Redwood, the new Broadway musical recently opened at The Nederlander Theatre is an extraordinary production brought to life by a design team including Projection Designer Hana S. Kim, Scenic Designer Jason Ardizzone-West. and Lighting Designer Scott Zielinski. The creative team combined their talent and expertise and delivered an immersive experience of the highest quality, leaving audiences dazzled and wowed.

The show’s unique story set in a redwood forest is the poignant story of Jesse, an art gallerist who embarks on a car ride from New York City to the redwood trees in California to escape the grief of her son's untimely death. In the forest, Jesse meets two botanists and convinces them to include her in their research on a 300' redwood tree, which she names 'Stella'. To support the narrative, director Tina Landau was deeply driven to create an immersive experience that enveloped the audience in every sense. During the initial run at La Jolla, a unique space that is not a traditional proscenium theater, spectators were wrapped in a tapestry of vibrant projection screens, transporting them into the very heart of the narrative. Planning the transfer to a classic Broadway setting. the logistical and creative challenges became clear, crafting a visually captivating experience would be significantly more complex.

Visual Surround

The production's extensive use of video technology in addition to traditional three-dimensional scenery effectively transport the audience from a New York City apartment to a cross-country road trip and, ultimately, a redwood forest. This innovative approach also allows the audience to experience a shifting perspective as the actors ascend to the treetops, creating the sensation of the earth receding below them. Kim, the first designer to join the creative team, explains, "In La Jolla, it was all projections. When we moved to The Nederlander, we replaced the upright walls with LED walls instead of projections. With LED walls. we had more flexibility in staging

as we didn't have to worry about casting shadows on the surface.”

PRG supported the production with an extensive range of services, including projection, scenic, automation, lighting, and audio, as well as providing the most LED technology ever used on a Broadway show. They invested in over 1,000 26mm LED tiles that were used to create 13 LED screens, and the 'Stella' screen for this production The largest screen

is 30' wide x 21' high, the smallest is 65' wide x 95'high.

Kim worked closely with PRG to source the ideal solution, selecting Recience's 2.6mm resolution LED panels. She explains the choice, “Recience's exceptional viewing angles stood out to us. We needed panels that displayed vibrant colors and high-resolution, especially since our screens extended into the house. The resin coating on the Recience panels ensured a great viewing experience from challenging angles, avoiding the typical

color degradation.”

The stage has over 1,000 LED panels arranged to create the 13 screens. Kim elaborates, “In the more literal representations of the content, we sought to evoke the experience of being within the forest rather than merely illustrating it. We aimed to capture its mysterious whispers and comforting embrace while depicting how Jesse evolves through this time in that environment." The team used nine 4K laser projectors on the floor mixed with the upright LED walls.

The two technologies still felt quite different after color calibration to tie them together, leading the team to strategically decide not to treat them as a single surface. Instead. they aimed to create content that was related to each other but not necessarily identical allowing for a flow of different content between the two surfaces.

Regarding challenges with creating content for the large LED displays versus projectors and integrating the two technologies. Kim comments, "When we moved the show, we had to build all the content from scratch for the LED displays. Some content worked better in projection; softer light bounced off from the surface, and the others worked better on LED walls emanating light or intense color, so we had to redirect what we were doing when it was all projection.”

Artistic collaboration commenced as the creative team concentrated on the concept of psychological space. As Ardizzone-West describes, it was less about determining what the literal location on stage should look like, but more of the essence of Jesse's experiences. This approach prevented us from getting caught in a rabbit hole of attempting to deliver a literal depiction of a location. Instead, it allowed us to focus on evoking an emotional state or the experience of a specific place.”

Designing the Space

Ardinone-West continues, “There was a lot of video, and interestingly, Hana was hired before me, which is not typically how it goes. Usually, the set designer is the first creative department to start working. and it was exciting to come into it as the designer of space with certain givens. We knew that video would be a powerful component of the design, but they didn't yet have an idea of how that would be manifested. It was exciting to discover the physical design of the space in the context of knowing that part of what I was doing was creating a series of canvases for Hana to work on. But really.all of us shared this notion of not wanting to think of this as a series of screens but to realty approach the design sculpturally and conceptually and to make an inherently meaningful space that just happens to be made from a material that has a ton of little LED pixels in it."

In keeping with its non-traditional approach to the design, Ardizzone-West talks about breaking with convention. especially in terms of collaborating with production vendor, PRG. “I think our collaborative design approach has maintained some of its non-traditional subversion not entirely playing by the rules of what a Broadway musical is expected to be," says Ardizzone-West. "PRG's involvement was beneficial because the design process was highly collaborative, and physical production integration is crucial to how all these different technical and scenic elements physically fit together. It was beneficial to have one entity collaborating on all of that."

The central scene piece in the show is Stella, a 32' high x 14' wide tree, and is the one main naturalistic element in an otherwise abstract design. The tree had to be climbable by actors who ascend, rappel, and swing from it. "It was essential that Stella feel as real as possible; Ardizzone-West comments. Stella is not just a physical piece of scenery; it rotates 180 degrees to reveal an LED screen on her upstage side. "She [Stella] combines Hana's video content

and Scott Zielinski', lighting. making it feel like light dappling through her unseen canopy; continues Ardizzone-West "and the whole creative team imbued her with life.”

PRG was tasked with fabricating Stella to be as authentic to a real redwood as possible while being safe enough for actors to climb on and rappel off. "PRG's involvement helped elevate Stella's realism. They made a beautiful version

of Stella,"comments Ardizzone-West. “I was an extraordinary level of personality and realism achieved by the combined teams of PRG, Scenic Art Studios. and people from my studio.

Light Through the Leaves

Using an innovative approach, Redwood's visual design team utilized a projection on the deck for tree root illustrations and incorporated embedded LED pixel tape that emitted some of the content. The images from the

deck created an abstract semblance of the root structure on the floor. This non-traditional

technique became a conceptual anchor for the design.

Lighting Designer Scott Zielinski conducted extensive research for Redwood by examining photos of light in the redwood forest. He focused on the interplay of light and shadow and noted the change in lighting fixtures from La Jolla to Broadway. Zielinski explained, “I replaced many of the [ETC] Lustr conventional LED fixtures with [automated Martin MAC] Encores, which provided much more flexibility to position the light exactly where I wanted it. It also saved us time and energy during the focus of the rig on stage.”

Zielinski opted for the PRG Best Boy LED luminaire for this production, which was particularly suited for the show. While the system might be small by Broadway musical standards, using more automated fixtures allowed Zielinski to direct the light precisely as needed, ultimately saving time during technical rehearsals. His selection of fixtures included the MAC Encore, Best Boy LED, GLP impression XS, and for follow spots, the Robe BMFL He adds, "The Best Boy can do things that other moving lights cannot, the most significant being its ability to project beautiful leaf gobos in soft focus."

Zielinski was also impressed with the GLP impression XS luminaire as well. "The GLP fixture played a crucial role in a pivotal scene titled 'Fear of Heights,’ where Jesse confronts a panic attack while standing on a high platform,” says the designer. ”In this scene, the sound design's dramatic cues were expertly paired with lighting changes to enhance the audience's understanding of the character's emotional struggle. The unique parallel beam effect created by the GLP lights was deliberately selected to amplify the performance's visual and emotional impact.

When asked how he lit the climbing scenes, Zielinski explains that it was pretty straightforward. He used three lights positioned at lower angles, in an almost a box boom setup, so they directed light straight onto the performers. He placed gobos in these lights and followed the performers' movements. The performers had choreography that involved hitting specific marks at certain times, allowing him to adjust the lights as they climbed the tree. He then consulted Kim and Landau about creating a background to enhance his lights without making them visible. He aimed to avoid showing the beams of light. Instead, all other elements on the tree would be projected. The intentional design of the lights shooting straight in ensured that when the performers leaped away from the tree, they would remain illuminated as they moved.

From a lighting perspective, there were challenges in lighting a show that incorporates numerous LED video displays. As Zielinski explains, ·several factors need to be considered. First, it was easier at The Nederlander than In La Jolla since the walls were designed for projections. Any stray light hitting those walls would immediately reveal the projection, which was much less of an issue with the LED video walls. Additionally, there was no problem with balance because Hana and I had discussed this before we began working together. She understood my concerns and aimed to address them according to the show's needs. It's rare to see those screens operating at full capacity; she often adjusts them to achieve a good balance."

The whole creative team stressed the collaborative design approach to Redwood. Zielinski recalls, "Among the many ideas that emerged, Jason proposed an innovative concept: to adorn the floor with a series of dazzling LED lights that would extend into the audience, creating a dynamic echo throughout the theater. This exceptional vision aimed to blur the lines between performance and reality, inviting the audience to step into the vivid world created before them and feel intimately connected to the unfolding story. But when we talked about how to control the LEDs, it became clear, pretty fast that the easiest and most efficient way to do so is through video. We all discussed when we would use them, but Jason designed them, and Hana programmed them."

When the team first came together in La Jolla, their goal was not necessarily to end up on Broadway but they have well accomplished planting Stella in New York City with the stunning design of Redwood.

Photo courtesy of PLSN.