#1
Posted: 8/1/06 at 1:23am
I saw Spring Awakening for the second time tonight, and what a night it was to be there!
One of the producers (?) came onto the stage before the show started to announce that Mary McCann (who plays the adult women) was unable to perform due to illness, so KATE BURTON had come in to "bail them out." She'd been involved with the Lincoln Center reading, but had only one rehearsal (that day!) with this production. She was on book but she was FANTASTIC. Frankly I wasn't fond of either of the adults the first time around, so It was a relief to see that the adult characters could be played with more richness even within the framework of their being intentionally similar.
There were also a number of interesting faces in the audience. Michael Mayer and the production staff were there, presumably because of the last-minute understudy situation. What didn't occur to me until I started spotting actors was that it was one of the only Monday performances in the Atlantic run, so there were lots of Broadway folks in the audience. From my excellent vantage point (onstage seats, upper row) I saw Michael Cerveris sitting with John Cameron Mitchell, Sutton Foster with Christian Borle, someone who may or may not have been Barrett Foa, and I think Alice Ripley toward the back. Sarah Jessica Parker was there too, and I'm sure there were others that I didn't recognize.
Anyway, the show was fabulous (again), and sitting onstage was a blast - although those seats hurt after a while! It was interesting to see in the program that they've added understudies for the younger roles (one male and one female). I'm sure when they transfer they'll have swings for the adults, but it was kind of exciting to see triage in action - and excellent work, at that!
I believe they're all sold out now, but I hope you all get to see it when it moves to Broadway. I can't say that realistically I have a lot of faith in the show's ability to survive there, but it's a great piece and I'm glad it's getting a shot.
~Alex
One of the producers (?) came onto the stage before the show started to announce that Mary McCann (who plays the adult women) was unable to perform due to illness, so KATE BURTON had come in to "bail them out." She'd been involved with the Lincoln Center reading, but had only one rehearsal (that day!) with this production. She was on book but she was FANTASTIC. Frankly I wasn't fond of either of the adults the first time around, so It was a relief to see that the adult characters could be played with more richness even within the framework of their being intentionally similar.
There were also a number of interesting faces in the audience. Michael Mayer and the production staff were there, presumably because of the last-minute understudy situation. What didn't occur to me until I started spotting actors was that it was one of the only Monday performances in the Atlantic run, so there were lots of Broadway folks in the audience. From my excellent vantage point (onstage seats, upper row) I saw Michael Cerveris sitting with John Cameron Mitchell, Sutton Foster with Christian Borle, someone who may or may not have been Barrett Foa, and I think Alice Ripley toward the back. Sarah Jessica Parker was there too, and I'm sure there were others that I didn't recognize.
Anyway, the show was fabulous (again), and sitting onstage was a blast - although those seats hurt after a while! It was interesting to see in the program that they've added understudies for the younger roles (one male and one female). I'm sure when they transfer they'll have swings for the adults, but it was kind of exciting to see triage in action - and excellent work, at that!
I believe they're all sold out now, but I hope you all get to see it when it moves to Broadway. I can't say that realistically I have a lot of faith in the show's ability to survive there, but it's a great piece and I'm glad it's getting a shot.
~Alex
