Spring Awakening: The National Tour October 2, 2008
Blah, Blah, Blah
So much about this show has been written about before; if you haven’t read anything about this show, don’t let this be your only read on the show before you go see it. Based on a 19th century play by Frank Wedekind that was banned due to its controversial content, this Best Musical of the Year is as everyone describes – high energy, electrifying, edgy, sexy, and moving. These adjectives are relevant to the national touring cast as well, mostly because the cast is a strong one. However, watching it again on tour after having seen it on Broadway reminded me that even though this show can be transporting, it can be equally irritating. The saving grace of this show is that it is very very good at one thing, which lies in its ability to overwhelm and to pull the audience in their whirlwind of emotion. The rockin’ score helps, as does the amazingly visceral choreography by Bill T. Jones. Utilizing modern dance for a Broadway show can be perplexing depending on personal taste, but I found that through dance, emotion was embodied to an even deeper level than already told through metaphor and song. (This was already discussed in an earlier blog entry, where Matt had an understandable problem with the nipple circles.) Throw in controversial subject matter such as teen angst, sexual discovery, identity, frustration at being misunderstood, and an oppressive society, and you have a guaranteed a Broadway hit, and a guaranteed obsessive young fan following. The first time I saw this on Broadway, I loved it and felt high off of its energy and waves of emotion.
As time passed however and made more apparent the second time that I saw it, there is an uneven balance of the theatrical heart and brain of this show that lends an incomplete and confusing picture. The heart, or the spectacle, is obvious and good – the sweeping emotion, the music, the dance, the story. This show however, adds highbrow intellectual elements only seen in more esoteric theater, such as microphones taken out of coat pockets, a song playlist scrawled on the chalkboard in full view, and audience members sitting onstage for everyone to see. This Brechtian style adds a certain distance from the show and the audience member, as they serve as constant reminders to the audience that you’re still watching a show. As Wikipedia states, Brechtian theory is based on the idea that “a play should not cause the spectator to emotionally identify with the action before him or her, but should instead provoke rational self-reflection and a critical view of the actions on the stage.” This distant style never gels with this show that begs to envelop the audience in its emotional world, and instead, results in a disjointed big picture, and at worst, pretentious.
In addition, the characters and themes stray dangerously to being trite. Characters in the show are simplified to borderline caricatures – the jock, the spaz, the hot girl, in a world where all the boys are horny, all the girls are victims (whether their childhoods have been too hard or way too easy), and all the parents just don’t understand. Themes can be simple and powerful, but these themes – teens being misunderstood, desiring to be understood (“Touch Me”), and all parents are the same – at its heart is an uninspiring cliche that merely tells teens (albeit in a very pretty and powerful way) that other teens are going through the same thing, with no answers or revelations revealed in the process. I rolled my eyes when the term, “parentocracy” was actually said out loud, and had this urge to tell these teens, “The good news is that puberty doesn’t last!” There’s something unsatisfying about this show which ends on an ambiguous yet hopeful note, as an extra step in reasoning should have been included for this show to feel complete.
Kyle Riabko and Blake Bashoff
None of these comments take away anything from the stellar touring cast. As an ensemble they were outstanding, but the two Broadway imports – Kyle Riabko as Melchior, and Blake Bashoff as Moritz – were the strongest performances in the show. Riabko plays the self assured Melchior with a forceful strength that belies his smaller size; original cast member Jonathan Groff had the advantage of a larger more commanding presence, yet Riabko’s take is just as convincing. Bashoff portrays Moritz as a boy going through puberty filled with an unending high strung nervous energy endearing in his confusion and struggles, yet heartbreaking as he fails to come to terms with himself under society’s harsh spotlight. Christy Altomare rounds out the leads with her sweetly curious Wendla. Steffi D is a singing powerhouse, but her hard edged bitter style portrays Ilse as a character more resentful of her abusive childhood, which is very different from the original Ilse, Lauren Pritchard’s free loving commune living character who had absorbed all the hurt in the world. Like most national tours, this cast plays up the more comedic portions, particularly the subplot with the puppy love romance between Andy Mientus as Hanschen and Ben Moss as Ernst. The national tour cast successfully preserves the spirit of the original show.
As I was watching this show, a fellow blogger Patrick’s quote came to mind, which sums up my feeling about this show:
Every performance has a certain appeal to the senses, but once that immediate sensation fades into memory the intellectual underpinnings of a work become more obvious, and when they fail, you can end up feeling more frustrated and angry than you were at first.
This also explains why I loved it the first time that I saw it, and was more bothered by its rational aspects the second time around. It’s not that I don’t love it, and in fact, I would happily recommend it to a lot of people because the good parts about this show is mindblowingly amazing. But there are things about it that are still frustratingly irritating. It wasn’t surprising to see that on SFist, the comments about this show are highly polarized. I know there are going to be a lot of people who love it, and others who will be bothered by it, either at that moment or a year later, such as myself.
Spring Awakening plays at the Curran Theater through October 12
Any thoughts about this show? Opinions? Anyone else think that if Melchior had been 30 years older, uglier, overweight, with a ski mask, everyone would see the sex scene as rape, as he convinces Wendla with phrases such as, “Is it wrong… to love?” and “It’s just me!”?? And who the heck is Marianna Wheelin?
I really detest this show… I do not get the hype. I mean the singers are great and have great voices but the play/plot itself is just to me disjointed.
I think it’s fun and enjoyable for what it is, aside from the confusing vague metaphors and structure and odd little details (like Marianna Wheelin) that make you feel like it was initially a subplot that never got pursued, and hints at stories that would have been told if the show was longer. Katrina, what are your thoughts on the show’s choreography?
I’ll be seeing it next Tuesday only because everyone I trusted in New York this summer was telling me it was probably the best thing on Broadway. I’m even reading the Franz Wedekind play it was based on. We shall see.
Mike, I’m especially curious what you’re going to say about this. It definitely has its fans, but also a fair number of very vocal haters. I don’t hate it, and can appreciate it for what it is, but it’s not one of my favorite shows. It’s original and creative and it takes risks, which is more than what you can say about 90% of the stuff that’s on Broadway. It’s just that it feels a little lopsided – overdeveloped in certain aspects, underdeveloped in others with lots of unanswered questions, that makes it feel a bit incomplete and vaguely confusing. I think it’s fine as long as I don’t think about it too much.
The good thing is that this national touring cast is very very good. I look forward to reading what you have to say about it!
Haven’t actually seen the show, only heard the Cast album….
I was reading along and found myself quoted! Thanks!
I haven’t seen this show but was wondering if I should mostly because I’ve heard such raves — and the raves surprised me, because neither the rock score nor the subject matter strikes me as particularly shocking or innovative. So I was wondering why people thought this was so fresh. I probably will end up missing it since I’m trying to reduce theater spending — also, I don’t like amplification, which all musicals are subjected to these days, and I don’t really like rock, and teen angst has just been done and done. So I’m left wondering why this show strikes people (or some people) as so revolutionary.
Great piece. Mediocre touring producion that destroys what was probably great in New York. Will be writing about it soon. Can’t seem to put a sentence together. Must be the Bitch of Living.
P, you’re right in that it’s been done before, following the tradition of “Rent” and even the musical “Bare”. To me it feels new in the courageous degree with which it takes its theatricality – the songs that never follow the plot but speaks metaphorically to describe emotion, and the degree with which modern dance is incorporated into the show to, as many would argue, uncomfortable levels. If you don’t like amplification, you should avoid this at all costs.
Although I should let you know that there are rush tickets available for $40 the day of performance b/c tickets haven’t been selling as well as expected. I would advise not to go this weekend though, since it’s closing weekend and Sunday should be sold out.
I had a friend who saw it recently, and thought that the show requires a certain level of suspended belief. He told me not to think about the parts that bother me. Perhaps, but I’ve seen shows where it’s been so complete in both the emotional and intellectual arenas (e.g. anything from Sondheim, esp John Doyle’s productions of Company and Sweeney Todd), it just doesn’t compare.
So what’s the verdict? Rape or not rape??
M, can’t wait to read your thoughts. The bitch of living is a bitch.
Have you seen the Spring Awakening Touring Cast’s YouTube Web Series? http://youtube.com/totallytrucked
Jolene I thought you might be interested in this article. It was posted at one of my livejournal Broadway groups:
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/122138.html
Personally I thought the music of both musicals was sadly lack, as the music of [TOS]. But then again I also extremely dislike Sondheim *shrugs* We all have our own ideas of good musicals
I’m sorry to say that I quite strongly disagree. As an avid fan of theatre and a theatre major, I believe that Spring Awakening is truly one of the greatest musicals of our time. It is one of the few musicals popular today where if you took away the music, it would still be an outstanding story. We owe that to Frank Wedekind. The story is heart wrenching and powerful, and I feel the problems you bring up, such as Marianna Wheelin, are easily explained. The Bitch of Living is a song about frustration, and as with the rest of the songs, is an interior monologue amongst the boys. Just as Ernst has an issue with “showering at gym class,” which we never see, Otto has a problem with a girl who isn’t giving him the time of day. You could easily replace it with “Then there’s that girl I like so much, as if she’d return my calls,” and no one would have any complaints. But the choice of including a name keeps it true to the intent of the musical numbers–the interworkings of the young characters minds. So I hope that readers of this blog go see Spring Awakening and allow themselves to succumb to this climactic and beautifully written story before giving it the dissapproving, apathetic, cold shoulder.
The Spring Awakening National Tour is beautifully moving. I found many of the performers to be more engaging than those I saw on Broadway. I understand your stance, but I do not whole-heartedly agree with it.
Having both seen & read many versions of the Frank Wedekind play, I did notice that the musical disjoints the story a bit. But that did not stop me from falling hard for it. The cast is young and incredibly talented and one can’t help but be amazed by the dedicated following of high school & college students that follow the show around the country.
The one thing that I had the most trouble dealing with in your analysis was that the characters were stereotypical. While I still disagree with you when you say the children are stereotyped, I can see your point. The adults, however are varied and different and they show that no way of parenting is “right” or “wrong.” Melchior Gabor’s mother is very liberal, while is father is more conservative but lets his wife take reign over his raising. Wendla’s mother is conservative but kind and truly unaware at how to deal with a child such as Wendla. Moritz’s father loves his child, but is also embarassed by him. The adults in this show, albeit the teachers, are far from your run of the mill clueless parents.
are they going to tour agian?
In the play (do people still read plays?), Melchior does rape Wendla. There are some subtle differences between the play and the musical.
Also, if you don’t like Sondheim you aren’t going to like much of any musicals…