Idina Menzel is making her Broadway comeback in a new musical next year
Idina Menzel is (finally!) coming back to Broadway. The iconic actress is set to make her return in 2025 at a yet-to-be-announced theater in Redwood, a new original musical that she herself conceived alongside Tina Landau, who is also credited as the writer and director of the production.
The show, which premiered earlier this year at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, will be Menzel’s first Broadway role since her time on If/Then in March of 2014.
According to an official press release, Redwood stars Menzel as Jesse, “a successful businesswoman, mother and wife who seems to have it all but, inside, her heart is broken.” At a turning point in her life, Jesse gets in her car and drivers thousands of miles to the forests of Northern California, “where a chance meeting and a leap of faith change her life forever.”
“I’m so thrilled to be returning to Broadway, and the fact that I get to do it with Redwood, a musical that means so much to me, makes it even more special,” Menzel said in an official statement. “This show has lived in my bones for fifteen years, from the very first time Tina and I discussed working together. Finally getting to do it on Broadway is really a dream come true.”
In addition to her upcoming theater work, Menzel is also gearing up for her upcoming North American tour, which includes a stop at the Beacon Theatre on August 15. If you just can’t wait to catch the star in Redwood, you might want to snag tickets to her upcoming concerts, where she’ll be performing some of her songs from the upcoming musical.
Details regarding additional Redwood cast members have not been disclosed yet but, regardless of who will join Menzel on stage, we suspect the musical will be highly scrutinized for a variety of reasons: Menzel is a Broadway darling and the show is completely new material, a breath of fresh air given the countless adaptations and revivals that have come to define the industry in recent years.