Spring Awakening Reviews- Page 5

[Come Back to Me]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 2:50am

does anyone know how much Spring Awakening costs to run per week? I really hope it's still around in April.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 4:15am

The Philadelphia Inquirer is Positive:

"If there is anything like justice on Broadway, Spring Awakening - the breathtaking dissection of what it means to grow up - will become both a high mark of the season and a landmark musical.

In its exploration of new-found sexuality, when everything is extreme, with never a shade of gray, the show rips through the Eugene O'Neill Theatre with pounding intensity. When Spring Awakening, which opened last night, is at its alternative-rock best - aided always by the precision movement of choreographer Bill T. Jones - it sweeps the audience into its beat. When it's at its most poignant, you feel like the only person in the theater.
_______________________________________________________________

A major producer of the show, actor Tom Hulce, knew a good thing when he saw it, along with crowds that later kept Spring Awakening in sold-out business last season at the Atlantic Theatre Company in downtown Manhattan. It is the first musical the company has produced in its two decades.

I came away from that show not quite knowing what to think. It was beautiful to watch, with its good-looking young cast, and it was raw and sometimes gratuitous in its exploration of puberty - and of many things adults shy away from talking to teenagers about when the discussion is most urgent. I also thought it harbored a heap of teenage whining........

The other night, when I saw it in preview, I had no reservations. In its move uptown, cast intact, the show is even more powerful, thanks to minor rewrites.

It's still rough-hewn and racy - and funny, too - and its young characters still burst from their skins in a rigid world that demands control and submission. Now, they do it more elegantly; the show is only slightly less graphic, and comes with an additional (not entirely successful) song. New dialogue clarifies the characters' motives, their confusion, and the lessons they are forced to learn.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/entertainment/16211205.htm

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 4:18am

Clive Barnes gives it 4 Stars:

"THE good is rare enough in the the ater, but the excel lent is . . . well, just excellent. And so it was at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre last night when the gritty, groundbreaking "Spring Awakening" gave an unexpected jolt of sudden genius to wake up the hidebound Broadway musical.

The electricity is generated by a terrific tribe of young actors working with an authentic pop-rock score by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik that punches its story home.

But in the final count, the night is made heart-rending and magical by themes common to all - youth and dependency, just the weird human chemistry of growing up.

______________________________________________________________

Now its scenes of brutality, child abuse, masturbation, sadism, near rape, botched abortion and suicide - it must be the first Broadway cast album with a "Parental Advisory" warning - have a historic distance given immediacy by the music. Scored for a rock band with keyboards, bass, guitars, violins and percussion, it's first-rate - and the first Broadway score in a long while that owes nothing to Sondheim.

Michael Mayer has staged "Spring Awakening" with a cool efficiency, but more interesting is the inventive vitality of the choreography by Bill T. Jones, a major dance figure making his first visit to Broadway.

______________________________________________________________

This is a must-see musical, and not the least for the way it's performed.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12112006/entertainment/theater/awake__sing__theater_clive_barnes.htm

[BROADWAYFAN3]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 6:38am

Against all odds, authors Steven Sater (book and lyrics) and Duncan Sheik (music) have adapted one of the most universal plays of the last 125 years into one of the most alienating musicals in seasons

I agree with the TB review

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 6:43am

The Word of Mouth nobodies still haven't reviewed the show...shame

but glad to hear all the positive reviews!

[sciguy]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 6:43am

What a great way to start the morning. Great reviews continue.
Hope Munk gets a chance to read this thread.

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 9:49am

"The Word of Mouth nobodies still haven't reviewed the show...shame "

I'm just waiting for little Clark's review!

[Benzy92]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 10:01am

Daily News is a RAVE:

"Great news for theatergoers who have craved a new musical with attitude, youthful exuberance and a fresh, gutsy sound: "Spring Awakening," which opened last night at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, is what they've been seeking."

---------

"Spring Awakening" is a serious show that raises provocative issues. And if Broadway audiences are lucky, it will run for many seasons to come.



http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/theater/story/478962p-402928c.html

[Benzy92]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 10:07am

Newsday is a RAVE:

"Spring Awakening" did not merely open at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre last night. "The action was more like ripping open, more like breaking out, more like tearing into the pretend pop and reused plots that pass for new musicals on Broadway today."

"When this primal scream of turbulent puberty had its premiere Off-Broadway last summer at the Atlantic Theater Company, market indicators hoped for a youth magnet on the commercial coattails of "Rent" or "The Who's Tommy." In fact, this daring and exhilarating entertainment doesn't look like anything - nor do Duncan Sheik's songs sound like anything - invited yet to live in the same esthetic or economic world of "American Idol" screamers and ironic-comedy spoofs."

[Benzy92]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 10:09am

The Journal News is a RAVE:

"Spring Awakening," which moved to Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre last night, is the best Broadway musical of the year.

"It is sexy, original and beautifully crafted by a creative team that found a perfect way to make Frank Wedekind's 1891 Teutonic shocker sing to today's audiences."

(WARNING: HUUUUUUUUUUGE SPOILERS!!)
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061211/ENTERTAINMENT/612110313/1186/ENTERTAINMENTFRONT Updated On: 12/11/06 at 10:09 AM

[Luscious]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 10:28am

This has to be the best reviewed musical of the season! Glad I bought my tickets for January when they were still half-price. These reviews should do wonders for the box office. Can't wait to see it!!! I won't buy the cast recording until I've seen the show. (Well... I might buy it, but I won't listen to it.) That's just the way I am. But I'm really excited to here the full score!

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 11:14am

I must admit, I'm really surprised. I agree with BroadwayFan3 that the show was alienating; I didn't feel anything and I really wasn't a fan overall. However, I'm very happy to see such excitement over it and such great reviews. It's always nice to see a show succeed.

[wexy]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 11:28am

I saw it last week and I think it will appeal to lots of people.
I'm 50 and after seeing it, I thought back for the first time in years about Lori, the first girl I fooled around with, my friend Ron who we talked the mystery of girls with at 12 or 13 (He would in Attica for drug sales) and Renee who sat next me in 10th grade history who incredibly beautiful .
So it had an impact on me.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 12:29pm

It sound like Bill T. Jones' choreography could be a strong contender at the Tony Awards, which absolutely thrills me. It is so innovative and unlike anything Broadway has seen. I am beyond thrilled at these reviews! The two most difficult to please critics, John Simon and Clive Barnes, gave the show raves! It's surreal. I can't wait to see the box office jump.

Some quotes in reviews that stood out to me:

Theatermania:

Sheik's absolutely haunting and often breathtaking score still outshine Sater's poetic lyrics, and many of these songs clearly stand up to repeated listening. What's most remarkable about Sheik is his adeptness at so many musical styles, from the girl-group harmonies of "Mama Who Bore Me" to the Elvis Costello-like rock of Mortiz's "Don't Do Sadness" to the art-rock balladry of "Whispering."

NY Sun:

The result is, with apologies to Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson's masterful pas de deux of codependency in "Grey Gardens," the musical event of the year.

During the haunting opening song, " Mama Who Bore Me," Wendla introduces virtually the show's only piece of choreography, a swaying, sinuous, totemic series of movements from modern-dance icon Bill T. Jones. It is both provocative and protective — an ideal expression of adolescence — and it resurfaces throughout the musical: fast and slow, tentative and furious, triumphant and terrified.

Philadelphia Inquirer:

The cast is remarkable. The young Melchior, whose progressive thoughts make him an attractive radical among the girls and a role model for the boys, is played by a 21-year-old from Lancaster, Pa., named Jonathan Groff. Blessed with a strong baritone, great looks and a magnetic presence, Groff is adorable in his innocence. The girl he falls in love with is named Wendla, played by Lea Michele, a wide-eyed, rich-lipped beauty who sings with the sweetest longing.

Updated On: 12/11/06 at 12:29 PM

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 12:34pm

Also, here's the link to the full Newsday review, that Benzy92b forgot to include in his post:
A daring, primal 'Awakening'

Updated On: 12/11/06 at 12:34 PM

[shiksa_goddess]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 12:37pm

WOW. I'm so happy that almost all the reviews have been raves. Maybe this will get the public off it's butt and into the O'Neil.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 12:55pm

I am extremely thrilled for them. I'm not sure why someone felt the need to say something about me reading these reviews.

Of course I was going to read the reviews - I read all reviews. I didn't hate the show,and I don't think the show sucks. I said that I thought the score was brilliant and the direction wonderful, but that they needed to tighten up some of the sub-plots and go out with more of a bang. I saw this show on Thanksgiving, 1/2 a month ago. I'm sure considerable changes have been made, and I cannot wait to return to the show. After all, my review was of one of the first previews.

But I am truly thrilled that this show got great reviews. The only downside is that it might steal some thunder from the REALLY brilliant GREY GARDENS.

[Corine2]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 1:14pm

The BITCH OF LIVING song will not go out of my head.
I already want to see this show again.

It is a BITCH!

[golfer727272]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 1:18pm

Does anyone know if the soundtrack is in stores yet?

[Tom1071]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 1:22pm

Well deserved. I am so excited for them.
Updated On: 12/11/06 at 01:22 PM

[shiksa_goddess]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 1:25pm

Tomorrow is the release date for the album.

I also don't understand why Munk was brought into the thread. In his review of the show he was never dismissive and his thoughts were all well thought out. I enjoyed his review and don't see why you are all getting on his back.

Opinions...we all have them.

[#1Elphie]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 1:25pm

Munk, I saw the show on Thanksgiving, too. Where were you sitting? (I was onstage, stage right, first seat front row).

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 1:27pm

I was in the orchestra...probably 5 rows back, 3-4 seats in from the aisle.

[sciguy]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 2:02pm

My apologies from dragging Munk in. I'm not sure why I so rabidly defend Spring Awakening naysayers.
I guess I just don't share Munk's opinions on SA:

"I wish the show was brilliant. I just don't see it"
"The play was edgy 100 years ago, not now"
"I wish I was moved by the piece but I wasn't"
"Pulitzer HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

My apologies again.

[Julian2]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 2:27pm

The nobodys are up. I would say mixed to positive. They were very mellow about it, and I realized for the first time that they don't have a male teen/young adult on their "panal". They had the grandma, the young adult who wanted Poppins to be more like the movie, and one of the two billion middle aged women. They didn't pan it, they rather liked it, but they were rather subdued about the whole affair. The grandma did strongly suggest that other grandmas take their teens to SA to earn cool points.