Eight years after his Broadway debut, Zachary Noah Piser is firmly in his self-proclaimed “originating era,” appearing beside Idina Menzel in a new musical that allows him to embrace many aspects of his lived experience.
The actor and singer stars in “Redwood,” which opened at New York’s Nederlander Theatre in February. Directed by Tina Landau, the musical follows Jesse (played by Menzel), a workaholic Manhattanite who flees to a California redwood grove as she grieves the death of her adult son, Spencer (Piser).
With the help of botanists Finn (Michael Park) and Becca (Khaila Wilcoxon), Jesse learns to scale redwoods — a spectacular feat achieved on-stage through aerial choreography. Meanwhile, her cross-country respite thrusts her marriage to wife Mel (De’Adre Aziza) into uncertainty.
A California native, Piser felt instantly connected to the setting of “Redwood” when he joined the musical’s cast for its premiere staging at the La Jolla Playhouse near San Diego last year. A bigger surprise was how much the show reflected his life as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as his Jewish and Asian background.
“I didn’t even realize how much of an intersection it would be until we started getting into the show,” Piser said. “It’s a queer story, in the sense that Jesse and Mel are a same-sex, mixed race couple who have a kid together. It’s also a Jewish story, and by me being a first-generation Chinese American existing on the stage, it brings that part of my heritage into the story.”
He continued, “I love that I get to just be me and exist without feeling like there has to be an explanation of every single reason why my body, my religion, my color is on the stage. It doesn’t delve into hot issues, but it’s still an incredibly clear representation of those [communities].”
Though “Redwood” begins on the one-year anniversary of Spencer’s death, the character appears over the course of the show in Jesse’s wistful flashbacks. The musical’s thrilling climax is its penultimate number, “Still,” which showcases Piser’s sterling vocals as he and Menzel unite in a duet.
In fact, Piser was convinced to attend a table reading of “Redwood” in 2023 after hearing a demo recording of “Still,” sung by composer Kate Diaz. Though he’d met Menzel in passing at a “Wicked” event, he questioned whether the Tony- and Emmy-winning actor would live up to his expectations.
Watch a clip of Piser and Menzel performing “Still” below.
“She’s such a definitive artist of our generation, and she’s been in such culturally defining pieces of art for every decade of her working life. But part of me wondered: Is she the real deal? Is she still legit?” he recalled. Fortunately, any doubts he might’ve had about his co-star’s work ethic were quashed. “I was so moved, so amazed by Idina sitting there, no frills, wearing her sweatpants and just doing her thing, telling the story,” he added.
Once rehearsals began, the pair found common ground when they came to a consensus regarding the details of Spencer’s death, much of which is left to the audience’s interpretation in the production.
“We didn’t want to trigger anyone in the audience who might be triggered by that kind of information, and it was important to tell a broad-reaching story,” he said. More specifics around the tragedy, he noted, would also detract from the show’s hopeful message. “Our show encourages audience members to take a deep breath,” he said, “and I think everyone needs to take a deep breath, especially now.”
Growing up in San Francisco, Piser discovered his passion for the performing arts in high school. Discouraged by the scarcity of Asian representation on-stage and on-screen, he opted to double major in biology and theater at Northwestern University, and was contemplating veterinary school when he secured his Broadway debut by landing the role of Boq in “Wicked” in 2016, just two months after finishing college.
After “Wicked,” Piser became the first Asian American actor to play the title role in “Dear Evan Hansen” on Broadway. But he’s had setbacks along the way, too. His next role was in “KPOP,” an off-Broadway hit that struggled to find an audience after being transferred to Broadway in 2022 and closed after just two weeks.
Though Piser is pleased by the reception “Redwood” so far, he’s quick to cite the advice of late “Girls” actor Peter Scolari, with whom he co-starred in “Wicked,” as he looks to the future.
“He told me I’d experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and it’s so true,” Piser said. “The industry can be rich and beautiful, but it can also be full of anxiety, crippling and scary. Living on a high of ‘Redwood’ is one of those moments in my career that makes it all worthwhile.”
