Spring Awakening -- must see!

[jaybrrd]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 3:11am

I'm generally a fairly critical person and rarely rave about anything. I enjoy Duncan Sheik's music but I admit I had a reservation or two about this show.

However, as I was walking down 20th Street after tonight's performance, I found myself calling all my friends telling them to run out and see this show.

Despite some directoral inconsistencies and poorly developed supporting characters, this show soars, due in very very large part to Duncan Sheik's extraordinary music and Steven Sater's teriffic (though sometimes imperfect) lyrics. It would seem that we may have found the voice we've been waiting for to contemporize musical theatre once again without sacrificing the intelligence that goes into it.

Working with anachronism is a very tricky, slippery slope that very rarely works with the desired effect -- but this time, they truly got it right. Using rock music and handheld mikes to express the thoughts of the teenagers within the show allows us to examine the conflict between youth and experience in a language we understand.

Now, it IS 3:10am, so I'm not really expressing my thoughts on this show very well right now. Lets say this: the music is awe-inspiring, the staging is very good (love that space!), and the cast truly commits to the show, turning in some fantastic performances.

GO SEE THIS SHOW.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 3:31am

I love Duncan Sheik. This is the same Duncan Sheik who has an album titled "Phantom Moon" right? His song on "Songs From An Unmade Bed" is beautiful. I can't wait to hear more about this show. What exactly is the plot?

[jaybrrd]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 2:15pm

Yes, its the same one. The show is about teenagers in 1890s Germany discovering sex -- shorthand version. There's more to it than that... but yeah, like I said, awesome.

Posted: 7/1/06 at 11:36pm

More to it... the understatement of the year! I agree, jaybrrd, a must see. Saw the matinee today. I was thinking at intermission how well they'd covered the first and last of the trifecta of Sex, Drugs and Rock-n-Roll. Then in the second act, one of the girls sang about sniffing ether in a tune called "Blue Wind."

And one of the boys smokes a cigarette onstage! In Bloomberg's New York City! Maybe we should start a new thread about transgressive shows in which a lead character dares to smoke onstage. But I digress...

What's it all about? Think of this show as Dead Poets Society meets Hair or Quadrophenia. Some of these songs, like "The Bitch of Living" or "The Dark I Know Well," are ready made for the radio. Others, like "Totally F****d," clearly are not. These are pop rock songs about horny and profane teenagers getting it on. I can see why the play on which it's based made the censors blush in 1891. If any of these plotlines happened in a movie it would get an R for sure. And if I were 15 and living in the city, I'd be sneaking in to see it before my parents read about it in the paper.

Anyone who has a friend or lover over the age of consent, who never saw a musical on Broadway until Rent or Jersey Boys, and hasn't seen one since -- this is the next show to bring them to. It rocks. I'd bring a date, but not my daughter or my mother. It would get fidgety...

Without giving too much away, it's five girls and six boys in a German high school, all around 15, discovering sex with themselves and others while rocking the mic. One of the boys also played piano. All sing, frequently in five-part harmonies. Then there are two older 50ish characters, played by Mary McCann and Frank Wood, who played all the parent and teacher characters.

And oh, the thing with the $10 chairs on stage. There are 18 chairs on stage right and 12 chairs on stage left. The band are always sitting along the back wall: guitar, drums, bass, and cello. The cast takes six seats on each side. The remaining 18 seats are sold to the public like rush tickets. When the cast aren't part of a scene they sit down, mixed in with the spectators. So it's something like Sweeney + 18, turned up to 11. But the spectators never get involved in the show, a la Spelling Bee. Though, do wear something nice. We can see you.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 11:41pm

If you suffer from insomnia, I recommend Duncan Sheik's indie-rock score to SPRING AWAKENING wholeheartedly---you'll be snoring in an instant. Mewling, puling, and strictly snoresville.


Mayella Ewell
Maycomb, Alabama

[kidmanboy]

Posted: 7/2/06 at 7:55am

If you liked the "Phantom Moon" album, the lyricist for that album wrote the book and lyrics to Spring Awakening as well.
I, too, found the show bold, fresh, exciting, and thoroughly enjoyable.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 7/2/06 at 9:40am

i got a ticket for this on the 15th. i'm really excited :)

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/2/06 at 12:48pm

This show is brilliance! I saw it during previews (I was sitting on stage right) and I plan on going back before the end of the run. Not only has Duncan Sheik written a gorgeous rock score, but the cast that has been assembled is beaming with talent! And for those who want a preview of the Eponine from the upcoming revival of Les Mis, Lea Michele, she is stunning in SPRING AWAKENING. Special mention also to Jonathan Groff, Jonathan B. Wright, and John Gallagher, Jr. (RABBIT HOLE). This is the ensemble of the season! A show unlike any other. So get tickets now and see it! (And hope for a transfer, and a cast recording!)

Updated On: 7/2/06 at 12:48 PM

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 7/2/06 at 3:18pm

For once, I wholeheartedly agree with The Enchanted Hunter---this show is a first class bore. I would have fallen asleep, but the overamplified cast and band kept me from nodding off. There is definite talent in the cast---John Gallagher Jr. is a star, and Lea Michele will be great as Eponine---but the show is just so fake and static that it prevented me from even enjoying the cast's talents.

And one of the boys smokes a cigarette onstage! In Bloomberg's New York City!

Smoking is allowed on-stage, as long as the cigarettes are herbal. On-stage smoking has never been illegal.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/2/06 at 3:37pm

No offense to you guys who hated the show - I've never seen it - but it comes across a really contemporary piece of theater and something that is intended for younger audiences. Perhaps, if you're older (I don't know how old you are) you might not enjoy it as much?

Isn't there plans to bring it to Broadway. Maybe I can see it when I come to NYC in December.

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/2/06 at 6:02pm

I saw the show on the 14th of June (The night before it officially opened). Loved it and loved the music. I am a fan of Mr. Shiek's and had the pleasure of meeting him and chatting briefly after the show. He said that they are looking into recording the music from the show. At intermission I stopped Mr. Sater in the lobby by the concession stand to say that I was enjoying the show and that I play "A Home at the End of the World" constantly and he gave me a huge hug and said "thank you. That is so nice to hear"! For me, a very memorable evening.

Updated On: 7/2/06 at 06:02 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/2/06 at 6:10pm

RentBoy, I don't think it was "intended" for younger audiences but may appeal to them. The evening I saw it, most of the audience members appeared to be middle-aged. (Including me and my friend who attened the show with me).

Updated On: 7/2/06 at 06:10 PM

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 7/2/06 at 6:18pm

Rent Boy-

If a show is good---truly good---the age of the people viewing it wouldn't matter. However, SPRING AWAKENING, no matter what age it is marketed toward, is not good. It's a silly and anachronistic waste of time.

I'm 35 years old. I took my 17 year old nephew and my 20 year old niece to see this show. They both hated it. So, age doesn't seem to be a factor.

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/2/06 at 6:26pm

I will say that as much as I enjoyed this show, and I did very much (Definetly not a waste of time in my opinion), I don't think it should go to Broadway. I think it will fare better off Broadway. But I could be wrong. JMO

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/2/06 at 9:32pm

Well, like I said, I've not seen the show. I've just noticed that older people tend to not like the more contemporary sound. It's what most of us have grown up on, so it just seems normal to us. I'm not trying to knock anyone or anything, just an observation.

[cturtle]

Posted: 7/2/06 at 9:38pm

did duncan used to sing contemporary christian? or have i totally lost it?

[Esparzafan]

Posted: 7/2/06 at 10:00pm

I guess it's a love it or hate it show with no middle ground. I'm 36 and loved it and one of my bosses (he's in his late 50s) loved it, too. Just a matter of personal taste.

[Esparzafan]

Posted: 7/2/06 at 10:01pm

And, no, Duncan has never done contemporary Christian. Rock, pop, some adult contemporary but never Christian based songs.

[tourboi]

Posted: 7/2/06 at 10:05pm

How is Jonathan Groff in this? I was told he had a substantial part. I'm hoping to see it next week.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/2/06 at 10:46pm

any pictures of it or the logo?

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 7/3/06 at 2:35pm

"No offense to you guys who hated the show - I've never seen it - but it comes across a really contemporary piece of theater and something that is intended for younger audiences. Perhaps, if you're older (I don't know how old you are) you might not enjoy it as much?"

If being a "younger audience" member means not having the experience or knowledge to discern between good and bad, then, yeah, one might think it great. Otherwise, there's only two kinds of music--good and bad. And SPRING AWAKENING's score falls into the latter category.


Winthrop Paroo
River City, Iowa

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/3/06 at 3:09pm

I'm 25 -- I don't know if that's considered old or young, but I loved every ounce of this show! And Jonathan Groff was stunning. Such a wrenching, heartfelt performance.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 7/3/06 at 3:15pm

again, i've not seen it (but i'm a loud mouth so lemme just go) but i would think from EVERYTHING i've heard about the staging of this that it doesn't seem like it'd fare well on broadway. they'd have to completely reinvent stuff for the broadway crowd (and larger stage).

Duncan Sheik tends to be a bit thick on the strings on all his songs but i do love his music. plus the lyricist has a passion to his words that totally could work well for teenage angst.

again, i say. i'm really excited!
Updated On: 7/3/06 at 03:15 PM

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/3/06 at 3:20pm

I could see this becoming the next RENT if a Broadway transfer were to happen. It would need to be in a moderately sized theater, but I think it could really work.