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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2009 > October > 22 > Entry
Review: ‘Spring Awakening’
There is a certain irony to the bright red “Mature Themes” warning on posters for the musical “Spring Awakening,” since the show illustrates how restricting knowledge about sexuality becomes dangerous for a group of adolescents in late nineteenth century Germany.
In Tuesday’s show at the Texas Performing Arts Center at the University of Texas, the national tour’s cast of “Spring Awakening” plumbed the depths of teenagers’ anger at adult-imposed conservatism. When the show turned from anger to wretched sorrow, a blanketing silence spread across Bass Concert Hall’s audience.
Following the path charted by rock musicals like “Rent,” “Spring Awakening” mixes high velocity rock and almost sappy emo music by pop star Duncan Sheik. Steven Sater’s book and lyrics, based on Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play of the same title, vacillates between celebrating the pleasure of screaming four-letter words in public places and critiquing the dismissal of children and adolescents as sentient, sexual beings. The show’s teenage characters often relish doing what is forbidden, but social strictures often mean they make these choices without full knowledge of the consequences.
The show asks much of relatively young actors, which could be a recipe for disaster given touring shows often uneven casts. But this ensemble stands up well against the Broadway version. As the central couple, Melchior and Wendla, Jake Epstein and Christy Altomare, give subtle performances. They approach Bill T. Jones’ choreography, a simple repetitive series of hand gestures, with smart shifts of character. When Wendla first does the tiny dance, standing on a chair at the musical’s beginning, Altomare manages to make it look as though someone else’s hands eerily caress her. At the height of his second act frustration, Epstein pulls off a similar, but differently inflected, sense of disembodiment. His hands furiously move across his body as though threatening to tear him apart.
Melchior and Wendla’s relationship, a friendship turned sexual, creates the musical’s through line, even as it explodes the show. In workshop versions of “Spring Awakening,” the creative team positioned the teens’ sex act as rape, but like the Broadway show, the touring version leaves their onstage copulation ambiguous around the question of consent. The directorial choice makes Wendla an ignorant bystander to her own sexuality. As the show progresses the one-time girl leader becomes another body to be shuffled about by adults. Yet Altamore’s piercing, sorrowful voice seems a reminder of the person within the body that becomes little more than a shameful symbol.
As the musical’s second couple, the bumbling Moritz (Taylor Trensch) and bohemian Ilse (Steffi D), depict teens pushed to society’s margins: Moritz because he fails in school and Else because she has to flee her father’s violent grip. As Moritz, Trensch is agonizingly sad, although his choice to make less of Moritz’s earlier comedic charm flattens the character’s emotional journey.
Although “Spring Awakening’s” controversy is usually tied to its frank look at adolescent sexuality, its greatest musical innovation might be its anchor in anger. Although the show closes with the unnecessary sappy “Purple Summer,” otherwise the ensemble comes together mainly to stomp their feet and scream—not sing major chords and hold hands. The show argues that singing together can do more than make us feel good. Sometimes it can unleash fury fueled by oppressive social mores. ‘Spring Awakening’ continues through Oct. 25. www.texasperformingarts.org
Clare Croft is an American-Statesman freelance arts critic.
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By Dian Beaudoin
October 23, 2009 7:15 AM | Link to this
I’ve seen “Spring Awakening” twice, including on Broadway, and I’m seeing it again this weekend. To appreciate it you have to look into the emotions of the characters and recognize and experience the joy and torment of their lives. This story encompasses it all, and the music, contemporary and energetic, envelopes you from the beginning, and takes you on the rollercoaster ride with with them. See this show! Listen to the music!