Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
My.Small.Apricot
Understudy Joined: 6/14/08
#1Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 2:07pm
Is Spring Awakening appropriate for a 15 year old guy? I was considering taking my son to see it, but i've heard they have full nude sex on stage, and you see them completely naked. Don't know if it's true.
At what age would you recommend it to?
#2re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 2:14pmWell, I'm 15 and I love the show. I would consider how comfortable you would feel seeing the show with him instead of his age.
"You have two kinds of shows on Broadway – revivals and the same kind of musicals over and over again, all spectacles. You get your tickets for The Lion King a year in advance, and essentially a family... pass on to their children the idea that that's what the theater is – a spectacular musical you see once a year, a stage version of a movie. It has nothing to do with theater at all. It has to do with seeing what is familiar.... I don't think the theatre will die per se, but it's never going to be what it was.... It's a tourist attraction." Stephen Sondheim
#2re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 2:15pm
This exact question has been asked many times before. I'm sure you can find good responses in some other spreads.
No, they're not fully naked. Partially, though.
#3re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 2:18pm
15 years old is fine! The characters themselves are about that age. Sex is simulated, but it is not full nudity. You see a man's but and a woman's breasts. No genitals. Not overly graphic, and I think it is tasteful. There are a few other questionable topics, such as religion/atheism, child abuse, abortion, homosexuality (there is a scene where to boys kiss), masturbation (a boy masturbates under his clothes), S/M (a girl asks a boy to beat her with a switch, he does.)
There are also a few songs with some cursing (f***, b****, sh*t)
I think you should take him. A 15 year old already knows all of these things and he'll really enjoy it. Spring Awakening has great music, a great cast, and will inspire some conversations between you two. It'll be one of his favorites.
Have fun at the show!
Hunter: Your teeth need whitening./ Heidi: You sound weird./ Jeff: You taste funny.
-Jeff Bowen's worst onstage line flub.
-Jeff Bowen's worst onstage line flub.
#4re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 2:19pmCompletely appropriate for the whole family. More wholesome than Disney. Don't even need to get a sitter for the tots.
....but the world goes 'round
My.Small.Apricot
Understudy Joined: 6/14/08
#5re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 2:19pm
ok. so what exactly do you see onstage (in regards to nudity)? i just want to make sure it isn't anything explicit.
#6re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 2:21pm
I saw it a year ago when I was 15. It's something I would never want to see with a parent though. But that's just me. If you and your son have a very open relationship and can talk to eachother about anything, then seeing SA together might be a good thing.
They are not completely naked, just partially as TonyVincent said below me. But sex isn't the only issue Spring Awakening deals with. It also deals with abuse, abortion, masturbation and suicide.
You can read a full synopsis of the show here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Awakening_(musical)
Updated On: 6/25/08 at 02:21 PM
#6re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 2:21pm
Breasts and a man's butt is the only nudity.
Hunter: Your teeth need whitening./ Heidi: You sound weird./ Jeff: You taste funny.
-Jeff Bowen's worst onstage line flub.
Updated On: 6/25/08 at 02:21 PM
-Jeff Bowen's worst onstage line flub.
#8re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 2:32pmOf course the rape is only "acted" so that doesn't count.
....but the world goes 'round
#9re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 2:36pmthe irony of this question is hilarious...the characters are supposed to be 14 and 15
"The good news is I have an excellent Tony speech. The bad news is I've had it for forty-five years."-Elaine Stritch
#10re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 2:37pm
Well it's not really a "rape"
She eventually consents.
Hunter: Your teeth need whitening./ Heidi: You sound weird./ Jeff: You taste funny.
-Jeff Bowen's worst onstage line flub.
-Jeff Bowen's worst onstage line flub.
#11re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 2:38pm
Watch this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JCoA92y24A
And listen to this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUOpAIT8BQk&feature=related
That might help you decide. I personally think the average 15 year old would be fine and enjoy it from reading the plot and listening to the music. I also personally (me being 13) am definitely gonna see it when it comes to my city but I'm not gonna go with my parents. I think it would be a tad awkward.
The Best Thing Right Now: Hair Revival!
Updated On: 6/25/08 at 02:38 PM
#12re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 2:43pmAren't some of the cast members around 15?
I chose, and my world was shaken. So what?
The choice may have been mistaken. The choosing was not.
Broadway Star Joined: 12/31/69
#13re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 2:48pmI am a high school theatre teacher and I took 31 of my students-randing in ages from 14 to 19-to see the show in January. Each and everyone one of them loved it-as did the adult chaparones on the trip. It should be said as well-that some of the chaperones were parents of the kids on the trip. If your child watches television past 8 pm-then they will be fine with it. It is an important piece of theatre that should not be missed by anyone.
Jonny boy
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/30/07
#14re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 3:14pmI wouldnt take a 15 yr old. I would wait a few years......
gypsy4
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/07
#15re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 3:16pm
I would say it would be totaly up to you if you think he's mature enough and that you are comfortable takeing him and sitting through it. but then again your hearing this from a 14 yearold it wouldn't
be my first choice but its an ok show you should take him to gypsy instead.
Updated On: 6/25/08 at 03:16 PM
#16re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 3:21pm
Depends how they play it, whether it's a rape scene or not. In the Wedekind original, it definitely was. With Groff and Michele, they softened it so it became mostly consensual. But I did hear that with the cast change, they've gone a little edgier again.
Nothing unsuitable for a normal 15 year old, but you do need to be a fairly relaxed parent. If you're ultra-conservative and can't even mention sex with your kid, then it'll be an uncomfortable experience for the both of you.
Updated On: 6/25/08 at 03:21 PM
#17re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 3:37pm
Alexandra Socha is 17 I believe.
Hunter: Your teeth need whitening./ Heidi: You sound weird./ Jeff: You taste funny.
-Jeff Bowen's worst onstage line flub.
Updated On: 6/25/08 at 03:37 PM
-Jeff Bowen's worst onstage line flub.
#18re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 5:12pmUnless you're trying to shelter your child, it's definitely fine. Being a fifteen year old I think it's okay.
"There are only two worthwhile things to leave behind when we depart this world of ours: children and art."
-Sunday In The Park With George
philly03
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/07
#19re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 5:33pmHonestly, I feel like it'd be sort of awkward for your son. It's nothing too bad, but I don't think I'd feel comfortable at that age seeing something like that with my parents...and still don't!
#20re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 5:47pm
Is the question whether your son will take issue with the content or that you don't want him to see the content? I think it's the perfect show for a teen. The main point, at least as I see it, of the work is to shed light on our need to keep teens in the dark about their sexuality as long as possible. And while the show has reached beyond the ages of the characters in the show, it is a great forum to discuss some really important teen issues. I say go for it knowing he may have questions afterwards.
So I think this would be your choice. The provocative elements are all there for a reason. My parents were very good about keeping me away from graphic sex, but, I also saw some pretty risque theatre; but this was because it was there for the theme.
#21re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 5:50pm
the irony of this question is hilarious...the characters are supposed to be 14 and 15
Not everything a 15 year old or 15 year old character does is appropriate for all 15 year olds to witneses.
sgv123
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/16/06
#22re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 6:04pmi beleive the youngest in the cast is emma hunton who is 16.
Ryan4
Stand-by Joined: 4/13/08
#23re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 6:08pm
Just wanted to add that I think the show is entirely appropriate for a 15 year old; the nudity is very brief and very minor and all the subject matter is stuff your kid knows about already. Nothing will confuse or shock him/her. Trust me, you'll be glad you went.
#24re: Spring Awakening appropriate for 15 year old?
Posted: 6/25/08 at 6:21pm
Alexandra Socha is 18, not 16.
I believe that legally you'd have to be 17 to do the hayloft scene in public anyway...
Anyway, I'd say go for it.
