Spring Awakening

Sexual expression and repression, abstinence only education, and the ramifications of illegal abortion may not be the stuff of most Tony Award-winning musicals, but this year’s “Spring Awakening” is no typical Broadway show.

Based on the play of the same name written by German playwright Frank Wedekind in 1891, the show tells of the sexual awakening of teenagers in a society that refuses to talk about sex. Banned repeatedly for nearly 100 years due to its subject matter, a performance of the play was shut down in New York City in 1917 by officials claming the material was pornographic. Only an injunction by the Supreme Court allowed the show to go on, but it closed after a single performance.

Parents shrink away from telling their children about sex, leaving teens to educate one another without the benefits of maturity and life experience. Birth control is neither discussed nor available. Fathers sexually assault daughters while mothers turn a blind eye, yet it is the children who feel guilty and ashamed. Young adults are seen but not heard, except by each other.

Almost unbearably exhilarating and quietly devastating, the musical version currently playing at the Eugene O’Neill Theater features a dynamic pop/rock score by Duncan Sheik (think “Barely Breathing”) and Steven Sater, explosive choreography by Bill T. Jones, and one of the most vocally and emotionally pitch-perfect companies of energizing performers – almost all of whom are in their late teens to early twenties – one is ever likely to see on a Broadway stage. Jonathan Groff is a star in the making, and it’s exciting to know you’re getting in on the ground floor of a remarkable career to come. As a charismatic and self-proclaimed atheist who “doesn’t believe in anything,” he is both boldly cavalier and youthfully vulnerable, with a voice that maneuvers comfortably between passionate baritone and sweet falsetto. Lea Michele (who has been with the show since its original workshop at the age of 14) poignantly sets the course for the entire show with a number entitled “Mama Who Bore Me,” a desperate plea for a greater understanding of her body and her emotions. And Tony-winner John Gallagher, Jr. rocks his heart and soul out as the teenager none of us want(ed) to be but many of us are(were) – gawky, isolated, confused, and terribly alone. Special props to Gideon Glick and Jonathan B. Wright, an endearing pair of star-crossed lovers who may very well be the first gay teenage characters to ever (passionately) kiss on a Broadway stage.

Still set in nineteenth century Germany replete with period costume and dialogue, the music, staging, sound and lighting design infuse the work with a modern sensibility. The ever-expanding lines of young adults waiting around the block each morning for student rush tickets and the emotional outpouring that occurs at the stage door after every performance attests to how relatable the story remains to modern audiences. Songs such as “The Bitch of Living,” “Touch Me,” “Don’t Do Sadness” and “Totally Fucked” (it’s my blog so I don’t have to use ***** if I don’t want to – my own act of adolescent rebellion) are veritable anthems to issues of teen alienation, burgeoning sexual need and confusion, and the erupting frustrations that come from being ignored, judged or dismissed – one of the richest scores in decades will make one laugh in recognition and deeply wrench the heart. Hand-held microphones, psychedelic lighting, and fellow audience members seated on the stage serve as constant reminders that our society has not advanced nearly as far as some may wish to believe.

An eruption of choreographed movement in the second act (a volcanic climax that manages to briefly blow the lid off all the repressed feelings that have come before) is the sort of theatrical lightning that will make you want to leap out of your seat and up onto the stage. Whether a teenager living the angst in the moment or an adult reliving the scars of adolescence, the show is uncanny in its ability to both bridge the centuries that exist between the original play and the current musical, and the age gaps that exist between audience members.

Sater’s book rushes headlong toward the finale in the last 15 minutes, which may be an indication that the creators didn’t envision audiences would remain transfixed by the material for longer than 2 hours and 20 minutes. This is their sole miscalculation, as Director Michael Mayer has constructed one of the most transformative and profoundly moving shows I have experienced in over thirty years of theater-going. “Spring Awakening” is a pulsating, bold and daring work that is a must see for all reproductive-rights supporters, the young of age and young of heart (say 13+ if you’re actually willing to engage your teen in thoughtful conversation after) and musical theater-lovers alike.

For more information about the show and to purchase tickets, click http://www.SpringAwakening.com/

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