rOcKS checks up on 'SPRING AWAKENING'

I'll keep this relatively short but it was my fourth trip back to the show and I realize every single time I see it why I continue to go back. It is such an incredible premise...and it's so electrifyingly directed. The moment at the beginning as Wendla screams "Mama!" and the other girls whip out their microphones to sing the Mama Who Bore Me Reprise is so incredibly original and brilliant. The music, the lighting, the singing, everything about that moment sets the stage for the rest of this amazingly inventive musical in such an unorthodox but phenomenally effective way. I was anxious to see how the new cast fares as I absolutely LOVED Lea Michele's performance and was very impressed by Groff's work when I first saw the show right after it opened. Socha was not on as Wendla but her understudy, Eryn Murman was wonderful. She took a different approach to the role and handled it in a way that made Wendla a little more sheepish and weak, but it showed a really tremendous character arc as she developed the character throughout the show. Her singing was spot on and she was really very good. Kyle Riabko is okay...he's really doing a second-rate impersonation of Groff's performance from line delivery to movement to vocal performance at times. When he lets go and doesn't try so hard, its really amazing, but he comes off as incredibly stiff and really uninvolved in the action. It was a really stoic and boring performance to be quite honest. The rest of the cast is holding up nicely...particularly Skylar Astin, who, the last two times I saw the show, knocked my socks off. His riffs/solo in Touch Me are amazing. Blake Bashoff is good if also a bit too similar to Gallagher Jr...he's leagues better than Riabko though.

This is just such an amazing musical that honestly, any one weak performance wouldn't detract much from the story, the score, the direction, the choreography, the lighting, the orchestrations...everything about this show technically speaking is so inventive, smart, electrifying, and brilliant. I know there are many people on this board who think it's overrated but I happen to think it's the best musical to hit Broadway in a very, very, VERY long time. It's haunting, beautiful, and so immaculately crafted...if you haven't seen it, get your tickets now. For once, a show where the MATERIAL is the star and the best thing about it...no matter the mediocre performances, the material is still unbelievable. It's one of VERY few shows in the last ten years that is a true must-see. And that is still true after a year and a half on Broadway.

Updated On: 6/14/08 at 01:24 PM

Me too...wonderful review.

I know it's unpopular to like this show, but I love it.

I'm hoping to catch Riabko in the next couple of weeks (I've already seen Socha when she went on as an understudy).

Updated On: 6/14/08 at 01:47 PM

How did you like her, adam?

I enjoyed Socha a great deal. She doesn't sing the role nearly as well as Michele did, but she brings a vulnerability and naivete to the character that Lea Michele did not have. At times, Michele (who I also loved in the role) seemed a bit too polished.

In the last months of his run, Jon Groff always gave a better performance opposite Socha. By then, he and Michele (who are apparently very close friends) had become too familiar with each other, so that their early scenes together were missing that awkwardness that is essential to those scenes making sense.

Great review...I want to try to catch this show sometime again this summer!

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Saw the show again today. Alexandra Socha was phenomenal, as always. Her acting is some of the most natural I've ever seen on a Broadway stage. The hayloft scene worked SO WELL. I was amazed at the changes.