By Sandi Masori
LA JOLLA, California — Wow! What a show!! Phenomenal! It’s not often that I want to go back and see a show a second time right after the first, but that is exactly how I feel the day after seeing the world- premiere of Redwood starring Idina Menzel (yes, the award-winning Jewish actress who voiced Elsa in Disney’s Frozen.) Besides her iconic voice and the rest of the uber-talented cast, the show at the La Jolla Playhouse carries deep Jewish messages.
Walking into the theater, you immediately notice the seemingly empty stage and the stark white sets. What is this all about you may wonder. And even as Menzel walks out on stage and begins to talk, you’re left trying to figure it out for a while.
You get a sense that something major has happened, and Jesse (Menzel) is desperate to escape it, even if it means temporarily leaving her wife Mel (De’Andre Aziza). It’s not until later in the show that you learn that her 23 -year-old son died of an overdose and she’s trying to run away from her grief. (As a mom of a 23-year-old that hit me like a gut punch).
Jesse drives west from New York without any destination or goal. She’s just running. Eventually she gets as far as she can possibly go and finds herself in a redwood forest in Eureka, California. Something about the forest speaks to her and she tries to sleep there. She is found by Finn (Michael Park) and Becca (Nkeki Obi-Melekwe), who are researchers studying the tree canopy. They tell her that it’s private property and she needs to leave.
Becca, who is young and Black, is more conservative and wary of people being in their work area, where they don’t belong. Finn, who is older and White, seems to be more of a tender-heart and allows her to stay, eventually even teaching her to climb to the treetops. Finn teaches her (and the audience) a bit about redwoods, like how their roots are very shallow, but interconnected with the rest of the redwoods, and thus they are able to grow to hundreds of feet high.
Prior to Jesse climbing the tree, Becca is trying to get her to leave and suddenly says “Lo tash’chit!” At this point my mind said “Wow, that sounded like Hebrew, but no it couldn’t have been.” But in fact it is. Becca goes on to explain that it’s a Jewish concept of taking care of the trees as well as you take care of yourself. She’s bageling Jesse, assuming that Jesse is Jewish. She even tells Jesse “I assume you’re Jewish” and my ears perked right up, as at this point I’m trying to figure out why this conversation is happening. Why is Becca bageling Jesse? Jesse says that yes she’s Jewish.
Some time later, Becca and Jesse start to let their guards down and let each other in. Initially, Becca complains about climbing helmets not being made for Black hair. She identifies as Black by calling Finn a cis-White male. And later, Becca says something about Tikkun Olam. Now Jesse asks what the audience is wondering, or at least what this audience member was wondering, why does Becca keep mentioning Jewish beliefs? Finally we learn that Becca is also Jewish, and that her mother taught her about tikkun olam. Then we are treated to a song about tikkun olam.
The three themes of the show are Lo tash’chit, tikkun olam, (not only healing the world, but also each other, and ourselves) and the importance of connection. As they say in one of the songs, the most important lesson we can learn from the trees is the power of connection.
I’ll leave the plot there so as not to spoil it. Instead let’s talk about the sets. Set designer Jason Ardizzone-West created some breathtaking cinematic sets. One of the plain white walls turns to become the trunk of the tree, and a platform is raised and lowered to be Jesse’s perch in the trees.
The rest of the stage is filled with projections. It feels like IMAX meets Broadway as the cinemagraphic projections create a feeling not only of being in the forest but also of climbing the trees. The effect is a bit dizzying at times, but also wondrous.
There’s also an incredible bit of aerial choreography when Jesse, Finn and Becca climb the tree for the first time.
And of course, Menzel’s voice is amazing. If you’ve seen Frozen, or have kids who listened to the soundtrack, you might have almost been waiting to hear “Let it go…” when Menzel starts belting out some of the songs. She doesn’t, of course, but the songs written by Kate Diaz and Tina Landau, with contributions from Menzel, make full use of her powerful voice.
The play itself was conceived by Menzel and Landau and written by Landau, again with contributions from Menzel.
I found the show and message quite poignant and while I don’t want to say there wasn’t a dry eye in the house, my eyes certainly weren’t dry, and I saw many other audience members also furtively dabbing at their eyes as they made their way out of the theater.
Redwood is playing 8 times a week through March 31. If haven’t already made myself clear, I highly highly recommend it.
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Sandi Masori is a theater and restaurant reviewer for San Diego Jewish World