Spring Awakening Monday 7/31

[Trina55]

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

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/1/06 at 1:24am

Bring Kate Burton to the Broadway production! I'm jealous that you got to see her tonight. I bet she was fabulous as always.

WOOHOO! And I would have died to see Sutt there.

Updated On: 8/1/06 at 01:24 AM

[gustof777]

Posted: 8/1/06 at 1:26am

Holy SH*T! That's soo awesome!! I think that I would have fainted seeing all those people and than having Kate Burton do the show! That's so cool what an unforgetable evening

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 8/1/06 at 1:31am

Man, I was so going to go tonight but decided to go Saturday instead! O well, I guess it'll be cool to see the final show. But I would have loved to see Kate Burton in the show. Glad you got to see her in it.

~Steven

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/1/06 at 8:46am

Kate Burton was actually in the audience when I saw the show on Friday. I wonder if she is actually being considered for McCann's full time replacment.

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/1/06 at 10:04am

My friend was there last night and filled me in earlier today about Burton performing in place of McCann. I'm wondering, is McCann out for good or is this just a temporary replacement while she's ill? She was actually one of the very few things I liked about the show. That said, I'm a huge Kate Burton fan and would definitely see the show again if she was added as a full-time cast member.

[Diva]

Posted: 8/1/06 at 10:10am

Who are the new understudies

[gustof777]

Posted: 8/1/06 at 1:00pm

with all respect to McCann...I REALLY hope Burton transfers with the cast. I would love to see her in this!

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/1/06 at 1:02pm

I'm pretty sure McCann is not transferring. She was actually the definite weak link when I saw it.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 8/1/06 at 1:55pm

i saw Barrett Foa and John Cameron Mitchell together at [title of show] on 07/29 so you probably saw them together. are they a couple?

anywho: i would love to see Kate Burton in this too! i'm so jealous you saw her/the show twice!

[Trina55]

Posted: 8/1/06 at 11:25pm

no, JCM, if it was in fact him, was definitely sitting with Michael Cerveris.
The guy who might have been Barrett Foa was sitting by himself.

[Trina55]

Posted: 8/1/06 at 11:31pm

Diva, the understudies (actually I guess they're swings) are Michael Mahany (Ernst, Hanschen, Melchior and Otto) and Devyn Rush (Anna, Martha and Thea). They're also listing cast members Brian Johnson and Phoebe Strole as understudies for Georg/Moritz and Ilse/Wendla, respectively.