ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Lauren_T
Stand-by Joined: 11/28/06
#1ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:24pm
The casting of SA has gone WACK! I don't understand what they are thinking. This girl looks so young on stage with Groff that it is scary and very very uncomfortable. It looks, no matter how you shake it, that Melchior is an taking advantage of a 12 year-old child!!! Yes, child!! This casting takes Spring Awakening to a wrong wrong wrong wrong level. It looks so off. People at intermission were throwing around words like, rape, child pornography, illegal, etc. !! The girl has talent but she should play Thea Anna or the other girl roles. NOT WENDLA! She is Remy's height and build! Anyone else at the show? Please, I know I am not alone on this! I think casting thinks the kids need to look 12. The cast needs to look young, yes. But they dont need to be looking like they are 12!! Spring Awakening would still work if the kids were in their late teens. In the 1800s kids at 17 18 19 years-old still didnt know much about sex and all that. Not just the tweens! Bottom line, Alexandra looks way to young to play Wendla.
Updated On: 8/25/07 at 06:24 PM
shesamarshmallow
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/23/06
#2re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:26pmHuh... that was my problem with the show all along, even with an older looking Wendla. So it's rape just because she looks 12? Please, it's rape anyway.
broadwayunderstudies.com - most underrated performers on broadway
americanboy99
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/06
#2re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:27pm
Isn't Wendla supposed to be about 12.
I think that the word rape should come up at intermission.
MerMaggieGalinda
Broadway Star Joined: 11/29/06
#3re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:28pmWendla is supposed to be more around 14/15.
#4re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:34pmWell, I can see it being problematic if it looks like child abuse or something, but um, it should have been clear that it was rape all along. Don't even get me started on the fact that people are only considering it rape when Wendla looks too young to be Melchior's peer.
americanboy99
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/06
Lauren_T
Stand-by Joined: 11/28/06
#7re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:39pm
see the age thing drives me nuts because NO ONE in the audience..unless they know the show inside out...know that the characters are suppose to be 14/15. Groff, Michele, Gallagher, Wright, Astin, Johnson, Glick, and Cooper DONT LOOK 14/15! They all look 19-23! So this whole "needs to look" 14-15y/o thing drives me crazy!
Updated On: 8/25/07 at 06:39 PM
#8re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:40pmAlex is 17-18...
"I mean, sitting side by side with another man watching Patti LuPone play Rose in GYPSY on Broadway is essentially the equivalent of having hardcore sex." -Wanna Be A Foster.
"Say 'Goody.' Say 'Bubbi.'" ... "That's it. Exactly as if it were 'Goody.' Now I know you're gonna sing 'Goody' this time, but nevertheless..."
Lauren_T
Stand-by Joined: 11/28/06
#9re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:41pm
yes but she looks 12 on stage and Groff looks 21-22. Period!
Updated On: 8/25/07 at 06:41 PM
#10re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:42pmI don't know that it matters that they look say, 17 instead of 14 so much as it does that they all look the SAME age.
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#12re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:44pm
I heard Alexanra was a great Wendla
can we hear about her performance?
Once upon a time I used to play with toys,
but now I'd rather play around with teenage boys
Lauren_T
Stand-by Joined: 11/28/06
#13re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:44pmwell there is no way that you will get Remy and Groff to look the same age. They should look the same age range...16-21...like all the casting calls say!
Lauren_T
Stand-by Joined: 11/28/06
#14re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:46pm
Updated On: 8/25/07 at 06:46 PM
#15re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:47pmUm, the casting call is listed for the age the actors actually ARE, not the age they LOOK.
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#16re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:47pmLauren_T - perhaps you're a bit too much of a fan.
Lauren_T
Stand-by Joined: 11/28/06
#17re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:49pmluvtheEmcee..i understand that. But I was trying to say most of the cast look their age...not younger.
#18re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:56pm
but teens in germany actually did look alot older than teens do now.
look at what the average 15/16 year old looked like in the past
people in that age range look much younger now...sounds weird, and not an excuse...but true
Once upon a time I used to play with toys,
but now I'd rather play around with teenage boys
#19re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 6:57pm
Well, in the original play, it's definitely rape. But, when ever anyone of the cast of the musical talk about it, they said they tried to make it not rape because she eventually consents.
But, yeah, I heard she's the new standby and we were all shocked since she's 17. But, it's legal. So, how was her performance?
Some people paint, some people sew, I meddle.
#20re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 7:01pmHow about a review of her actual performance? Not just how young she looked.
#21re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 7:03pm
in the libretto, steven sater talks about the specific choice they made in THEIR telling of SA:
"In Wedekinds script, Melchior rapes Wendla. We wanted to see him make love to her. More, we wanted to see how this young man...first uncovers ineluctable sexual feelings; how he begins to own his sexual identity, how he helps Wendla awaken hers." -Steven Sater
the second issue is that in the equity audition calls, they say wendla, melchior and moritz are 15/16....
so i dont know if that changes anyones opinions. But thats how old the people behind the show believe these characters are.
"The Light in the Piazza....My Love"
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#22re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 7:14pm
Wait - Alexandra Socha is Remy's height and build?
If that was her, who was the chubby-ish girl I saw at the 8/15 matinee? It was a Wednesday. She had curly hair and was chubby, and sat in Row BB on stage right. She came onstage talking to Gerard Canonico, and she sang with the ensemble in some songs. I just assumed it was Alexandra Socha even though I thought she looked slightly different. She didn't look to be Remy's build to me. Who was that then???
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
MerMaggieGalinda
Broadway Star Joined: 11/29/06
#23re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 7:38pmMaybe it was Jenn Damiano? Although Jenn doesn't look chubby at all, she has curly hair though.
popculture37
Understudy Joined: 8/14/06
#24re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 7:50pmOne of the few things that I dislike about Spring Awakening is that they watered down some of the more uncomfortable moments from the play. No one should be leaving the theater talking about how cute Wendla and Melchior are as a couple. It's fine that they want to portray the scene as one of love and developing sexuality, but it's still a hesitant thing that's not entirely consensual from the very beginning and that has huge consequences, and it should make you feel uncomfortable. So as awkward as it might look, I think the play works with a small, young-looking Wendla. If anything, I wish Groff looked younger than he does-he's good but I find it hard to believe him as someone in his mid teens.
#25re: ALEXANDRA SOCHA as Wendla 8/25 Mat.
Posted: 8/25/07 at 8:01pm
Was it Frances Mercanti Anthony? She is the understudy for Adult Women.
Also, wow. I am definitely surprised they put her on as Wendla so early. I'd have thought that they'd put Phoebe on and have Alexandra be Anna. Alexandra definitely looks insanely young and would make Groff look like a child molester. I hope I never have to see that. Him with Gerard was odd enough.
