***SPOILERS*** Spring Awakening detailed explanation request

[bella cantato]

Posted: 1/21/07 at 9:21pm

Hello all,

I am dying, dying, dying to see Spring Awakening, but unfortunately, a large distance and empty pocket book prevent that from happening. I am totally addicted to the soundtrack, but it really doesn't give much of the plot away. I am requesting a seriously detailed explanation of the musical, with all the twists and turns, endings, spoilers, whatever. I know, I know, it will never be a substitute for the performance, but it will at least give me something to think about when I am listening to the songs. I don't even know which characters are singing what songs. I've read a lot of the posts on this board, but I'm still rather confused. So if someone could please help me out, I'd be eternally grateful. I do plan on seeing the show (so long as it stays open) but will not be able to do so for at least a few months.

Thank you so so so much in advance!

(Also I did a search but was unsuccessful.)

[CapnHook]

Posted: 1/21/07 at 9:38pm

You could read the straight play it is based on. That should help you out...

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 1/21/07 at 9:39pm

I read the play and its easier to get what's going on in the songs when you listen the the cast recording.
Updated On: 1/21/07 at 09:39 PM

[singingwendy]

Posted: 1/21/07 at 10:06pm

That's actually my two big complaints about this cast recording. One, that It lists who sings the solo numbers, but it doesn't divide up who has the parts in the ensemble numbers. And two, that it doesn't give a synopsis telling where the songs fit into the story.

Guess it's all of their evil plot to get us to go see it live!

[teka21]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 1:02am

***************Plot Spoilers Below!!!!**************************
Just came back from seeing SA again tonight, so it's very fresh in my mind.
I can help you sort out the action in between the songs- and in some cases during the songs, but this will not do this amazing show justice.
Mama Who Bore Me- sung by Wendla, and a scene follows in which her mother attempts to evade her request for an explanation of how children are conceived. After this, the other girls join her in the reprise of the song
All that's Known- Melchior and the boys are in school, Moritz gets in trouble for not knowing his schoolwork- this goes into The Bitch of Living.
My Junk- the song is frequently interrupted by vignettes involving Georg at his piano lesson fantasizing about his teacher as she bends over him, and Hanschen masturbating in the bathroom as his father pounds on the door for him to get out.
Moritz asks Melchior for a written and illustrated description of sex- Melchior does this, but later Moritz tells Melchior that more info has caused his obsessive thoughts about sex to worsen- The ensemble sings Touch Me about their changing bodies and thoughts about sex.
Melchior and Wendla meet and flirt with each other and sing The Word of Your Body about their private longings for each other.
Martha reveals to the girls that her father beats and sexually abuses her- shows her bruises. The girls tell how Ilse was similarly treated and thrown out of her home. Martha sings The Dark I know Well joined by Ilse.
Moritz discovers he has passed his midterms, but the headmasters plan to make sure he fails his final exams.
Wendla meets Melchior alone, and haunted by Martha's experiences, asks Melchior to beat her, so she too will "feel something, anything"- he at first refuses, then when she begs him to, he repeatedly strikes her with a stick- then mortified by what this has released in him, he runs off.
Moritz finds out he has failed out of school, and tells his furious father. He writes Melchior's mother for money to run away- the response is sung in And Then There Were None.
After The Mirror Blue Night sung by Melchior and ensemble, Wendla comes to him in a hayloft, to apologize for provoking him, he says it was all his fault- As the others sing I Believe around them, Melchior seduces the at first reluctant, but then willing Wendla. End of Act 1.
Act 2 opens with the preacher giving a sermon about the evils of sex as Melchior and Wendla are again making love. They sing The Guilty Ones.(This song is out of order on the CD)
Then Moritz sings Don't Do Sadness, and is about to shoot himself when Ilse startles him. She sings Blue Wind, and then they each sing their songs together. Ilse leaves, Moritz kills himself. Left Behind is sung by Melchior to Moritz' father at his funeral. The headmaster and mistress blame Melchior's sex manual for causing Moritz to kill himself- they sing Totally F***ed as he confesses. In a reprise of The Word of Your Body, Hanschen seduces Ernst. Wendla's mother is told by a doctor that Wendla is pregnant. She tells Wendla and demands to know who the father is. She is stunned to finally understand, but tells her mother it was Melchior. Her mother tells his parents, who decide to send him to a reformatory. Melchior gets a letter to Wendla asking her to meet him at the cemetery. The Reformatory boys intercept a letter from Wendla to Melchior, and he learns she is pregnant and runs away to meet her. Meanwhile as Wendla sings Whispering, her mother secretly arranges to get her an abortion. We learn that she dies from the procedure. Melchior shows up at the cemetery and discovers first Moritz' grave, and then is horrified to find Wendla's. He is about to join them in death by taking his own life, when their ghosts emerge and they persuade him not to, as they sing Those You've Known. A new introduction (not on the CD)to Purple summer is sung by Ilse, bringing the show to the present, offering new opportunities and hope that parents and children will be able to communicate and understand each other's needs.
The show is so more more than the sum of its parts, and this attempt at explanation is not ever able to convey the power and beauty of the staging, lighting, the acting, choreography and the fabulous band that is onstage throughout the performance.
Hope this helps answer your questions- hope you will someday see this show!






Updated On: 1/22/07 at 01:02 AM

[bella cantato]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 4:57pm

Teka,

Thank you SO much! I still plan on reading the play (as soon as I get a minute... work is consuming!) and I definitely will see the show someday. But it's good to know what is going on, for now at least, because I was rather confused.

Thanks again! I really appreciate it. Such a sad show! But definitely explains the need for dialogue.

[teka21]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 5:29pm

Bella,
The songs only express what the characters are feeling inside, as if they were alone with their thoughts. That is why they don't reveal much about the plot. BTW, Wedekind's play has a very different ending, as well as a different dynamic between Wendla and Melchior. In the original play, it's more of a rape than a mutually desired act. Mayer and Sater changed this for today's audiences.
Anyway, glad to be of help!

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 6:13pm

I the play Melchior does rape Wendla. She is not consenting to the act.

[teka21]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 6:17pm

Isn't that what I said?

[onelastrefrain2]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 6:21pm

it's not mention in the summary but could someone explain to me what happened to Isle? I remember thinking she was murdered on the way home and that was what really set Moritz off to kill himself.

[teka21]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 6:58pm

We don't know what happens to Ilse, but she does say that "by the time Moritz wakes up (realizes she likes him), I'll be lying in some trash heap." Meaning that she knows her future is dismal...
There is no suggestion that she is murdered during the show.

Updated On: 1/23/07 at 06:58 PM

[courtnyj]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 7:53pm

It's funny you guys should mention rape in the scene where Wendla and Malchior have sex. When I saw Spring Awakening with my sister she was kind of disturbed by the scene because it didn't appear to be a mutual act. It didn't disturb me as much because I assumed they were commenting on what, unfortuantely, too many "first times" are like.

[bella cantato]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 8:03pm

I'm kind of confused. Can you elaborate, courtnyj? I mean, either it's consensual or not. Right? What is Wendla saying when it happens?

[teka21]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 8:03pm

In the Off-B'way version at the Atlantic, it was more ambiguous. On B'way according to Michael Mayer the director, her consent was intentionally made more clear, Wendla says "yes" aloud, and puts Melchior's hand on her breast.

[bella cantato]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 8:09pm

Does Wendla know when she is having sex with Melchoir, that sex causes pregnancy? I'm only asking because you said, "he is stunned to finally understand, but tells her mother it was Melchior."

Also, why do the headmasters want Moritz to fail his exams?

[teka21]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 8:15pm

Wendla does not know that sex can result in pregnancy, but Melchior does, and goes ahead anyway.

They want Moritz to fail because they can't stand him- he is thought to be "an imbicile" and they will only promote 60 students- he is #61, and not worthy. He is struggling to keep up with his peers academically.

[MissElphie]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 8:23pm

I'm curious about the changes between the Off-Bway version and the Bway one. Were a lot of things changed? Anyone able to tell me what they were?

Also, bella: I love that you started this thread. I'm in the same boat as you. Dying to see the show, but can't get to NYC anytime soon.
Updated On: 1/22/07 at 08:23 PM

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 8:26pm

"I'm curious about the changes between the Off-Bway version and the Bway one. Were a lot of things changed? Anyone able to tell me what they were? "

Well I heard that the sex scene was more as it was in the play. They made it more consensual on Broadway.

[bella cantato]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 8:40pm

teka, thank you again for answering my questions! I really appreciate it. it's all starting to make sense, finally.

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 10:02pm

Can anybody tell me anything about Hanschen and Ernst? Like, what their parts in the story is, et cetera?