SPRING AWAKENING Returns to Seattle, 4/20 - 5/6
By: Harmony Wheeler
After receiving positives reviews from critics and audiences alike – and selling out every performance of its January run – Balagan Theatre brings the coming-of-age rock musical, Spring Awakening, back to Seattle in April, plus a weekend tour to Mount Vernon in May.
Directed by Seattle musical mainstay Eric Ankrim (currently starring in First Date, a 5th Avenue Theatre/ACT Theatre co-production), the April run of Spring Awakening features two local teenage actors in lead roles: 18-year-old Gig Harbor resident Bryan Gula (The Oklahoma! Project, Spring Awakening) and 17-year-old Yakima resident Tori Gresham (The Boyfriend, The Crucible).
The April run of Spring Awakening also welcomes the return of two local musical actors in encore performances of their lead roles: Kirsten Delohr Helland (Oklahoma!, The Pajama Game) and Jerick Hoffer (Red Ranger Came Calling, Threepenny Opera).
Seattle performances are April 20-22 and 26-29 at the Erickson Theatre on Capitol Hill (1524 Harvard Avenue). Tickets start at $20 and are on sale at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/215408. Mount Vernon performances are May 4-6 at the Lincoln Theatre (712 South First Street). Tickets start at $14 and are on sale at http://www.lincolntheatre.org/performance/spring-awakening.
Spring Awakening features music by Grammy-winning musical artist Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater. The 2006 Broadway production won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Original Score; and launched the careers of Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff (of television's Glee). Set in late-1890s Germany, the musical follows a group of teenagers as they discover their minds, bodies, and passions in the journey through adolescence… sometimes to disastrous consequence.
The Spring Awakening cast features more young local artists like Justin Huertas (Speech & Debate, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) and Mike Spee (Take Me America, Jesus Christ Superstar). Justin is currently under commission as a playwright at Seattle Repertory Theatre for a performance piece chronicling five years' worth of experiences auditioning for, touring with, and ultimately starring in Spring Awakening. Mike is a regular performer with Village Theatre and a cast member of the 5th Avenue Theatre's Adventure Musical Theatre touring company.
Even the production crew is a veritable who's-who of the Seattle theatre scene. Spring Awakening Assistant Director Shawn Belyea is Balagan's Artistic Director and Executive Producer of 14/48, The World's Quickest Theater Festival. Casting Director Brandon Ivie is Artistic Director of Contemporary Classics, for which he received the 2010 Gregory Award for Person To Watch; he most recently directed Cinderella at The 5th Avenue Theatre.
Spring Awakening is presented in agreement with Music Theatre International.
Please note: This production contains some adult content, including explicit language, sexual references, and brief nudity; it is not recommended for audience members younger than 14 years old.
For more information, visit www.balagantheatre.org.
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