Spring Awakening Final show tonight!!! Anyone go?

[Miss_Jenny_Wins]

Posted: 8/5/06 at 9:05pm

Anyone go tonite to see the last off-broadway performance?

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 8/6/06 at 1:06am

I went tonight for the first time. I did the play this past semester at my college (I played Ernst Robel), so it was so interesting to see how they adapted it into a rock musical. The show had great energy and I absolutely loved the score. Please release a cast recording very soon!

I saw a couple of famous faces, including Jeff Marx and Jeremy Sisto. Jeremy seemed to have really liked the first act.

The show needs some work, especially in the second act. They mush all of the events of the play's second and third acts into the shorter, slower second half here. And what happened to the Masked Gentleman, the character the play is famous for? Did they completely do away with him? I was very dissatisfied with the ending, mostly because of the omission of this crucial character. Without him, the show has no real moral and it is very confusing. I mean, I guess I knew what was supposed to happen in the play, but I didn't know what happened in this version. I hope they clear the ending up before Broadway, perhaps make some rewrites. The second half in general needs to be reworked.

There were other aspects of the play that I missed, but it's a three-hour play and it's hard to condense that all into a two-hour musical. However, something that got lost in the adaptation that could have been interesting to see musicalized was the pressure society had on these young children. In the play, the children can never get their minds off their schoolwork, even at times of tragedy. They blow off Moritz's death as his own fault because he was the one who didn't pass. They then forget that they're paying their respects and leave the cemetery because they get carried away talking about the essays and assignments they have due. They don't really stop to realize what's happening because it's so engrained in their minds to think the way they think. Which makes it much more radical to be discussing their new sexual feelings and especially acting on any kind of homosexuality. I felt like the musical threw away all of the social commentary and made it just about teen angst, which is definitely part of the children's frustration but not the entirety of it at all.

Then again, I've studied this play inside and out. I wonder what other people thought of the ending and the second act in general. Either way, I very much enjoyed myself (I loved the first act!) and I hope it finds an audience on Broadway. And bring on the cast recording!

~Steven

[gustof777]

Posted: 8/6/06 at 1:23am

If you go to American Theater Wing's website, they interviewed the director on Downstage Center and he said that they took out the masked character because they felt that the music was a substitute or something like that. It was a while ago but he explains that. Glad to hear you had a good time

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 8/6/06 at 1:30am

If they do decide to leave him out, I hope they make the ending much clearer. But yes, I did enjoy myself thoroughly. It was a very original piece of theatre. How often do you get to say that you saw something original? It was exhilarating.

~Steven

[gustof777]

Posted: 8/6/06 at 2:06am

yeah it's a really interesting interview...I can't wait to see it on Broadway

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 8/6/06 at 2:16am

I'm listening to it right now, it's a great interview. Thanks for pointing me to it!

~Steven