From Oct. 8 to Oct. 20, Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) transported audiences from The Hobby Center’s Sarofim Hall to the late 19th century Germany as repressed teenage sexuality takes an emotional turn in “Spring Awakening.” This musical is the opening production for TUTS’ 2019-2020 season.
“Spring Awakening” is a rock musical centered around three teenagers and their friends as they navigate intimate relationships, parental pressures and the nature and application of God in modern society.
The show is ultimately the story of Melchior Gabor (Wonza Johnson) and the changes in his relationships with deuteragonist/ love interest Wendla Bergmann (Sophia Introna) and best friend Moritz Stiefel (Nathan Salstone).
The show also stars Liz Mikel as The Adult Women, Juliette Redden as Martha, Raven Justine Troup as Ilse, Ana Yi Puig as Anna, Katja Rivera Yanko as Thea. Brian Mathis is The Adult Men, Austin Colburn is Otto, Grayson Samuels is Georg, Blake Jackson as Hanschen, and Alex Vihn as Ernst. The show is directed by Taibi Magar, choreographed by Marlana Doyle and the music director is Alex Navarro.
The show premiered on Broadway in 2006 and features music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics from Steven Slater. The show is a musical version of the controversial 1891 play of the same name from Frank Wedekind.
The Bitch of Performing
Johnson’s Melchior upstaged almost every aspect of the show. His stage presence made him the star of every single scene he was in even if he was only in the shadows and not singing. While his monologues were memorable, he made the role his own during the emotional solo “Left Behind.”
While Johnson’s Melchior was mesmerizing, Salstone’s Mortiz acted as the show’s emotional center with his portrayal changing the overall tone and mood of each of his scenes. Between the playful absurdity of his performance in “The Bitch of Living” to the unmitigated melancholic incandescence of “I Don’t Do Sadness,” Salstone was meant to play Moritz Steifel.
Although she came into her own in the second act, Introna’s Wendla seemed to struggle with some of the songs in the first act, in particular, the show’s opener “Mama Who Bore Me.” Instead of portraying the typical torture and sexual frustration usually associated with the character, Introna’s performance was angry and uncomfortable. However, by the second act, Introna was able to showcase her incredible talent with “Whispering,” a performance than nearly stole the entire show.
One of the best performances of the production is from Liz Mikel. Mikel’s performance was so nuanced that each of her characters had distinctive personalities that ranged from Fanny Gabor’s sweet understanding to Frau Bergmann’s protective obsession to Fraulein Knuppeldick’s manipulative instruction.
The Set of Purple Summer
“Spring Awakening” begins with a small and seemingly simple act drop which helps the audience visualize the society in which the characters live in, but this falls to a larger, but still seemingly simple stage design. The drop of the first set design is a momentous occasion that signals to the audience that Wendla Bergmann is not alone in feeling trapped and repressed.
The set design looks simple at first glance but allows for a wide variety of lights and shadows in order to show multiple storylines happening in one scene and to hide the actors who are on stage while their characters are not shown. Ryan McGettigan’s scenic design is truly phenomenal.
Lighting in this production is so well-done that it actually acts as its own character. It casts shadows and creates allusions, most prominently in “Whispering,” but it also helps to foreshadow the second act by creating a soft focus on small second stage/ upstairs area.
One of the only issues of the production was the placement of the band. While usually an on-stage band is not obtrusive, for “Spring Awakening” the placement of the upstage lights reflected strangely off the stringed instruments and caused a distracting obtrusion to the otherwise perfect stage set-up. The glares did not happen regularly and only was offensive when the stage was flooded with purple light.
The penultimate number, “Those You’ve Known” offers the audience the cathartic release the show has been building toward with some of the best performances from Johnson, Introna, and Salstone, while the finale, “The Song of Purple Summer” delivers a promise of the progressive freedoms for the next generations denied to the show’s cast of characters.
“Spring Awakening” is an iconic musical production that subverts the common theme of teenage angst and forces audiences to come to the understanding that individuality is a necessity for a happy society, but that all choices must be made with the acceptance that what is right for one person, might have serious consequences for another.
For more information on “Spring Awakening” visit: https://www.tuts.com/shows/spring-awakening.