood. We’re somehow supposed to care about an awful person simply because she’s having a tough go of it. Sadly, I did not care, making it a painful (and long) journey to witness.
The music? It’s telling that there was only polite applause after each number until the actor who plays her son, Zachary Noah Piser, finally got a chance to deliver an incredible eleven o’clock number (though it felt like one in the morning by that point) that genuinely impressed and surprised the then-sleepy audience. Speaking of eleven o’clock numbers, Menzel had about fourteen of them. Every song she sang had the same over-the-top, soaring (yet somehow generic) message that had me thinking, Surely we’re close to the end… Alas, we were not.
Two positives besides Piser? Menzel should be commended for the physical feat of climbing that redwood. She swings across the stage impressively as she hoists herself to the canopy above. Also, the stage design and projections are truly incredible. The magic created visually with the tree and the woods really is something to behold. Sadly, neither Menzel’s tree climbing nor the visuals were enough to make this musical about a woman in a tree really bloom.
PureWow Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Smash is now playing at the Imperial Theatre. Oh, Mary! is now playing at the Lyceum Theatre. And Redwood is now playing at the Nederlander Theatre.
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