B'way Review: Redwood

Idina Menzel in Redwood
Credit: Matthew Murphy and
Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.

There’s an awful lot of talk about trees in Redwood, the uneven new musical at the Nederlander after a run at the La Jolla Playhouse. During one of the many discussions on the titular forest king, it’s revealed that the roots of the massive monarch are deceptively shallow. That same could be said for the show itself. All the elements involved with presentation such as Tina Landau’s impressive direction, Jason Ardizzone-West’s ingenious set, Scott Zielinski’s versatile lighting, and Hanna S. Kim’s breathtaking videos, are truly dazzling. But the story conveyed in the book by Landau (conceived by Landau and star Idina Menzel who also is credited with “Additional Contributions”) is as overly familiar and slight as a Hallmark card. Likewise the score with music by Kate Diaz and lyrics by Diaz and Landau is trite and cliche-ridden. The heroine Jesse (a commanding Menzel) sings of “Somewhere else to be/Where I’m no longer me.” 

Like many a Lifetime-TV-movie protagonist, Jesse is going through major grief and midlife issues. She is fleeing her home and job as a gallery owner in Manhattan, driving aimlessly cross country in order to avoid confronting an undisclosed tragedy. The sharper members of the audience will guess the nature of the calamity based on flashbacks featuring her son Spencer (fiery Zachary Noah Piser). She ignores urgent texts and voice messages from her wife Mel (De’adre Aziza in a strong supporting performance). One of the few refreshing pluses of the show is the matter-of-fact handling of Jesse and Mel’s same-sex marriage. Eventually, Jesse just happens to stumble upon a California redwood forest, strikes up a friendship with aboriculturists Finn and Becca (crusty but warm Michael Park and prickly, fierce Khaila Wilcoxon), and finds peace by climbing the redwoods. “I’m a believer/That trees can heal ya,” Finn and Becca sing in typically bland lyrics which also rhyme “silence” with “giants.” Diaz’s music is at time captivating, but unable to raise above the pedestrian words.

There are so many holes in the plot it resembles one of the trees attacked by woodpeckers. In a matter of days, the acrophobic Jesse is scaling a majestic sequoia and spending several nights on a platform up there to dispel her fears and face her tragedy. Even more unbelievably, Finn allows her to do these dangerous stunts, risking his scientific project and her safety. To top it all off, the redwoods are attacked by a wildfire. It’s an unfortunate matter of timing, but the conflagration comes across as a tasteless exploitation of a natural disaster.

Khaila Wilcoxon and Idina Menzel in Redwood
Credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

Fortunately, the physical aspects are top-drawer. Kim’s video images are projected onto Ardizzone-West’s multiple screens creating a breathtaking panorama of wildlife. There are moments of sheer exhilaration such as when the entire set transforms into an aerial view of  the forest and we seem to be soaring though it. But these last only a few minutes, then it’s back to the trite story. Ardizzone-West has also created a gigantic replica of a redwood which Jesse, Finn and Becca scale. Landua’s fluid staging flows from one scene to another like a movie, often simulating Jesse’s scattered psyche. 

Menzel soars above the material both literally and figuratively. At times, it feels as if she’s sustaining power notes to only elicit audience ovations, but she endows Jesse with heart, wit, and vulnerability, both vocally and emotionally. Aziza has the difficult task of playing a character who is mostly relating to Jesse through flashbacks, texts and voicemails. But she makes Mel much more than a sounding board for Jesse’s neuroses, conveying her strength and confusion, and taking advantage of Mel’s one solo, “Through My Lens.”

Zachary Noah Piser and Idina Menzel in
Redwood.
Credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

Wilcoxon is particularly welcome as the acerbic Becca, a voice of reason amidst the sudsy sentiment of the script. She skillfully conveys Becca’s stinging wit and solid practicality. Park has gruff charm as Finn and Piser captures Spencer’s volatile rebelliousness as well as his sweetness. Redwood has some strong branches, but as noted the roots are weak.

Opened Feb. 13 for an open run. Nederlander Theater, 208 W. 41st St., NYC. Running time: 110 mins. with no intermission. broadwaydirect.com.