Idina Menzel to star in premiere of new musical Redwood

Idina Menzel is to make a return to the stage in a new musical.

The Rent, Wicked and Frozen star will appear in Redwood which makes its premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2024.

Redwood has a book by Landau, who also directs, with music by Kate Diaz and lyrics by Diaz and Landau.

The musical is described as a “one-of-a-kind theatrical event about one woman’s journey into the precious and precarious world of the redwoods”.

Idina plays Jesse, a successful businesswoman, mother and wife. She 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… and drives.

Thousands of miles later, she hits the ancient forests of Northern California, where a chance meeting and a leap of faith change her life forever. In the presence of the magnificent, towering redwoods, Jesse finds strange and powerful connections, an unexpected sense of community, and a chance at healing.

For more information and tickets, visit lajollaplayhouse.org

As reported by Variety, the musical has been in development for almost twenty years.

Menzel told the publication: “What’s so exciting working with Tina is that she definitely knows how — and she’s guiding Kate in this as well — to write for me, but also how to challenge me and to put me in places that are not formulaic or not my typical go-to.

“It’s opening my vernacular and forcing me to find new colors and places in my voice that I think are just fun, and have different emotional connections for me to the character and hopefully open up different chakras, if you will, for other people when they’re listening.”