Spring Awakening (musical)

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Spring Awakening premiered Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theatre Company on May 19th, 2006 and closed August 17th, 2006. The show transferred to Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, where it opened on December 10th, 2006 to mostly rave reviews.

The musical, based on the controversial play of the same title by Frank Wedekind, features music by Duncan Sheik and book/lyrics by Steven Sater. The show is directed by Michael Mayer and choreographed by Bill T. Jones.

Decca Broadway released a cast recording of Spring Awakening on December 12th, 2006. Cast members appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman on February 21, 2007, and performed "The Bitch of Living." The following day, they appeared on The View to perform "Touch Me."

Contents 1 Plot Details 1.1 Act One 1.2 Act Two 2 Musical Numbers 3 Original Broadway Cast 4 Awards & Nominations 4.1 Lucille Lortel Awards 5 External links

[edit] Plot Details

The main plot of Spring Awakening takes place through spoken dialogue. These spoken scenes are punctuated by songs, in musical styles including rock, folk, and pop, where characters break away from the setting of the show to express their frustrations, motivations, and desires directly to the audience rather than to each other.

[edit] Act One

Wendla Bergman, an adolescent girl, 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 ("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.

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, and each one awkwardly apologizes for what happened the last time they met. Before long, they begin to kiss; Wendla resists at first, but soon gives in to Melchior, who undresses first her and them himself, and they begin to have sex as the lights go down ("I Believe").

[edit] Act Two

Act Two begins where Act I left off, with Wendla and Melchior finishing up their moment of intimacy in the woods; 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, 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 ("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").

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.

Hanschen meets at night 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 make love ("The Word Of Your Body (Reprise)").

Wendla reflects somberly on her current condition and the circumstances that led her to this difficult spot ("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.

Wendla's mother takes her to an underground practitioner to have an abortion. At the reform school, Melchior has finally learned, too late, about Wendla and their child, and he escapes from the nasty institution to find her. When he arrives back in 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. Overcome with grief, Melchior takes out a knife 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").

[edit] Musical Numbers

Act I

• Mama Who Bore Me - Wendla
• Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise) - Girls
• All That's Known - Melchior
• The Bitch of Living - Moritz and Boys
• My Junk - Girls and Boys featuring Wendla
• 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 Girl

(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
• 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

[edit] 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
• Gideon Glick - Ernst
• Brian Johnson - Otto
• Lauren Pritchard - Ilse
• Phoebe Strole - Anna
• Jonathan B. Wright - Hanschen
• Remy Zaken - Thea
• Gerard Canonico - Ensemble
• Jennifer Damiano - Ensemble
• Robi Hager - Ensemble
• Krysta Rodriguez - Ensemble

[edit] Awards & Nominations

Awards won by the show are in boldface.

[edit] Lucille Lortel Awards

Winners to be announced on May 7th, 2007

• Outstanding Musical
• Outstanding Director (Michael Mayer)
• Outstanding Choreographer (Bill T. Jones)
• Outstanding Costume Design (Susan Hilferty)
• Outstanding Lighting Design (Kevin Adams)
• Outstanding Sound Design (Brian Ronan)

[edit] 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
• Spring Awakening Audition Advice & Show Information from MusicalTheatreAudition.com
• Opening Night: Spring Awakening at Broadway.com
• On the Scene: Spring Awakening Cast Signs and Sings at Virgin at Broadway.com