I went to see Spring Awakening last Wednesday night at University Theater in Muncie. Yes, I drove ALL the way to Muncie after work last week;) I couldn't help myself. I love the show. I saw it on Broadway in NYC a few years ago and I have been hooked ever since.
The next year I dragged several friends to Columbus, Ohio for a weekend adventure and to see the show. We all had fun but I don't think anyone enjoyed it as much as I did. Plus, I went to see it three times at The Phoenix theater last year. Seriously, THREE times in the month it was playing. I could have gone more but people were already making fun of me.
As much as I love the show, the Muncie performance was a disappointment. The singing was sub-par and the audience was childish. It started with the actors warming up on the stage. They were walking around aimlessly making odd facial expressions and noises out of their mouths. They would occasional stop and stretch on a pole and talk to their friends. I think it was a bad directorial choice and disruptive to the audience. The show is very dramatic and talks about serious societal issues and the audience would become uncomfortable during the tense moments and laugh. There was a scene where a girl was asking her boyfriend to beat her with a stick so she could "feel" something. While the male actor was beating the girl there were several members of the audience laughing. It just didn't fit.
While I was driving to the show I chatted on the phone with AL and she asked me why I liked the show so much. She saw it with me on Broadway and she couldn't understand my obsession. Here's why:
1. The Music
It appeals to me. I like that it is more like rock music and not orchestral based. Each song had a purpose and it moved the story forward. You always knew what the actors were thinking. It was dynamic. Loud booming songs to talk about masturbation and the attraction to the opposite sex (The Bitch of Living). Quiet powerful songs to talk about sexual and physical abuse (The Dark I know Well). Fun songs to show the audience that the characters are in trouble (Totally F**ked). Finally, an upbeat song to talk about suicide (Don't Do Sadness). The music resonated with me and I listen to it often.
2. The Story
While I was walking out of the theater I overheard some students discussing the show and they said they didn't think that the musical had a story. They weren't talking to me so I didn't interject my opinion but I yelled at them in my head. "Yes, it does. The show has several story lines. Unlike Cats" The two main characters learn about first love, sex and attraction and each of them has a different experience. The subsidiary story's were just as interesting. There was one that talked about two men being gay, another one that talked about sexual abuse from her father, another about a boy who was slightly different than everyone else and he turned to suicide.
3. The Choreography
This show has several intricate contemporary dance sequences. I liked how they incorporated the actors movements, singing and dancing into the story. It just worked and it made me "feel" the story.
4. The Social Implications
I love a story that gives my brain ideas and subjects to mull over. After I left the show for the first time my brain was abuzz with the various elements. The thing I focused upon the most was the part where the main girl doesn't understand why she doesn't feel things. She is fascinated with a friend who is beaten daily by her father. She wanted that. Sick! But it made me think about how life can become so numbing at times and how it makes it hard to feel anything. This story was written in the late 1800's before people were preoccupied with TV, radio and Prozac. What made them feel nothing? Why did they have a hard time finding enough value in their lives to be happy?
The first song in the show (Mama who Bore Me) was about a young girl upset with her mother because she wouldn't tell her things. She asked her mother repeatedly how her sister had babies and the mother refused to tell her. The mother just couldn't talk about it. The young girl ended up getting pregnant, having a back alley abortion and then **Spoiler** dying. Things may have been different had she understood that sex = babies. Why was it so difficult for the mother to talk to her daughter about sex? This was a problem in the 1800's and it is still a problem today. People are afraid to say things. Be real with each other. I feel I often get chastised from people for being to real. Remember when I got my 16 year old nephew a sex book for Christmas? The parents were not happy with me.
I think every person who LOVES musicals should see this 2007 Tony Award Wining show.
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