Spring Awakening is shaking up the Oriental Theater through August 14th - you do not want to miss this show!
How can you easily describe a show like Spring Awakening? You can't. Considering that its based on a German play that was written almost 120 years ago, it's intriguing to see that all of the themes it contains are still relevant today, no matter where or when you live. The themes are universal: love, curiosity, sex, pain and loss.
Spring Awakening was nominated for 11 Tonys in 2007 and won 8 of those including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score and Best Lighting Design of a Musical, among others.
Spring Awakening is the story of children turning into adolescents and young adults and oppressive parents, teachers. The parents want to keep the children in the dark about love, life and most importantly sex and "where babies come from." The children only want to be on their own, to discover love, life and more importantly explore their own bodies and each others, and the Teachers want to exert their control through discipline and hard lessons. The show opens with the lead actress imploring her mother to tell her where babies come from, to only hear a tale that "in order to have a baby, you must REALLY love your husband." The children try to unravel the story of love and sex, while the whole time the parents and other adults are trying to muddy the water and break the spirit of the rambunctious children who no longer want to be children
Spring Awakening' is not like any other show before it. The very talented, very young cast, performs amazingly well together in this half-concert/half-musical, especially when they pull handheld mics from within their costumes and sing directly to the audience. The set is starkly bare with only chairs and a table brought on as props, and a wall full of memoriabilia that is highlighted throughout the show. The set is barely there but the stage is full with the small orhcestra and audience members sitting like a jury on either side of the stage watching the action unfold in front of them. The show moves along quickly though as it deftly morphs from scene-to-scene with an interesting light design, I can see why it won a Tony!
This show IS definitely NOT for the young though - AT ALL - one of the songs is aptly named "Totally Fucked" that is sung by the the lead male actor when he is expelled from school for writing a 10 page essay, with life-like illustrations, about sex for his best friend. There's also nipples, butt and suicide, lots of swearing and tossing of middle fingers. Oh yeah if you want to see nipple make sure you sit on the left and if you want to see butt, sit on the right.
Spring Awakening is not a light, happy and airy show, it's dark, strong and joyful as the characters discover themselves and the secrets they keep hidden deep within themselves. It's not a show that gives you a nice happy ending that allows you to leave the theater with the story neatly wrapped up in your head. It will leave you thinking about it's characters, songs and themes long after the house lights come up. And you'll leave the theater wondering if you've yet experienced your own Spring Awakening.
- What: Spring Awakening
- When: NOW thru August 16
- Where: Oriental Theater
- How Much: $25 - $95
Purchase tickets online
