Am I the only one that didn't enjoy Spring Awakening?- Page 3

[Fantabulous428]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 12:24am

While I didn't find the acting to be extraordinary in the first place, my inability to connect emotionally had nothing to do with the acting. The problem I had was being faced with underdeveloped characters and plot lines that were never resolved. The book, simply put, is not very strong. The characters are not fully fleshed out; it's as if we're seeing sketches of the characters, but not the finished product.

[TheHumanTorch]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 12:35am

i also thought that the acting of the men, in general, was MUCH stronger than the acting of the women... Groff versus Michele in particular
Updated On: 1/8/07 at 12:35 AM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 12:37am

Groff is in which category?

I thought the acting was very up and down
Gallagher Jr being the up and Pritchard the down.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 1:51am

I think that's a fair question, snl, and my answer would be similar to Fantabulous's that it's more of a book/structural problem than something that can be blamed on the actors. We simply don't know very much about any of the characters; we're introduced to them and then they fade into the background, and in with one another. They seem to be plot instruments rather than relatable beings, which is fine if only there were a particular message that the show was trying to get across. We're asked to feel sorrow for them, but who are they? I've even tried to consider them as archetypes or representations and still come out with no clearer explanation as to why I'm supposed to care. Perhaps I'm not sympathetic enough toward the general human condition?

I'd like to reverse this question, though. For those of you who did find Spring Awakening exceptionally moving, what was it about it that moved you? Did you feel a relationship with the characters and an investment into what happens to them, or was it some other aspect?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 7:01am

How could you not like a show with a musical number called "Totally ******". Guess which number will not be at the tonys.

My only regret is they did not havea T shirt with that on it

Posted: 1/8/07 at 7:48am

Capn Hook said:

"I believe I saw a video interview with Sheik where he admitted he had no idea what he was doing in writing a musical."

Based on the cast recording, I can attest to that. It's the most lifeless score with lifeless performances that I've ever heard. This makes The Wedding Singer sound like a masterpiece. The lyrics are inane and the spoken dialogue on the recording sounds like a first read-through of the material.

I'm always happy that actors and musicians have work but I'm afraid that those involved with Spring Awakening won't be benefiting from any further dollars from me.

Perhaps, in the future, "groundbreaking" will become a term used to identify shows ready for the grave

[Princeton78]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 7:52am

Hey, thanks for posting this thread!
I saw the show at the Atlantic and was very underwhelmed.
I liked *parts* of Sheik's score, but that's about all I can say in the positive column. The whole show felt forced to me and I really, really hate that. I'm all for supporting new works, and I don't necessarily wish ill on the cast and crew, but I thought the reviews the show got were a joke.

[MamawhoBoreme]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 8:11am

wow you people are sooo harsh. i think this is one of the best shows i have ever seen on Broadway. yes its not perfect but its been on Broadway what less than a month? the music is fantastic and even though there are no "love" songs or whatever you people are saying they still HAUNT you ... HAUNT is a great word to describe this play. i think if you really look into it, and not just look on the surface of things, or the technical part of the show, you will find something amazing. I will defiantly be seeing this show 5+ more times. i saw it 2 weekends ago and haven't stopped talking about it or thinking about it, and for me if a show does that its amazing.

[D2]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 9:32am

To answer the question about how someone can be moved by SPRING AWAKENING:

As I said in a post on another thread: "but what makes SA so extraordinary is that it can speak so clearly and directly to anyone who is even remotely human...SA is savage and goes right for the heart."

And how it does that is the cumulative effect of all its parts - it might not work for everyone who sees it, especially those who will take each individual aspect and micro-inspect to death.

But the whole is thrice the sum of its parts because it all builds from experiences that all of us have shared: the confusion, the anger, the frustration of being in a world where we have lots of questions, no answers, no control and are under the thumb of clueless authority figures. And it absolutely captures those feelings of helplessness and rage. That's why it works for me and I suspect for the others on this board who adore it.

[MamawhoBoreme]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 10:09am

I totally agree D2 i just felt that i experienced some of those emotions in my real life. im surprised not many people felt the same when they were trying to figure themselves out. thanks for posting that!

[spintoboy]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 1:54pm

i think this is one of the best shows i have ever seen on Broadway. yes its not perfect but its been on Broadway what less than a month?

Why is it relevant that it's been on Broadway less than a month? Is the book going to be rewritten a year from now? Are the songs going to be any different? The show was presented as a finished product on Opening Night -- it isn't as if it's still in previews.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 1:59pm

The production never overcame the essential problem I had with it which was that this play does not need music. How do you incorporate these songs in a way that forwards the story? By ignoring all that dated "in a way that forwards the story" jazz.

[snl89]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 2:50pm

Capn Hook said:

"I believe I saw a video interview with Sheik where he admitted he had no idea what he was doing in writing a musical."

Based on the cast recording, I can attest to that. It's the most lifeless score with lifeless performances that I've ever heard. This makes The Wedding Singer sound like a masterpiece. The lyrics are inane and the spoken dialogue on the recording sounds like a first read-through of the material.

I'm always happy that actors and musicians have work but I'm afraid that those involved with Spring Awakening won't be benefiting from any further dollars from me.

Perhaps, in the future, "groundbreaking" will become a term used to identify shows ready for the grave

but... is it really fair to make those kinds of judgements if you havn't even seen the show? Trust me, I'm NOT one of those people to say "oh you shouldn't commment on a show at all if you havnt seen it live" because I live in vermont and know how it is not to be able to go to every show you want to. I also feel that you can fully tell if you're going to LIKE a show through recordings and.. that illegal stuff. HOWEVER, I've always been opposed to the idea of people making negative judgements about shows without giving it a proper chance. If you like a show, you're prob going to like it live too, but if you dont like a recording, that doesn't necasserily mean you wont like the show. There's so much more to this show than just the show and the little bit of spoken dialague thats on the recording. And for the record, there's very few recording where I DO think the spoken dialague sounds like good acting (the only exception I can think of is Last 5 Years, but that is the greatest acting on a recording I've EVER heard)- that doesnt mean its not its just 1)its very different for the actors I'm sure when they're not in the moment of the show and having to get up all that emotion without having anything to go off of. and 2)speaking isn't all there is to acting. What about facial expressions? they can make all the difference. (for the record, all of them are GREAT with facial expression- especially John Gallagher, omg). Now, maybe you wouldn't like the acting in the show, but how do you really know without actually seeing it? And I can also guarantee you that the songs have MUCH more energy live than on the recording. I really enjoyed the recording before the show, but now I can NOT stop listening- because I just keep remembering how amazing it was to watch all the song performances. There's nothing like sitting there durring bitch of living, actually FEELING the pulse of their feet beating the ground. Its SO cool.

and in response to sweetestsiren, I actually see what you mean, thinking about it. The book DOESNT have great character developement- especially for Wendla. You never really get to know much about her. But for me, it def was the acting and just the story in general that made me connect with it. Even without enough character development, it still haunted me afterward. Because they all played their characters so well, I really felt for them. With Jon and Lea it was their innocence, and their hopefullness. With John, it was how truly tortured he was. So because I cared about them, I cared about what happened to them- obviously :) thats kind of a really lousy explanation, but its the conclusion I came to after thinking about it for a while.

Updated On: 1/8/07 at 02:50 PM

[Bobby Maler]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 3:25pm

I think the book of Spring Awakening is laid out in a way that many people are not familiar with. The original play is episodic, with long intellectual rants which go for pages and pages. I think the musical has done a great job of streamlining it and defining the character arcs. Melchoir and Wendla now have much clearer and more satisfying journeys than in Wedekind's original. He was the father of modern expressionism, after all. He was not interested in the traditional emotional journey which we have come to expect as the norm in "good" story telling. I think the musical does a good job of being faithful to Wedekind but making it more accessible to a mainstream audience.
My reaction too was similar. I loved the music and the staging at the Atlantic, but was wowed by it intellectually and artistically, but couldn't quite get there emotionally. Still, the piece stayed with me--can't say that for much else I've seen. When I saw it on Broadway, for some reason, I found myself crying in places that I never expected to. I think it has to do with expectations. Once you know the story and don't have any preconceived ideas about it, you notice different things you never did before..the piece gets deeper and deeper and now I find myself against all odds being a Spring Awakening junkie. I just can't get it out of my system.

Posted: 1/8/07 at 4:19pm

Someone said:

"the piece gets deeper and deeper"

As it's being lowered into its final resting place? Was that the smell the enveloped Manhattan this morning?

To the person who raised questions about me critiquing a show I haven't seen. There are dozens and dozens of great cast recordings of not very good shows. On the other hand, a bad cast recording that turns into a really great show just doesn't seem to happen. Sorry, but I guess I'm not haunted enough to appreciate Spring Awakening.

[MamawhoBoreme]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 4:21pm

me personally this is something i would rather see then the "high kick" musicals. i like things that are different. i mean this show really gets to you, if you really pay attention. i hate when people on this forum critize actors performances, i mean are you on broadway working 8 days a week, killing your vocal cords doing the same show over and over? obviously not. yes there are people that arent as good as others but it should be the reason why you dont like the play. for me Spring Awakening was better than Drowsy which i just saw on Saterday i know im going to get a lot of crap for it, but i seriously started to close my eyes. but thats my own personal opinion, i think the edgeier (bad spelling sorry) the better. MOPO.

[snl89]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 4:51pm

To the person who raised questions about me critiquing a show I haven't seen. There are dozens and dozens of great cast recordings of not very good shows. On the other hand, a bad cast recording that turns into a really great show just doesn't seem to happen. Sorry, but I guess I'm not haunted enough to appreciate Spring Awakening.

It COULD though. I wish I had an example of a show where the recording wasn't great but the show was (the best one I can come up with is that I dont enjoy the Anything Goes obcr, but really enjoy the show- but in honesty thats probably because I tend not to love the old-fashioned type recordings)- but honestly all of the shows I know a lot about happen to have recordings that I think are awesome (INCLUDING this one, but thats just me). But I'm absolutely sure that every once in a while a person might come across a show where they love the story and get a lot out of the show, but dont necasserily love the music.

And again, you might very well be right- if you dont like the music, you probably wont like the show, but you never know, do you? And again, the show adds a LOT to the music- it really does.

But the thing that bothered me most about what you were saying was really the part about the acting- because acting is VERY different live than it is on recordings and its unfair to critisize performers without having a basis on which to do it. Again, if you LIKE a performer, thats different, because you're starting out liking them. But you cant very well know if you really DONT like a performance until you see all aspects of it.

Updated On: 1/8/07 at 04:51 PM

[MamawhoBoreme]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 4:55pm

SNL89 when i first heard the Spring Awakening OBC i was a little apprehensive because it just didnt seem "right".. you dont get any! of the story from listening to it. but once seeing it and then going back to listening to the OBC i was intrigued. i totally understand what you are saying. but if no one gives it a chance its their loss you know?

[snl89]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 4:58pm

^oh I was the same way I mean, there were some songs that I didn't even NEED to know the story and I loved them. Mainly Mama Who Bore Me Reprise, Bitch of Living, My Junk, Dont Do Sadness/Blue Wind, and Totally F*cked. But then after seeing the show the songs mean SO much more. And like, Left Behind, Whispering and Those You've Known I barely even gave a chance, and now they are some of the ones I listen to the most (even though they make me really really sad haha)! They're such amazing, poignant moments in the show and you dont get any of that from the recording.

Updated On: 1/8/07 at 04:58 PM

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 5:07pm

In the musical it's consensual.

I had absolutely no knowledge of the play going into the musical, and I read that scene as rape. It's not consensual if Wendla has no idea what it is or what the consequences are.

I love some of the songs, but in general the show was underwhelming. John Gallagher Jr as Moritz was the only affecting performance, and every other character (all of whom are more interesting than Melchior and Wendla) was underdeveloped.

I'm absolutely sick of people saying that because I don't like Spring Awakening, I am resisting new things. I'm not. If you don't want me to be unfairly harsh on your show, stop being unfairly harsh on me.

[nymommy]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 5:23pm

You are not alone. I saw the show Sunday Mat. and expected so much and was delivered a plate full of B-O-R-I-N-G!!! My friend fell asleep three times in Act I. I kept wishing I had a watch to figure out when the act was going to end. the problem with the show is creative never made up their minds where they wanted to go with this thing. Sometimes the characters interacted; sometimes the characters stood at mics and never looked at each other. I liked some of the music, but too much of it was the same. Gallagher has the best drawn character, and yet, I didn't feel for him. I should have. The leads Melchoir and Wendla - felt nothing for them. I wanted to care, but couldn't. They have zero chemistry. Melchoir and Mortiz had a better connection. The other fine young actors were ripped off. Lilly Cooper had such potential with her character and yet the book never developed her story. I wanted to know more of her life. Don't put it in if you don't plan to do anything with it. The homosexual couple was reduced to the "Rosencrantz & Gildenstern" comic relief. This comic effect lessened the impact of their relationship, because I felt they were the only characters who really cared for each other, and yet again, I was robbed of feeling something. I loved certain songs. F**ked was terrific, and who amongst us has not felt that as a teen somewhere along the line? Bottom line, wanted to love it, feel it has an important place in the theater today, needs way more work, i.e. the book (which is practically non-existent), and if a piece doesn't make me cry, not even a welling of a tear...it fails. SA FAILS, back to the bottom of the class. Take it back to Off-Broadway so the teen demographic can actually afford it, and leave Broadway to the big boys. Grey Gardens has more emotion in it's little finger than the whole entire SA. I've cried every single time I've seen GG and not ashamed to say I've even sobbed at the brillance of Christine Ebersole. GG has soul, SA lacks heart. Sorry to sound so harsh, and I'll probably get a lot of flack for saying what I just said, but it's what I felt. The show is over-rated, over-hyped, and dissappointing. Liked individual performances, but this is an ensemble piece...'nough said.

[MrAmySpanger]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 5:32pm

"Am I the only one that didn't enjoy Spring Awakening?"


Yes.

[snl89]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 5:37pm

I had absolutely no knowledge of the play going into the musical, and I read that scene as rape. It's not consensual if Wendla has no idea what it is or what the consequences are.

Thats a good point, and i see where people come from when they say its border-line rape. But I guess I thought of it less of rape because... the way I saw it, she DID love him and she DID want to go through that experience with him. There's no doubt Melchior got a little bit.. carried away with it, and she probably wouldn't have ended up doing it if he hadn't been persistant, but I saw that as more because she was scared of what the consequences might be more than anything else. Now, I'd say sure, its probably along the lines of seduction (as in, he persuaded her), but I dont see it as rape. I mean, I think that if it were really rape, she would never have kept loving him afterwards, you know? She was influenced into having sex, but she did want it and she did love him.

sorry, just had to comment because its something that I've seen brought up before and started thinking about :)

Updated On: 1/8/07 at 05:37 PM

[teka21]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 6:08pm

Contains spoiler***
In the lyrics to the song Whispering, Wendla makes it clear that their lovemaking was consensual- she sings "and he touched me, and I let him love me, so let that be my story- (it becomes her epitaph!)" She goes on about the new life within her and her hopes for a hopeful world and future. Lea Michele's poignant performance in that song is utterly heartbreaking. In the very next scene, she's led off to the abortionist and her death. Hard to remain emotionally unaffected by that horrible outcome, even more when you know what's coming.

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 6:09pm

She can't be scared of the consequences as she obviously has no idea that having sex results in pregnancy. And there's no way she loves him at that point - the show gives no indication that they've spoken more than two times, the second of which he beats the crap out of her. If Melchior really loved her, he'd want her to be as informed as possible. People keep saying that the show is commenting on the dangers of keeping sexual education from kids, but Melchior is (as far as we know) completely informed and the most corrupt and odious character.
I'm sorry, much as I love the music, I just can't get over that. Of course Wendla "let him" love her - if she didn't let him, it wouldn't have happened. That doesn't mean it was consentual. And even so, the difference between their knowledge about the act makes it rape in my mind.

Updated On: 1/8/07 at 06:09 PM