For the New York Times, Charles Isherwood writes "As that daring sequence suggests, Mr. Sater, who wrote the book and lyrics, remains faithful to the play’s awareness that the discovery of sex can carry in its heady wake both salvation and destruction, particularly when it is coupled with ignorance. Mr. Sheik’s music, spare in its simple orchestrations, lush in the lapping reach of its seductive choruses, embodies the shadowy air of longing that infuses the show, the excitement shading into fear, the joy that comes with a chaser of despair. The singing throughout is impassioned and affecting, giving powerful voice to the blend of melancholy and hope in the songs."

David Rooney in Variety says "For anyone weary of pedestrian screen-to-stage adaptations or cut-and-paste jukebox assemblies, the arrival on Broadway of a truly original new musical like "Spring Awakening" is exhilarating. Seven years after it was first workshopped, Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's artful reinterpretation of the 1891 German Expressionist drama has deepened considerably. The show's long evolution and further fine-tuning since its hit run at Off Broadway's Atlantic Theater early this summer have amplified its resonance, adding texture and poignancy. It captures the dangerous anxiety of youth standing on the precipice of adulthood with transfixing honesty.

Clive Barnes for the NY Post writes that "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."

Joe Dziemianowicz for the NY Daily News writes that "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."

Linda Winer for Newsday writes that ""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."

Elysa Gardner for USA Today wrote that "Beautiful, messy, exhilarating, awkward, vital: They're all adjectives you might use to describe first love. So it's fitting that you could also readily apply them to Spring Awakening, the imperfect but transcendent new musical that opened Sunday at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre."

Michael Kuchwara for the Associated Press writes that "That hasn't deterred adapter and lyricist Steven Sater and composer Duncan Sheik. What they have done here is upend traditional musical theater. They separate story from song, rigidly dividing the saga of these troubled teens as they confront their budding sexuality in a world that wants to keep it hidden. Propriety and appearances are what count, after all."

Overall, lots of out and out raves for this show which I loved myself a couple of weeks back as well. All of this well-deserved critical praise should help propel the show to reach the audience that it deserves. Bravo to all involved!