When Idina Menzel steps off the Nederlander Theatre stage, after climbing trees and belting showstoppers in Redwood, she retreats to a space that’s a sanctuary and a time machine. Her dressing room—the very same one she shared with Daphne Rubin-Vega in Rent nearly three decades ago—is both calm and familiar.
“I always like a really comfortable, homey dressing room for any role that I’ve done because we spend so much time there,” Menzel tells ELLE Decor. “I spend more time there than at home.”
For Redwood, Menzel’s desire for comfort took on new dimensions. The show—which Menzel co-conceived with director Tina Landau—follows Jesse, a woman seeking healing in California’s majestic redwood forests after experiencing profound loss. The role demands extraordinary physical and emotional stamina from Menzel, who climbs and swings from a massive tree throughout the performance, while also delivering her trademark powerful vocals.
But Menzel is never one to shy away from fully immersing herself in her character’s journey, even when the curtain falls. While many performers often seek a complete escape from their roles between shows, Menzel deliberately chose to surround herself with reminders of Jesse’s world. “[Jesse is] looking for sanctuary, and I can totally identify with that,” she says. “And I feel like I’m learning a lot by being this character all the time. So I’m not afraid to surround myself in that world.”
For her dressing room design, Menzel enlisted ELLE Decor A-List designer Young Huh, who immediately understood her vision. “At our first meeting with Idina, she described how she went out to the real redwood forest and learned to climb the trees with the experts out there, and it was so inspiring to us,” Huh says. “We really wanted to reflect Idina’s spirit of discovery and her drive for authentic experience, and have the space affirm those qualities.”
The result is a blend of city glamour and woodsy calm. The dressing room’s walls bear a stunning scenic wallpaper depicting a winding road through actual redwoods. “Important to Idina was the element of the road in the wallpaper. You must see the show to understand the meaning of it, but including it represents the journey Idina’s character Jesse goes on to overcome grief, connect with nature, and find joy and healing,” Huh tells us.
Working within the constraints of an old New York City theater, Huh divided the space into two zones. “Though the space we had to work with was so tight, we were lucky that it had two distinct spaces,” she explains. “The room with the vanity could be bright and technically for hair and makeup, and then made more personal with family photos and her own accessories and meaningful items. That then allowed the adjacent space, her lounge area, to be moodier and more meditative.”
The green velvet couch—Menzel’s favorite piece—serves one important purpose. “I told [Young] I just needed a couch wide enough that I could take good naps,” she tells us. “So it can’t be so delicate or so fancy that it’s not comfortable.”
Idina Menzel’s Forest Oasis
Huh complemented the couch with antique French chairs, creating a space that can accommodate visitors while maintaining room to breathe. «The room is quite small so their small scale and beauty works well,» Huh says. This thoughtful arrangement also allows room for Idina’s personal gifts and accessories: «Because of the way that she’s chosen to do this chunky couch with these very streamlined chairs, she’s left lots of places to have flowers. And the way she accessorized it and put all of my meaningful opening night gifts—the way that she just sort of knows how to put it out and not make it feel cluttered, it’s amazing.”
Among the most meaningful accessories are two baby redwoods gifted to Menzel, which Huh installed between the chairs. There’s also a unique Philip Crangi lamp that Huh particularly treasures: “The Philip Crangi lamp on the side table is one of the only ones he made. The shade is leather with contrasting leather strips woven into it. I thought it had an earthiness that worked beautifully in the lounge area of the dressing room.”
Here, Menzel has found more than just a dressing room. With Huh, they have cultivated a personal ecosystem that nurtures both the star and her character—and where the spirit of the redwoods thrives in the heart of New York City.
Julia Cancilla is the engagement editor (and resident witch) at ELLE Decor, where she manages the brand’s social media presence and covers trends, lifestyle, and culture in the design world. Julia built her background at Inked magazine, where she grew their social media audiences by two million, conducted interviews with A-list celebrities, and penned feature articles focusing on pop culture, art and lifestyle. Over her five years of digital media experience, Julia has written about numerous topics, from fashion to astrology.
