My latest impulse buy is by far the best thing I have purchased in a really long time.
I walk past the Eugene O’Neil Theater every day, going from the C train subway stop to my office. And every morning there are people lined up outside, hoping to get last minute tickets to see the O’Neil’s current production, “Spring Awakening”.
I had heard talk of this show over the last little while. Between Rosie O’Donnell and my best friend dash Broadway expert (albeit in his own mind…) the show had been highly recommended as one for me to see. I went online and checked out the website, and noticed that they have a seating section called “On Stage Seating. This piqued my curiosity, so I stopped by the theater on my way home after work. The guy at the box office (very cute!) offered to let me see the stage, so I went in with him. Literally, there were three rows of tiered seats right on the sides of the stage. There were no wings.
“Wow” I said, “Are there any for tonight?”
“Not til June” he said. “Are you single?”
I was completely taken off guard by the cute box office boy…until I realized that he wasn’t in fact hitting on me, but trying to determine how many tickets I was after.
“Just me!” I said, praying my face wasn’t as bright red as it felt.
He had a seat, second row and center, which had just come available. The price was more than I had thought I would end up spending, but after seeing the stage and spending a day reading reviews and watching youtube videos…I splurged!
And I am SO glad that I did!
THE SHOW
“Spring Awakening” is set in the late 1800’s in Germany. The cast is very young. I believe that no one is older than 23! It is a look at what happens when teenagers and adults lack the communication necessary when going through sexual development.
The opening scene involves our ingénue, Wendla, asking her mother “Where do babies come from?” Her mother doesn’t want to talk about it, but is forced to when she threatens to “run right out and ask the chimney sweep” instead. While the mother submits, she still does not offer up the whole truth.
The leading males, Melchior and Moritz, take the next scene when Moritz tells Melchior of his haunted dreams by a woman in “blue leggings” and the “sticky horror” she causes him. Melchior is the most learned of all the boys, and on his own discovered books on sex and the difference between men and women. He responds to his friend with “Oh! That kind of dream…” Moritz does not want Melchior to explain the sex to him, but rather asks him to write it all down…including illustrations if he so desires.
The show continues with all the other characters divulging their sexual secrets. One girl confides in her friends that she is sexually abused. This inspires Wendla, who marvels at what the pain of being beaten must feel like because she has never felt “anything”. This pursuit of pain is what opens her up to sexual exploration.
I want so badly to continue to write on the plot, but would not want to ruin anything for anyone! So I will stop there.
The young talent in this show is astonishing, with particular applaud to the three leading characters: Moritz, played by John Gallagher Jr; Wendla, played by Lea Michele (Mark my words…she will be HUGE); and Melchior, played by Jonathan Groff.
I was amazed by the acting chops these three young stars demonstrated. I cannot pick a favorite out of the three as there were so many things I liked about their characters that just aren’t comparable to the others. Moritz is dark and twitchy, but is portrayed in a way that you instantly are on his side. He immediately connects! Melchior is brooding and (sigh) handsome. His role required so much depth, from excitement to overwhelming sobs that had me in tears. Big time. And Lea Michele’s VOICE?! Oh. My. God. The girl is phenomenal, and the acting is superb as well. That character develops so much from the time she is questioning her mother about the origin of babies, and pursuing the boy next door for sex. All three gave performances that were out of this world!
The show requires some huge energy because of the style of music. The showstopper “The Bitch of Living” wraps in a mosh-pit-esque dance sequence that left me out of breath. The cast delivered huge numbers and modern sound throughout the entire performance that left my dying for more. The music provides the thoughts and emotions for the characters. The characters actually use hand held microphones when singing to demonstrate the disconnect from their “reality”. At first, I didn’t know how I felt about it. But the way it was executed was superb! I felt it was an awesome and totally original choice by the director. It’s not that no one has ever used hand held mics before…but it was the way it was done that was so impressive!
The one thing I did not understand was all the hype over one of the smaller characters, played by Lauren Pritchard. The playbill noted that she has original music on her myspace account, which I found totally cheesy. The New Yorker had sort of spotlighted her as an up and coming pop star, but she paled in comparison to the rest of the cast! Not that she wasn’t great, but definitely not deserving of more attention than the three leads.
I also don’t understand all the comparison that this show is getting to RENT. This show is about sexual discovery and loss. RENT is about living each day like it’s the last, and finding hope in a poor disease-ridden city. Yes, both shows were a big “shock” to the theater community when they opened in that the content was more risqué than anything else. But if that is the only comparison, then you could logically compare this show to “A Chorus Line” or “Cabaret”, which were ground-breaking and shocking pieces for their time.
And I don’t think that anyone is going to be running a comparison of “Spring Awakening” to “A Chorus Line”… (Which, by the by, I saw the revival of a few months ago and would also highly recommend it to everyone!)
All in all, this is by far the best thing I’ve seen on Broadway. Ever. (For those of you who just thought “What about RENT???” – I’ve only seen that show once, and it was on tour, not Broadway. So it doesn’t count!) If you come to New York anytime soon, go see it. I promise you will not be disappointed!
I walk past the Eugene O’Neil Theater every day, going from the C train subway stop to my office. And every morning there are people lined up outside, hoping to get last minute tickets to see the O’Neil’s current production, “Spring Awakening”.
I had heard talk of this show over the last little while. Between Rosie O’Donnell and my best friend dash Broadway expert (albeit in his own mind…) the show had been highly recommended as one for me to see. I went online and checked out the website, and noticed that they have a seating section called “On Stage Seating. This piqued my curiosity, so I stopped by the theater on my way home after work. The guy at the box office (very cute!) offered to let me see the stage, so I went in with him. Literally, there were three rows of tiered seats right on the sides of the stage. There were no wings.
“Wow” I said, “Are there any for tonight?”
“Not til June” he said. “Are you single?”
I was completely taken off guard by the cute box office boy…until I realized that he wasn’t in fact hitting on me, but trying to determine how many tickets I was after.
“Just me!” I said, praying my face wasn’t as bright red as it felt.
He had a seat, second row and center, which had just come available. The price was more than I had thought I would end up spending, but after seeing the stage and spending a day reading reviews and watching youtube videos…I splurged!
And I am SO glad that I did!
THE SHOW
“Spring Awakening” is set in the late 1800’s in Germany. The cast is very young. I believe that no one is older than 23! It is a look at what happens when teenagers and adults lack the communication necessary when going through sexual development.
The opening scene involves our ingénue, Wendla, asking her mother “Where do babies come from?” Her mother doesn’t want to talk about it, but is forced to when she threatens to “run right out and ask the chimney sweep” instead. While the mother submits, she still does not offer up the whole truth.
The leading males, Melchior and Moritz, take the next scene when Moritz tells Melchior of his haunted dreams by a woman in “blue leggings” and the “sticky horror” she causes him. Melchior is the most learned of all the boys, and on his own discovered books on sex and the difference between men and women. He responds to his friend with “Oh! That kind of dream…” Moritz does not want Melchior to explain the sex to him, but rather asks him to write it all down…including illustrations if he so desires.
The show continues with all the other characters divulging their sexual secrets. One girl confides in her friends that she is sexually abused. This inspires Wendla, who marvels at what the pain of being beaten must feel like because she has never felt “anything”. This pursuit of pain is what opens her up to sexual exploration.
I want so badly to continue to write on the plot, but would not want to ruin anything for anyone! So I will stop there.
The young talent in this show is astonishing, with particular applaud to the three leading characters: Moritz, played by John Gallagher Jr; Wendla, played by Lea Michele (Mark my words…she will be HUGE); and Melchior, played by Jonathan Groff.
I was amazed by the acting chops these three young stars demonstrated. I cannot pick a favorite out of the three as there were so many things I liked about their characters that just aren’t comparable to the others. Moritz is dark and twitchy, but is portrayed in a way that you instantly are on his side. He immediately connects! Melchior is brooding and (sigh) handsome. His role required so much depth, from excitement to overwhelming sobs that had me in tears. Big time. And Lea Michele’s VOICE?! Oh. My. God. The girl is phenomenal, and the acting is superb as well. That character develops so much from the time she is questioning her mother about the origin of babies, and pursuing the boy next door for sex. All three gave performances that were out of this world!
The show requires some huge energy because of the style of music. The showstopper “The Bitch of Living” wraps in a mosh-pit-esque dance sequence that left me out of breath. The cast delivered huge numbers and modern sound throughout the entire performance that left my dying for more. The music provides the thoughts and emotions for the characters. The characters actually use hand held microphones when singing to demonstrate the disconnect from their “reality”. At first, I didn’t know how I felt about it. But the way it was executed was superb! I felt it was an awesome and totally original choice by the director. It’s not that no one has ever used hand held mics before…but it was the way it was done that was so impressive!
The one thing I did not understand was all the hype over one of the smaller characters, played by Lauren Pritchard. The playbill noted that she has original music on her myspace account, which I found totally cheesy. The New Yorker had sort of spotlighted her as an up and coming pop star, but she paled in comparison to the rest of the cast! Not that she wasn’t great, but definitely not deserving of more attention than the three leads.
I also don’t understand all the comparison that this show is getting to RENT. This show is about sexual discovery and loss. RENT is about living each day like it’s the last, and finding hope in a poor disease-ridden city. Yes, both shows were a big “shock” to the theater community when they opened in that the content was more risqué than anything else. But if that is the only comparison, then you could logically compare this show to “A Chorus Line” or “Cabaret”, which were ground-breaking and shocking pieces for their time.
And I don’t think that anyone is going to be running a comparison of “Spring Awakening” to “A Chorus Line”… (Which, by the by, I saw the revival of a few months ago and would also highly recommend it to everyone!)
All in all, this is by far the best thing I’ve seen on Broadway. Ever. (For those of you who just thought “What about RENT???” – I’ve only seen that show once, and it was on tour, not Broadway. So it doesn’t count!) If you come to New York anytime soon, go see it. I promise you will not be disappointed!
1 comment:
Um....Best Friend dash Broadway expert (in his own MIND?!)
No sir I'm sorry..
It is Best Friend and PROVEN Broadway expert.
This is a fact. It's everywhere. Even Wikipedia. And if it's there...you KNOW it must be true.
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