Totally Amazed

I should start off by saying that I realize I am biased, but read to the end anyways. Just give it a shot!

I saw Spring Awakening on Tuesday night and read the review published in the Tribune on Thursday. For the most part, I agreed with Chris Jones (author of the Chicago Tribune's review) but I don't think he did a fair job of capturing the brilliance of the show.

The musical Spring Awakening is based on the 1891 play by Frank Wedekind. The play was seen as so controversial that it was banned in Germany (Wedekind's homeland) for many years. Even by today's standards, the show is controversial in the content and titles of songs. The story focuses on a group of young teenagers as they deal with growing up and discovering their sexuality in oppressive 19th century Germany. The show is entirely relatable however. The characters in the show deal with a lot of the same questions that we do today, all set to a beautifully written score. The imagery of the set is amazing too and the show is definitely multi-faceted from being really funny to heart-wrenching. 

I know that a lot of people balk at the idea of seeing  Broadway musical, but SA is really the anti-Broadway musical, taking things in an entirely different direction. SA is a rock opera, so the music is something you might hear on the radio today and there are no big dance numbers. All the choreography in the show is much more modern and does not involve any jazz hands or chorus lines. As I've proven to some of my friends, SA is really a musical that anyone, theatre fan or not, could enjoy. 

I think SA is a musical that every teenager should see (or at least listen to the soundtrack!) If you see the show and don't connect with it in someway or feel anything from it, you're a robot. If you've ever felt overprotected, confused, hated your parents, loved your parents, wished your parents had done more for you. felt like a failure, like a rebel, angry, sad, broke, felt attracted to someone, felt confused by the accepted understanding of love, curious or confused about your sexuality, questioned what is really right and wrong, felt like you haven't lived enough, felt loved, abused, hurt, let down, felt really ecstatically energized, this is a show for you!

As far as the performance goes, I loved all of the principle and ensemble characters, with the exception of the lead characters, Wendla Bergmann and Melchior Gabor. I agreed with Chris Jones that Christy Altomare was a bit bland as Wendla, I would have liked to see more passion behind her beautiful vocals, and I felt that Jake Epstein (much as I love him) was a bit too static as Melchior. Melchior is a character that cares for his friends very deeply, but I thought that was shadowed by his passionate, radical views. 

Nevertheless, it was an amazing performance and by all means worth seeing!!! As the Tribune put it, the show is all about "Love, Sex, and Rock & Roll".

Spring Awakening is only in town for another week, so if you're considering buying tickets, now is the time to do so!

http://www.broadwayinchicago.com/shows_dyn.php?cmd=display_current&display_showtag=spring09