Spring Awakening?- Page 2

[Bobby Maler]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:38am

Downer,
we're not just talking about Brechtian Alienation effect here. When Mac the Knife sings, he is still Mac the Knife. Mac's words don't refer to a different reality with characters (like Bobby Maler) that aren't even in the play. .. Mac is still singing songs that his "character" would sing.
Updated On: 3/17/07 at 01:38 AM

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:40am

Is Bobby Darrin in the show?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:42am

But when the Peachum's sing they are political activists.

Bobby Darrin is dead.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:49am

I actually feel that the problems those characters were facing are very different than todays, Most 14 to 17 year olds know where babies come from.

What is the difference? I have a teen girl and a tween. They know about the birthing of babies, but their struggle of becoming a woman is not different than it was for my wife or her mother.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:52am

^That's actually one of the reasons I think the play is much better (and much more timeless). The play is really dealing with the dangers of ignorance in the name of so-called morality while the musical bends it more to capitalize on teenage sexuality and angst.
Updated On: 3/17/07 at 01:52 AM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:56am

brdlwyer

teach yer Children Well

You are too intelligent to say yer teen and tween would get pregnant and say.. WHAT????

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:59am

I have not read the play. I must get to NY to see the production. My eleven year old loves the music, but my thirteen year old will not listen to my "music" anymore. This is one of the reasons that I like about the show. I listen to these kids on the CD and I am haunted my own challenges as a parent.

[hermionejuliet]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 2:25am

Why is it a hit?

-Catchy, modern, original music

-Relevant topics that teenagers can relate to:
alienation
abuse
fear
desire
struggle
the need to find answers to questions
being between a "man and a child"
youthful optimism
fear of failure
the miscommunication/ lack of communication with parents etc

(yes, most teens do know where babies come from, but there are plenty of unknowns/misinformation that cost teens their lives/future everyday)

-a young cast (as one audience member beside me put it "Look, they really are just kids. They still have acnes on their face" - I always thought the cast would appreciate that comment. )

-a creative mix between the past and the present

-risque topics - they sell.

-the critics adore it - it helps

You want to talk about a lack of character development - look at Hair. The storyline is thin at best. It follows three characters- I would say that only one has a good amount of character development - Claude. Many others sing solos - you learn nothing about their history or how their story ends. You learn about their situations, their current reality/hallucinations, their hopes, their desires... How is this any different from Spring Awakening?

I plan on seeing a local production of Spring Awakening, and I look forward to comparing it to the musical (which I saw in January).

Honestly, I think the reason it is a hit is because it appeals to teenagers and adults with modern pop/rock music. I can not think of another musical on Broadway that currently does this. That excludes Rent - yet another hit...that has run for ten years. And believe it or not, many still do not understand why Rent was/is such a hit.

[StateOfJade]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 2:36am

Threepenny Opera...delicious.

Completley random and uncalled for, but then again, perhaps this thread is also.