BWW Reviews: Stage Door Inc.'s SPRING AWAKENING Brings on the Angst and Emotional Turmoil of Suppressed Adolescent Youth

SPRING AWAKENING is adapted from an 1891 German play by Frank Wedekind exploring teenage sexual stirrings in the repressive atmosphere of 19th century Germany's bourgeois class. At the time it was banned for its frank depiction of heavy themes such as sex, homosexuality, abortion and abuse. Many decades later those themes made for an epic angst-filled show and SPRING AWAKENING opened as a rock musical in 2006. With Steven Sater (book and lyrics) and Duncan Sheik (music) it went on to win eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and a Grammy. Juxtaposing the old-fashioned attitudes with upbeat, pop-rock melodies, the music brings the adolescents' inner turmoil with songs like "The B*tch of Living," "The Word of Your Body" and the surprisingly profound "My Junk".

Stage Door Inc.'s production exploits SPRING AWAKENING's controversial themes and showcases a dynamic cast. In the three main roles, Laura Salas Garza, Colton Wright and Miguel Guzman radiate strength and vulnerability, and are not only at home onstage but very capable of tackling the complexity of the show's heavy themes.

Following a group of kids growing up in a pious community in late-19th-century Germany, SPRING AWAKENING explores the lust and confusion of the adolescents discovering their budding sexuality while being repressed by their parents and teachers. Wendla's mother is too inhibited to give her daughter an ounce of sex education. Moritz (Miguel Guzman) believes the erotic dreams that plague him are a sure sign of insanity. Melchior (Colton Wright), having learned about sex through books, tries to inform his friends about what they feel and is convinced that the suppression of desire is a conspiracy among the adults to keep the teens unhappy and complacent.

Wendla (Laura Salas Garza) begs her mother to simply tell her how babies are conceived and is denied. This shadowing of reality leads her to figure out, much too late, on her own. Garza sells a truthful combination of innocence and ignorance that a young girl coming into her own should posses.

The story of Moritz (Guzman) is unadulterated woe. He's an average student and now so preoccupied with sexual fantasies he can't concentrate in school. Unbeknownst to him the strict headmaster is keen to fail him, whether he passes or not, in keeping with the school's strict reputation for being selective. For Moritz's father, his son's grades are a social disgrace, and when he fails the teen staggers under the weight of harsh adult criticism and contemplates suicide. Mortiz is awkwardly not perfect and Guzman understands that. He emotionally takes charge and is inspiring all the way until his demise.

Melchoir (Wright) seems to be the only teen, that is aware of what's happening and because of that he's cynical of everything. Even so, behind that curtain of cynical all knowingness, he still is very much unsure of himself and eventfully finds reassurance as the results of unfortunate events. Watching Wright in action suggests that perhaps awareness is a gift as well as a burden.

Sheik's score has the urgency of rock, slightly muzzled by pop's desire to entertain. The songs emphasize attitude more than storytelling. In this production, a stew of successful juxtapositions, the music supports a show that constantly plays with contrasts.

Costumes, by Kourtney Pepper, take after the rigid and stoic fashion of the late 19th century. The boys wear structured school uniforms. The girls are prim and proper in long dresses made to conceal their innocence. The tension between child and teenager is nicely captured with clothing that tries, and fails, to subdue them.

The choreography, by Grechen Odum, centers on lots of frenetic movement that allows the actors to propel themselves around with energy and shows they are bursting to be free from their situation of repression. This works wells in exploring their expression of frustration with their surroundings.

Today's society is more in touch with sexual desire, so the dark fears of a teenager may seem to belong to an earlier, unenlightened age, but historical repression is a clever metaphor for every doubt each adolescent faces. Despite the date, the show transcends across time representing awakenings in some shape or form everywhere. Each child on the precipice of puberty asks dark and dangerous questions, sorting through the same fears, taboos and whispers that echoed in Victorian ears.

The story arcs are distressing, but the musical has its outbursts of joy and invigorating defiance. Directors Marc Anthony Glover and Carrie Doss helped the cast establish a good pace and energy, while fully exploiting their multi-layered set that provides intimacy between audience and cast. Stage Door Inc.'s SPRING AWAKENING is both an enigma of a rock musical with a rhythmically progressive and melodious score, and an intense character driven show depicting painful, honest emotions of youth everywhere in past, present and future.

SPRING AWAKENING runs through September 28. For tickets and more information please visit http://www.stagedoorinc.com/#!2014-season/c5je.

Photo courtesy of Stage Door Inc.

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