SPRING AWAKENING A Burst of Rock, Pop, Youth, And Sex

I am fearful of the angry villagers surrounding my house with flaming torches. No, I have not built a replica of the Frankenstein monster. However, I am here to tell you that SPRING AWAKENING was not, shall we say, my cup of tea. So many people are passionate with their devotion to this musical, that I think it best that I go into hiding for a few days after this review is live on the internet.

This show does things that your traditional musical does not do. That is where I begin to be perplexed. SPRING AWAKENING has what we might term traditional Broadway songs, including ballads and tuneful melodies. This is where Duncan Sheik on music and Steven Sater on lyrics certainly let us down. It also has some of the most exciting, and fetching rock songs or ‘indie rock' ever presented on a Broadway stage. This is where Sheik and Sater make SPRING AWAKENING a rock concert with theatrical surroundings. Or, perhaps they made a theatrical show and infused it with a rock concert sensibility.

SPRING AWAKENING is not a descendant of HAIR, with its fine melodies and lyrics to which you can sing along. If anything SPRING AWAKENING descends from RENT. However, SPRING AWAKENING has better songs than RENT, and the production design team of SPRING AWAKENING can take the RENT folk to school.

This show, based on a none too successful German play written in 1891, is about coming of age. Therefore, everything youthful is in abundance. The entire cast, except for a couple of adults who play all the adult parts, are young people. Most seemed to be in their 20's but there was no problem believing they were a few years younger. Many of the songs were performed into 2010 styled microphones, the band is onstage as are about 20 audience members.

The primary setting, courtesy of Christine Jones, is a boarding school, where the students mostly wear Susan Hilferty's tweedish school uniforms. Bursting within these uniforms is blossoming sexuality. Steven Sater's book seems to have covered most available territory. The abused child, the gay boys, the naïve girl, the let em have it dude, abortion, masturbation. Speaking of masturbation. Without question the highlight of act one for me and most attending last night's opening, was a young man, very handsome, in a night shirt, masturbating furiously, while pulsating rock rhythms and action continually surrounded him. The masturbating was kept underneath the night shirt and it was riveting watching the actor (who did a great job, by the way, and forgive me for not being able to ascertain his name) at work. We kept waiting for him to explode and he did and the number did. Unfortunately, the explosions in this show are too few and there is a general lack of consistency to the structure in which these proceedings are put forth.

Bill T. Hones' choreography was exciting and 'perfectly served' the book and music and lyrics. Mr. Hones' did not reach high enough, and had he 'reached for the moon' with his choreography, it is likely that it would have given the entire show a glorious lift.

I was not thrilled with the trite set design for this show. Too close to too many we have seen in the past. And yet, the lighting by Kevin Adams is nothing short of remarkable. He does not just help create moods and keep us seeing things. His lighting is wondrous and seems to draw forth a great deal of the fabulously driving pace with which this show is performed. Indeed, it is just possible that Mr. Adams' work here is the most intense and extensive use of lighting design since the original production of A CHORUS LINE.

Taylor Trensch as Moritz, Jake Epstein as Melchior, and Christy Altomare as Wendla, head up the young cast. Of course, they are all great, we wouldn't expect anything less from the National tour of a Tony winning Best Musical.

I will think of SPRING AWAKENING and read more about it in the next several days. I have the CD but have not yet listened to it. I suspect, had I been familiar with the songs, I would have enjoyed their presentation on stage a great deal more. This is the case with many deeply textured musicals. Perhaps, one day I will find out that is what SPRING AWAKENING really is. A fabulous rock concert bursting at the seems as it tries to fit into musical theater.

The last performance of SPRING AWAKENING at the Arsht Center is May 16.

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