ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.

[Lauren_T]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:24pm

The casting of SA has gone WACK! I don't understand what they are thinking. This girl looks so young on stage with Groff that it is scary and very very uncomfortable. It looks, no matter how you shake it, that Melchior is an taking advantage of a 12 year-old child!!! Yes, child!! This casting takes Spring Awakening to a wrong wrong wrong wrong level. It looks so off. People at intermission were throwing around words like, rape, child pornography, illegal, etc. !! The girl has talent but she should play Thea Anna or the other girl roles. NOT WENDLA! She is Remy's height and build! Anyone else at the show? Please, I know I am not alone on this! I think casting thinks the kids need to look 12. The cast needs to look young, yes. But they dont need to be looking like they are 12!! Spring Awakening would still work if the kids were in their late teens. In the 1800s kids at 17 18 19 years-old still didnt know much about sex and all that. Not just the tweens! Bottom line, Alexandra looks way to young to play Wendla.
Updated On: 8/25/07 at 06:24 PM

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:26pm

Huh... that was my problem with the show all along, even with an older looking Wendla. So it's rape just because she looks 12? Please, it's rape anyway.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:27pm

Isn't Wendla supposed to be about 12.

I think that the word rape should come up at intermission.

[MerMaggieGalinda]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:28pm

Wendla is supposed to be more around 14/15.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:34pm

Well, I can see it being problematic if it looks like child abuse or something, but um, it should have been clear that it was rape all along. Don't even get me started on the fact that people are only considering it rape when Wendla looks too young to be Melchior's peer.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:36pm

She says "NO!".

[Lauren_T]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:39pm

see the age thing drives me nuts because NO ONE in the audience..unless they know the show inside out...know that the characters are suppose to be 14/15. Groff, Michele, Gallagher, Wright, Astin, Johnson, Glick, and Cooper DONT LOOK 14/15! They all look 19-23! So this whole "needs to look" 14-15y/o thing drives me crazy!
Updated On: 8/25/07 at 06:39 PM

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:40pm

Alex is 17-18...

[Lauren_T]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:41pm

yes but she looks 12 on stage and Groff looks 21-22. Period!
Updated On: 8/25/07 at 06:41 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:42pm

I don't know that it matters that they look say, 17 instead of 14 so much as it does that they all look the SAME age.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:43pm

Did she pop her top?

[Matthewjames]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:44pm

I heard Alexanra was a great Wendla
can we hear about her performance?

[Lauren_T]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:44pm

well there is no way that you will get Remy and Groff to look the same age. They should look the same age range...16-21...like all the casting calls say!

[Lauren_T]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:46pm

Updated On: 8/25/07 at 06:46 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:47pm

Um, the casting call is listed for the age the actors actually ARE, not the age they LOOK.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:47pm

Lauren_T - perhaps you're a bit too much of a fan.

[Lauren_T]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:49pm

luvtheEmcee..i understand that. But I was trying to say most of the cast look their age...not younger.

[Matthewjames]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:56pm

but teens in germany actually did look alot older than teens do now.

look at what the average 15/16 year old looked like in the past
people in that age range look much younger now...sounds weird, and not an excuse...but true

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:57pm

Well, in the original play, it's definitely rape. But, when ever anyone of the cast of the musical talk about it, they said they tried to make it not rape because she eventually consents.

But, yeah, I heard she's the new standby and we were all shocked since she's 17. But, it's legal. So, how was her performance?

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 7:01pm

How about a review of her actual performance? Not just how young she looked.

[DramaQueen700]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 7:03pm

in the libretto, steven sater talks about the specific choice they made in THEIR telling of SA:

"In Wedekinds script, Melchior rapes Wendla. We wanted to see him make love to her. More, we wanted to see how this young man...first uncovers ineluctable sexual feelings; how he begins to own his sexual identity, how he helps Wendla awaken hers." -Steven Sater

the second issue is that in the equity audition calls, they say wendla, melchior and moritz are 15/16....

so i dont know if that changes anyones opinions. But thats how old the people behind the show believe these characters are.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 7:14pm

Wait - Alexandra Socha is Remy's height and build?

If that was her, who was the chubby-ish girl I saw at the 8/15 matinee? It was a Wednesday. She had curly hair and was chubby, and sat in Row BB on stage right. She came onstage talking to Gerard Canonico, and she sang with the ensemble in some songs. I just assumed it was Alexandra Socha even though I thought she looked slightly different. She didn't look to be Remy's build to me. Who was that then???

[MerMaggieGalinda]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 7:38pm

Maybe it was Jenn Damiano? Although Jenn doesn't look chubby at all, she has curly hair though.

[popculture37]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 7:50pm

One of the few things that I dislike about Spring Awakening is that they watered down some of the more uncomfortable moments from the play. No one should be leaving the theater talking about how cute Wendla and Melchior are as a couple. It's fine that they want to portray the scene as one of love and developing sexuality, but it's still a hesitant thing that's not entirely consensual from the very beginning and that has huge consequences, and it should make you feel uncomfortable. So as awkward as it might look, I think the play works with a small, young-looking Wendla. If anything, I wish Groff looked younger than he does-he's good but I find it hard to believe him as someone in his mid teens.

[winter_sky]

Posted: 8/25/07 at 8:01pm

Was it Frances Mercanti Anthony? She is the understudy for Adult Women.

Also, wow. I am definitely surprised they put her on as Wendla so early. I'd have thought that they'd put Phoebe on and have Alexandra be Anna. Alexandra definitely looks insanely young and would make Groff look like a child molester. I hope I never have to see that. Him with Gerard was odd enough.