Spring Awakening Tour Review: Cleveland

[Robert Taylor]

Posted: 3/4/09 at 11:32am

https://cleveland.broadwayworld.com/article/Spring_Awakening_Tour_Review_Cleveland_20090304
Updated On: 3/4/09 at 11:32 AM

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 3/4/09 at 11:46am

A great review. Sad I won't be able to catch the tour, but it's nice to see that a show I love and saw 15 times is carrying on more than well outside of Broadway. Congrats to the cast for still going strong.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/4/09 at 2:44pm

I've heard from many that the tour cast is better than the final cast on B'way.

Bashoff has always been my favorite Moritz -- but I thought Gallagher was wonderful as well.

[lcinva]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 9:16am

I saw this for the first time on Tuesday night with my husband, and I thought the music, choreography, and staging were fabulous. We actually had an understudy as Melchior (surprising, seeing that it was opening night)and I thought he and Moritz definitely stood out above the rest.

It was interesting, the theater was maybe 50-75% full, whereas every other show I've been to at Playhouse is almost to capacity. Most of the people there appeared to be older season-ticket holders...and judging by their after-show comments had no idea what the show was about prior to coming.

While I understand that some uncomfortable scenes have artistic value, yada yada, I don't personally care for them and after seeing the show I think it could have been done probably as effectively without as much, or as graphically. That being said, it didn't really take away from the show for me, but it definitely did for most of the audience (my husband and I are in our mid 20s, we're a little more flexible than they seemed to be!).

Furthermore...the absolute best part of the show was the guy sitting behind me who was by himself and kind of an anomaly in the crowd (younger black guy by himself, amidst 50-60 year old white couple). Hilarious. At the beginning of the second act, he yells out D*MN....and then when Hanschen and Ernst do their thing, he yelled out "AWW H*LLL NAWWW". Strangely enough, some other girl shrieked during that scene too. I can't imagine ever shrieking during a musical. She was fairly young...you'd think she'd know what the musical was about.

Anyway, that's that. I loved the music, and understudy Melchior's voice! Huge fan.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 11:50am

lcinva,
I am sorry to say this, but I must... people reacting that way? Homophobia needs to be dealt with.. yesterday. I HATE human beings. I really do.
Frankly,if you felt *that* uncomfortable seeing open nd free discussion of certain things, take a look inside yourself.. why did they make you uncomfortable? Did you ever think that the poingt of the show is THAT exact thing? Being embarassed and uncomfortabel is absolutely ridiculous and there is no point to it. Americans need to get over this puritanical view of sex and sexuality.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 11:57am

Was Matt Shingledecker on as Melchior?

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 5:06pm

It also got a very good review from Tony Brown in the Plain Dealer.

http://www.cleveland.com/onstage/index.ssf/2009/03/opened_at_playhousesquare_tues.html

[lcinva]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 9:20pm

LizzieCurry - it was actually Perry somebody...I'm sorry, I don't have my playbill to look at. He was great though, definitely a highlight of the show.

broadwayguy2 - While I appreciate your comments, regarding my comments about the audience...their reactions, inappropriate or not, were hilarious and/or shocking. That was my point in introducing the anecdote.

Furthermore, I think I specifically mentioned that the scenes were not so uncomfortable for me that it took away from the show. What I said was, I don't particularly care for that kind of artistic expression. I am allowed to feel that way if I want. Please don't pass any judgements about me, and how I should look inside myself. I am in a very happy, fulfilling marriage, I am well educated, and I love life - your perception of my "ridiculousness" is, I'm sure, based on some faulty assumptions about how I'm sexually repressed or something equally stupid.

Lastly, speaking of ridiculous, some of your spelling is ridiculous.

To get back on track - this was a great show, and I would be interested to hear some more reviews of the principal Melchior from the Cleveland stop! I might try to get some tickets later next week to try and see him.

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 3/6/09 at 10:14am

I'm assuming it was Perry Sherman.

Thanks for your review! I really enjoyed the tour when I saw it a few weeks back.

[dg22894]

Posted: 3/6/09 at 11:26am

Thanks for the Review!

[johng428]

Posted: 3/7/09 at 6:47am

I saw the show Thursday night and it was a perfect performance. There was not a weak link in the entire cast. Matt Shingledecker was on as Melchior and was very good. Blake Bashoff was amazing. The energy coming from the stage was infectious. The staging was very well done. As a touring production, this is one of the best I have seen in the past few years.

To reiterate some of lcinva's comments, the house was not packed at all. I've been a season ticket holder for 12 years now and was surprised that more people weren't there. Maybe word of mouth will kick in and the second week will be more attended.

My seats are in the front of the mezzanine and I had to laugh during the Hanschen and Ernst scene. There was not one sound from the mezzanine, but you could hear the gasp from the orchestra seats the moment they kissed. It was a funny moment. It always amazes me when something like that illicits that reaction from an audience.