I had the pleasure to speak with some of the key team members behind the Broadway show Redwood: The Musical, and was surprised to find its mix of stage craft and digital video effects is underpinned by Unreal Engine and some CG wizardry. You can watch the interview with the show's creators above.
The show opened last month at the famed Nederlander Theater in Manhattan. It stars Idina Menzel, who has been called the “Queen of Broadway” for her unending achievements in other Broadway shows such as RENT, Wicket, and her work for Disney in Enchanted and Frozen.
The other stand-out feature of Redwood: The Musical is the spectacular visual effects that immerses the audience in everything from the streets of NYC (which of course is just outside the theatre), and the spectacular wooded vistas of the great Redwood forests of California.
In my video interview I meet up with Chelsea Zalikowski (production video) and Cheyenne Doczi (video programmer) from Redwood's production and Emily Malone (head of live events Disguise).
These spectacular visuals are made possible with the tools from Disguise of London, a “Visual Experience” company. Disguise has been providing the tools and technology for immersive video installations used in films, like 2024’s Daddio starring Sean Penn, and live shows and concerts for over 20 years.
In addition to the tools from Disguise, the creative teams working on Redwood used many of the same tools our readers use, such as the Adobe suite, and in particular Adobe After Effects. As well as Unreal Engine to create the forest. As the team at Disguise put it in my video interview above, “down to the last leaf”.
Another topic that was addressed in our 30 minute panel interview was how talent cross-pollinates between many disciplines. The video may just open your eyes to the technologies that are becoming more available and more applicable in both existing and new markets.
For more insight into how digital software is enabling artists and designers to do more, read our interview with the team behind Amazon's Fallout TV show, which made use of UE5. For more read our guides to the best game development software, and the best 3D modelling software.
