Idina Menzel Dangles From the Heavens While Singing
She’s in a redwood, singing a song from Redwood about being in a redwood.
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To misquote Stephen Sondheim: “Only cups of tea, a girl called Jesse, and someone in a tree.” Which is to say, somebody let Idina Menzel sing a song from her new musical Redwood in a real redwood (name unknown). Menzel shared a video of her singing lyrics from “Great Escape” in honor of Redwood opening on February 13, while strapped into a harness on top of a redwood tree in California. “Feeling like I’m 300 feet high today as we open #RedwoodMusical on Broadway tonight!” Menzel captioned the video. There’s something particularly compelling about how, throughout the video, Menzel’s lower body moves in a way that can only really happen while dangling. Notably, in comparison to what she wears in the musical (see photo), Menzel is bedecked in very warm clothing and shoes.
The musical follows Jesse, a woman who drives West in the wake of her son’s death and ultimately learns about “Big Tree Religion,” leading her to fall in love with a redwood tree named Stella. It was co-conceived by Menzel and Tina Landau, who directed, wrote the book, and co-wrote the lyrics with Kate Diaz, who also wrote the music. Menzel, meanwhile, is back in the harness — belting while flying for the first time since she starred in Wicked. Maybe in a few years, Cynthia Erivo will add extra riffs from her redwood.
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