Modern "Awakening"

It's always refreshing to see something that feels completely new, yet it happens so rarely. Last night, however, I got that chance when I snagged a ticket to attend the new musical playing at the Atlantic Theater called "Spring Awakening." A rock musical based on a German play from the 1890's, "Spring Awakening" explores the burgeoning sexuality of teenagers and the repercussions that that "awakening" has on both them and their parents. Not exactly your average musical but one that already is drawing comparisons to that little musical called "Rent," although in actuality I believe that to be too flattering a comparison.

Not to say that this isn't a great show because most everything about it is. From the cast to the music to the production values, everything felt so "downtown" fresh but with the extra polish that only a Broadway director, like Michael Mayer, can add to the festivities.

Like "The Light In The Piazza," this is one of the first shows I have seen in a long time where the director has REALLY used the space in an exciting way. The Atlantic Theater is a converted Church in Chelsea so as you might imagine it's not exactly your average boxy theater. He has the incredibly talented young cast running and jumping and climbing the walls as the rock music explodes, pushing up the top of the steeple that houses it. Speaking of the music, it was both one of my favorite and one of the more frustrating things about the production for me. The idea of colliding the world of 1890's Germany with pop/rock music of today helps to liberate the passions of the confused teenagers and modernize the material in a way it couldn't be had the music been typical musical theater. The problems comes though with the fact that on a first viewing I didn't really "get" all of the music. Lyrically it can take the approach of rock music and be slightly broad with the emotions, yet still beautiful. The majority of the songs are not narrative but instead explore the different emotions that come along with the ideas of puberty. Sounds like "Carrie" the musical all over again huh? Well there are no telekinetic powers in this show but still some strange mother/daughter interaction.

Speaking of the Mother, last night was a particularly interesting show due to the fact that someone was coming into the show with literally one rehearsal. That someone was Kate Burton, three time Tony Nominee and film actress, who did the entire show on book. I am always amazed when watching Theater at how great the understudies are and yet she wasn't even an understudy! She was brought in yesterday, had one rehearsal, and then did the show. She was so quick when looking down at her script that you rarely noticed it and the whole cast pulled up to help her get through it. You could see the excitement/relief as they all took their bows.

As the bowing continued I couldn't help but wish I could go back and just watch the whole show one more time. On first viewing only a few songs really stood out ("The Bitch of Living", the incredible song "Left Behind" sung by Melchior) but the performances were so uniformly great it made me want to press rewind. Even with the bizarre interpretive dance, the performers completely threw themselves into it making it almost bearable. If I had to give just a few gems of advice it would be to get rid of the dancing (or at least change it a bit) and to either make the choice to use the "rock" mics or not. The constant back and forth as they pulled the microphones out of their costumes was both abrhasive and just strange.

I would love to have a chance to read the 1891 play to see how true the musical is to it. Between this and the Dada exhibit recently I find it so hard to fathom the idea that these things that are so old could still feel so modern. Of course the sexual awakening that this material tackles has been the same throughout time but the frankness with which it discusses it is startling even today.

Overall a great show and will hopefully find a life beyond Off-Broadway when it transfers later this year. Try to catch it if you can!