'''Spring Awakening''' is a
Tony Award-winning
rock musical with music by
Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by
Steven Sater. The musical is based on the controversial 1891 German
play of the same title by
Frank Wedekind. During the musical, characters sometimes break the
fourth wall to express their frustrations, motivations, and desires directly to the audience.
After a number of workshops, concerts and rewrites over a seven-year period, ''Spring Awakening'' premiered
Off-Broadway at the
Atlantic Theatre Company on
May 19 2006 and closed
August 17 2006.
The show opened on
Broadway at the
Eugene O'Neill Theatre on
December 10 2006 to mostly rave reviews.
[1] ''Spring Awakening'' received eleven 2007
Tony Award nominations, winning eight, including Tonys for best musical, direction, book, score and featured actor. The show also won four
Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Musical. The production is directed by
Michael Mayer and choreographed by
Bill T. Jones.
Decca Broadway released the original
cast recording on
December 12 2006.
Original Broadway cast
★
Jonathan Groff - Melchior
★
Lea Michele - Wendla
★
John Gallagher Jr. - Moritz
★
Stephen Spinella - Adult Men
★
Christine Estabrook - Adult Women
★ Skylar Astin - Georg
★ Lilli Cooper - Martha
★ Jennifer Damiano - Ensemble
★ Krysta Rodriguez - Ensemble
★
Gideon Glick - Ernst
★ Brian Johnson - Otto
★ Lauren Pritchard - Ilse
★ Phoebe Strole - Anna
★
Jonathan B. Wright - Hanschen
★ Remy Zaken - Thea
★ Gerard Canonico - Ensemble
★
Robi Hager - Ensemble
Plot
;Act I
Wendla Bergman, an
adolescent girl in late-19th century
Germany, laments that her mother gave her "no way to handle things" and has not taught her the lessons she needs to learn ("Mama Who Bore Me"). She tells her mother that it is time she know where
babies come from, considering that she is about to be an aunt for the second time, but her mother cannot bring herself to explain it to Wendla. The other young girls in town appear to be similarly innocent ("Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)").
At school, some teenage boys are studying
Virgil in
Latin class. When Moritz Stiefel, a very nervous and intense young man, misquotes a line, the teacher chastises him harshly. Moritz's best friend, the handsome and self-assured Melchior Gabor, tries to defend him, but the teacher will have none of it, and hits Melchior with a stick. Melchior reflects on the shallow narrow-mindedness of school and society, and expresses his intent to change things ("All That's Known").
Moritz tells Melchior about some
dreams that have been keeping him up at night; as he describes them, Melchior realizes that the dreams are of an
erotic nature. Moritz is in a panic and does not understand what he sees in his dreams, but Melchior is much more savvy and agrees to explain it all to Moritz in the form of an
essay, complete with pictures. All the boys sing about their own frustrating thoughts and desires in a rock and roll fashion ("The Bitch Of Living").
Some girls are gathered together after school and tease each other as they fantasize about marrying the boys in the town -- at the top of the list is the radical, intelligent, and good-looking Melchior. Meanwhile, upstage, the gay student Hanschen
masturbates as he looks at an erotic
postcard; further upstage, the
piano student Georg indulges in some lively fantasies about his well-endowed female piano teacher ("My Junk").
Moritz has eagerly digested the essay that Melchior prepared for him, but complains that his new knowledge has only made his dreams even more vivid and torturous. Melchior tries to calm and comfort his friend, but Moritz runs off in frustration. In a stylized musical number, all of the boys and girls express their desire for physical
intimacy ("Touch Me").
Wendla stumbles upon Melchior while walking through the woods. He explains that he's at his special spot, where he likes to read and work on his
journal, and invites Wendla to lie down next to him. Each of them considers what it would be like to give in to their physical desires, but they do not do so ("The Word Of Your Body"). Meanwhile, at school, Moritz is thrilled to learn that he has passed his midterm
examinations, but the teacher and schoolmaster do not like Moritz and decide that they will make sure that he fails his final exam.
Martha, one of the teenage girls, accidentally admits to her friends that her father abuses her physically (including, as the audience learns,
sexual abuse) and that her mother allows it to happen. The other girls are horrified to hear this, but Martha makes them promise not to tell anyone, lest she end up like Ilse, a friend from childhood who now wanders homeless and aimless because her parents kicked her out of their house ("The Dark I Know Well"). Later, Wendla finds Melchior again at his spot in the woods, and tells him that one of her friends regularly gets abused by her father. Melchior is appalled to hear this, but Wendla tells him she's never been beaten and wants Melchior to hit her with a stick so that she can learn what it's like. Melchior at first refuses this shocking request, but she eventually persuades him, and he hits her and throws her to the ground. Melchior runs off, disgusted with himself, as Wendla lies on the ground and sobs. Alone, she looks up and realizes Melchior has left his journal on the ground. She picks it up and takes it with her.
Moritz has failed his final examination, and his father reacts with disdain and contempt when Moritz tells him that he has failed out of school. He writes to Melchior's mother for money to flee to
America; she tenderly but firmly denies his request, but promises to write his parents to discourage them from being too hard on him ("And Then There Were None").
In a stuffy hayloft during a storm, Melchior considers his own frustration at being caught between childhood and adulthood ("The Mirror-Blue Night"). Wendla finds him once again, telling him she wants to return his journal, and each one awkwardly apologizes for what happened the last time they met. Before long, they begin to kiss; Wendla resists his advances at first, but soon gives in to Melchior. Though she still seems uncertain about how far she wants to take their physical relationship, they begin to have
sex as the lights go down ("I Believe").
;Act II
Wendla and Melchior are finishing up their moment of intimacy in the hayloft; they reflect on and discuss what has just happened ("The Guilty Ones"). Meanwhile, Moritz, having been thrown out of his home, wanders the town at dusk, carrying a
pistol ("Don't Do Sadness"). He happens upon Ilse, also homeless, who invites him to join her in sharing some old childhood memories, and perhaps something more, but Moritz refuses ("Blue Wind"). After she has left, he calls after her, but it is too late; she is gone. Believing that he has nowhere to turn, Moritz shoots and
kills himself.
At Moritz's
funeral, each of his friends drops a flower into his grave, and Melchior chastises Moritz's father for being so cruel to his friend, as the other students look at Moritz's father with disgust for pushing Moritz too hard when he was alive ("Left Behind"). Back at school, the schoolmaster and teacher inform Melchior that Moritz's parents found the sex essay he had written for him. They lay the blame on Melchior for his friend's suicide, and although Melchior knows that he is not to blame, he knows there is nothing he can do to fight them ("Totally Fucked").
Elsewhere that night Hanschen meets up with his shy and delicate classmate Ernst. In a
comedy-relief scene, Hanschen shares his pragmatic outlook on life with his classmate before seducing him. It is Ernst's first sexual experience, and he tells Hanschen that he loves him as the two share a passionate kiss ("The Word Of Your Body (Reprise)").
Wendla has become ill, and her mother takes her to visit a
doctor. He gives her some medication and assures them both that Wendla is suffering from
anemia and will be fine, but he takes Wendla's mother aside and tells her that Wendla is
pregnant. When her mother confronts her with this information, Wendla is completely shocked, not understanding how this could have happened. She soon realizes, however, how it must have happened, finally solving the mystery that her mother refused to clear up for her at the start of the show. Though she chastises her mother for being at fault for leaving her ignorant, her mother will have none of it and insists Wendla tell her who the father is. Wendla reluctantly surrenders a passionate note Melchior sent her after they consummated their relationship.
Wendla reflects somberly on her current condition and the circumstances that led her to this difficult spot, but in the end she remains optimistic about the arrival of her future child ("Whispering"). Meanwhile, Melchior's parents argue about their son's fate; his mother does not believe that the essay he wrote for Moritz is sufficient reason to send him away to
reform school. When Melchior's father tells his wife about Wendla's pregnancy, however, she agrees that they must send Melchior away, which they do without telling him that Wendla is expecting a child.
At the reform school, Melchior gets into a fight with some boys, who grab a letter he has just received from Wendla and use it in a masturbation game. As one of the boys reads from the letter, Melchior finally learns about Wendla and their child, and he escapes from the institution to find her. He does not know that he is too late: Wendla's mother has already taken her to an underground practitioner to have an
abortion. When Melchior reaches town, he stumbles across Moritz's grave, and promises to himself that he and Wendla will do a better job raising their child in a compassionate and open environment.
Melchior spots a freshly dug grave and, upon reading the marker, discovers that Wendla has died from 'anemia.' Overcome with grief, Melchior takes out a
razor with the intention of killing himself. Just then, his fallen friend, Moritz, and lover, Wendla, join him onstage in the form of ghosts in his mind to offer him their strength from beyond the grave. As if singing directly to him, they persuade him to journey on, and he resolves to live and to carry their memories with him forever ("Those You've Known").
Led by Ilse, the entire cast assembles onstage to sing one final song of life and hope ("The Song of Purple Summer").
Musical Numbers
;Act I
★ Mama Who Bore Me - Wendla
★ Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise) - Girls
★ All That's Known - Melchior featuring Boys
★ The Bitch of Living - Moritz and Boys
★ My Junk - Girls and Boys featuring Hanschen and Georg
★ Touch Me - Boys and Girls
★ The Word of Your Body - Wendla and Melchior
★ The Dark I Know Well - Martha, Ilse and Boys
★ And Then There Were None - Moritz and Boys
★ The Mirror Blue Night - Melchior and Boys
★ I Believe - Boys and Girls
|
;Act II
★ The Guilty Ones - Wendla, Melchior, Boys and Girls
(replaced off-Broadway version's Act II opening, There Once Was a Pirate)
★ Don't Do Sadness - Moritz
★ Blue Wind - Ilse
★ Left Behind - Melchior
★ Totally Fucked - Melchior and Full Company (except Moritz)
★ The Word of Your Body (Reprise) - Hanschen, Ernst, Boys and Girls
★ Whispering - Wendla
★ Those You've Known - Moritz, Wendla, and Melchior
★ The Song of Purple Summer - Full Company featuring Ilse
|
Differences between the play and the musical
In addition to being shorter, having scenes in a different order, and being phrased differently, the book of the musical has some characterization and plot differences from the Wedekind play.
In the play, there is another young male character, Robert, and the character Anna does not exist.
In the play, most of the children dislike Moritz. Except for Melchior and Hanschen, the boys hope that Moritz will get in trouble for breaking into the school records. Thea says that Moritz is always doing something weird. The other boys also insensitively gossip about the method Moritz used to kill himself. In the musical, all the children like Moritz; the other boys are happy for him when he passes his midterms, and all the children look sad at his funeral. Also, in the play Moritz's father doesn't cry at his funeral, but in the musical he breaks down sobbing.
In the play, Hanschen is portrayed as nicer than most of the boys, and his scene with Ernst is loving. In the musical, there are several references to his peers finding him creepy and his scene with Ernst is manipulative.
In the play, when Hanschen is talking to his postcard, he tells it that he's going to flush it down the toilet so he can have control over his masturbation. In the musical, he is masturbating as he imagines killing the girl in the postcard.
In the play, Martha is physically abused by her father. In the musical, Martha and Ilse are physically and sexually abused by their fathers.
In the play, Melchior rapes Wendla. In the musical, she says no but then puts his hand on her breast, indicating consent, and then seems to enjoy having sex. While this can still be considered rape because Wendla isn't educated about sex, it is more ambiguous than in the play.
In the play, Moritz slightly regrets not going with Ilse because she is promiscuous and he wanted to have sex before he committed suicide. In the musical, it's implied that he greatly wants to go with her but is unable to agree for some reason. After she leaves, he expresses his regret by saying "For the love of God, all I had to do was say yes! Ilse! ILSE!...I'll tell them all, the angels...[that] I sang and played pirates."
In the play, the ghost of Moritz tries to convince Melchior to kill himself, but is stopped by the Masked Man. In the musical, Melchior decides to kill himself when he sees the ghost of Moritz, but then the ghosts of Moritz and Wendla convince him not to.
Other productions
A U.S. National Tour is schedule to open starting in Fall 2008 at the
Curran Theatre in
San Francisco, California.
The Production Company will be home to the world premiere of Spring Awakening as translated by Francis J. Zeigler and adapted by August Viverito. (Not the musical.) This will also be the first major production of Spring Awakening in Los Angeles in many years. The play will open September 21st, 2007 and run through October 27th, 2007 in North Hollywood, California at The Chandler Studio. The cast includes Adam Kalesperis (Melchior), Wyatt Fenner (Moritz), Abbie Cobb (Wendla), J.C. Henning (Adult Women), Thomas Mikusz (Adult Men), Blake Lee (Hänschen), Matthew Scott Montgomery (Georg), and Allie Costa (Martha).
The press release and box office for the world premiere production at The Chandler Studio
'International Productions'
An Australian production is scheduled and a
London production is also scheduled to open in
2008. The producers have announced their intention to mount or license other productions in
Israel,
Germany,
Austria,
Spain,
Japan,
France,
the Netherlands, and
South Korea. ''Spring Awakening'' will be translated into Hebrew, German, Spanish, Japanese, French, Korean, and Dutch in the next couple of years.
Awards and nominations
External links
★
Official Site of the Broadway production.
★
Atlantic Theater Company website with information about the off-Broadway production.
★
Playbill article about the show moving to Broadway.
★
Michael Mayer (director) - ''Downstage Center'' interview at
American Theatre Wing.org, July 2006
★
Opening Night: ''Spring Awakening'' at
Broadway.com
★
On the Scene: Behind the Scenes: Backstage at ''Spring Awakening'' with Jonathan Groff at
Broadway.com
★
Spring Awakening announces National tour and international productions
References
|-
|-
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
