SPRING AWAKENING Movie Musical - News & Discussion Thread

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 2/4/22 at 11:09am

https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/steven-sater-duncan-sheik-spring-awakening_55576.html

Sater states: "It's in the works – but it's been on hold while the world's been on hold. We've been working on it though there's nothing specific we can say about it. It's something we've put a lot of work into. There's a lot of stuff on social media but what I want to say is that it's not all up to us if this movie gets made – there's a whole world of filmmakers and financiers that impacts every move we make.

Sheik chimes in: "At some point, there will be a really great movie version of Spring Awakening. We can say that for sure."

[UrNotAMachine]

Posted: 2/4/22 at 11:31am

Wow I had no clue this was still in the works. I thought for sure it was going to be stuck in development hell forever.

I think this film really needs a gutsy/innovative director behind it for it to work like it should. No doubt the studio wants to sell this thing in a way that capitalizes on teen audiences and the TikTok crowd and that might mean toning things down and casting big bankable stars. But I really think this story demands an auteur behind the wheel. I keep dreaming about someone like Ari Aster or Greta Gerwig (two vastly different takes, I know) taking the reins. If McG is still on board as the director, I'm not sure if his track record gives me a ton of confidence in his ability to nail the material.

Also, part of me wishes they would incorporate elements from the Deaf West production into the film somehow. But short of changing the setting to a school for the deaf, I'm not sure how much they'll be able to borrow.

Updated On: 2/4/22 at 11:31 AM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 2/4/22 at 11:51am

This isn't necessary but with the right creatives could be very cool. Just don't RENT it up! 

[darquegk]

Posted: 2/4/22 at 12:13pm

What I would recommend is to make it a music movie, not a movie musical. Incorporate the song score as perpetual expressionist needle drops of anachronism and surrealism. Make it feel like Euphoria a century earlier, with the songs recorded by a mix of the cast and major recording artists.

[UrNotAMachine]

Posted: 2/4/22 at 12:31pm

darquegk said: "What I would recommend is to make it a music movie, not a movie musical. Incorporate the song score as perpetual expressionist needle drops of anachronism and surrealism. Make it feel like Euphoria a century earlier, with the songs recorded by a mix of the cast and major recording artists."

The score is already set up so that most, if not all, of the songs exist in their own sort of dream-world outside of the world of the main story. That's why Deaf West production was so enthralling, it explicitly framed the songs as the inner voices of characters who could otherwise only communicate with sign language. I'm just not stoked to see Hollywood actors in their mid twenties pretending to be sixteen years old and going full movie-musical with the material.

[UrNotAMachine]

Posted: 2/4/22 at 12:31pm

darquegk said: "What I would recommend is to make it a music movie, not a movie musical. Incorporate the song score as perpetual expressionist needle drops of anachronism and surrealism. Make it feel like Euphoria a century earlier, with the songs recorded by a mix of the cast and major recording artists."

The score is already set up so that most, if not all, of the songs exist in their own sort of dream-world outside of the world of the main story. That's why Deaf West production was so enthralling, it explicitly framed the songs as the inner voices of characters who could otherwise only communicate with sign language. I'm just not stoked to see Hollywood actors in their mid twenties pretending to be sixteen years old and going full movie-musical with the material.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 2/4/22 at 12:34pm

Honestly, just let Michael Arden make his feature film debut and reimagine the Deaf West production for the screen with that same framing device. 

[singer234]

Posted: 2/4/22 at 1:49pm

An Ari Aster Spring Awakening would blow my effing mind.

[UrNotAMachine]

Posted: 2/4/22 at 2:27pm

singer234 said: "An Ari Aster Spring Awakening would blow my effing mind."

Basically the aesthetic of Midsommar but trade out the traumatic and horrifying violence for some indie rock music.