Deaf West's SPRING AWAKENING Concludes Broadway Run Today; Tour to Launch in 2017

Deaf West Theatre's acclaimed Broadway production of SPRING AWAKENING closes today, Sunday, January 24 after 129 performances. The production will have life after Broadway, however, with a national tour scheduled to launch in 2017.

In the previously announced tour, the musical will return to Los Angeles, where the production originated, with further stops in Tempe, AZ, Seattle, WA and more to be announced.

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Producer Ken Davenport said, "This beautiful production has broken new ground on Broadway and has given people a new way to experience an already-stellar piece of musical theatre. We are thrilled to be able to bring it to a wider audience in cities across the country."

This history-making production is performed simultaneously in American Sign Language and spoken English by a cast of 28. It began previews on September 8and opened on September 27; the limited engagement will end on Broadway January 24.

SPRING AWAKENING celebrates diversity on Broadway: Cast member Ali Stroker is the first person on Broadway in a wheelchair; it is the first Broadway show to conduct its ticket lottery in American Sign Language; and the production performed at The White House as part of an event titled "Americans with Disabilities and the Arts: A Celebration of Diversity and Inclusion." Plus, the producers were honored by the New York City Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities with the Champions of Change Award.

The production also recently received six LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards, including Best Musical. SPRING AWAKENING came to Broadway following an extended, critically-acclaimed engagement at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles where the show was expanded from its original, sold-out run at the Rosenthal Theatre in downtown L.A.

Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's SPRING AWAKENING, directed by Michael Arden and choreographed by Spencer Liff, plays at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 West 47th Street). Deaf West Theatre was last represented on Broadway with the triumphant production of Big River in 2003.

The 28-member Broadway cast of SPRING AWAKENING is Robert Ariza, Miles Barbee, Katie Boeck, Alex Boniello, Joshua Castille, Lizzy Cuesta, Daniel N. Durant, Treshelle Edmond, Sandra Mae Frank, Kathryn Gallagher, Sean Grandillo, Elizabeth Greene, Russell Harvard, Amelia Hensley, Van Hughes, Lauren Luiz, Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Camryn Manheim, Daniel Marmion, Academy and Golden Globe Award winner and Emmy Award nominee Marlee Matlin, Austin McKenzie, Andy Mientus, Patrick Page, Ren, Krysta Rodriguez, Daniel David Stewart, Ali Stroker, Alexandra Winter, and Alex Wyse.

SPRING AWAKENING's creative team is Dane Laffrey (scenic and costume design), Ben Stanton (lighting design), Gareth Owen (sound design), and Lucy Mackinnon (projection design). New York casting is by Telsey + Company/Craig Burns, CSA. Original casting was by Beth Lipari and Bruce Newberg.

Based on Frank Wedekind's controversial 1891 expressionist play of the same name and featuring an electrifying pop/rock score, SPRING AWAKENING follows the lives of a group of adolescents as they navigate their journey from adolescence to adulthood in a fusion of morality, sexuality and rock & roll. An extraordinary creative team including Michael Arden and Spencer Liff has reinvented the groundbreaking musical about lost innocence and the struggles of youth in true Deaf West style.

Following its transfer from Atlantic Theatre Company to Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre, the original production of SPRING AWAKENING was the recipient of eight 2007 Tony Awards including Best Musical; four Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical; three Outer Critics Circle Awards including Outstanding New Broadway Musical; two Lucille Lortel Awards including Outstanding Musical; the Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical; and the 2007 Drama League Award for Distinguished Production of a Musical. Amidst critical reception for Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's rock score, including the Tony Award for Best Score and Drama Desk Awards for Best Music and Best Lyrics, SPRING AWAKENING launched the careers of its young actors now known for their film, television and theater work.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus