A topless girl and a boy’s bare derriere are exposed on the stage. There are various colorful words of the four-letter variety uttered and much discussion about how God does not exist. “Spring Awakening” is truly a play that parents will not want their children to see. And it’s a musical – a rock musical at that making matters worse. To top it all off this is not a musical about adults but rather pubescent adolescents.
Based on “Fruhlings Erwachen a 19th Century German play, by Frank Wedekind, about how sexually oppressive culture can be, Spring Awakening seems a tad controversial, even today. It was banned in many countries after the play came out more than 100 years ago. A variety of issues are discussed, including love, rape, abuse, sex, drinking, abortions, homosexuality, suicide, masturbation, atheism and the list goes on.
The problem is, why does every seemingly teenage problem need to be squashed into one play? It leaves the feeling of being contrived, as if the playwright was trying too hard to make it as controversial as possible.
This, however, seems to be the point. It is an over-the-top look at what can happen if children are not properly educated on what happens to their bodies during puberty. Still, the musical received eight Tony Awards last year, including Best New Musical.
On tour for the first time, the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles is lucky enough to have the show for a month before it moves on.
The story is about two sets of teens – the boys and the girls -who, attend separate schools, but yearn for each other’s presence. It begins with Wendla (Christy Altomare), who after singing a beautiful opening song Mama Who Bore Me proceeds to ask her mother where babies come from. Her mother is extremely embarrassed by the exchange and ends up muttering something about how it happens when a man and woman truly love each other and are married.
From there we meet the boys. Two of the main charters are Moritz (Blake Bashoff), a very absent-minded student (who is constantly dreaming and thinking about the opposite sex), and Melchior (Kyle Riabko), who is all knowing. Melchior gives Moritz an essay on what exactly the nature of sex is, including explicit pictures.
Later, Wendla and Melchior meet and hormones are acted upon (this steamy hayloft scene is where the nudity comes in.) This does not lead to good things, as Wendla still has no idea how babies are made. Oops.
All of the adults – teachers, preacher, parents and doctor – are played by Angela Reed and Henry Stram. This adds an interesting dynamic to the musical, trying to show just how stupid adults are.
Also, whenever, it is time to sing a song, the characters get out their microphones, which are a little out of place against their late 1800s clothing.
The musical is a good time. The staging is great – very simple. It has a plain wooden backdrop with different trinkets (ladders, a big butterfly, clocks, lights) lining the wall. It seems as if the set designer forgot to decorate the stage, but this, of course, is not the case. In theater, nothing is an accident. There are even audience members on stage who the actors go and sit down amongst when not acting.
There is no question that the whole thing is trying to make the audience think a little harder about what life is actually about. But, although the heart is in the right place, it does not always come off as being real.
High school is a place worse than any R-rated movie could ever hope to be. Mouths are dirtier than an un-scrubbed toilet, but ,when the actors start the song The bi*&^ of living it’s almost to say, Hey look at us we can swear on stage – aren’t we cool?” It’s not how they want it to come off – life-like.
And when Martha (Sarah Hunt) tells her friends that her father beats her it almost is laughable. Her friends say “I thought that didn’t happen anymore; I thought that was just in stories now.” This further proves how naive children will be if they are not taught about the evils of the world.
According to The New York Times “Broadway would never be the same again.” Really? There have been rock musicals before and there have been ones with controversial subject matter (like “Rent” and “Avenue Q”).
The music is some kind of wonderful. There are bits of John Mayer Good Charlotte and Elton John scattered within the obvious musical score tapestry. It is exciting that new musicals are being made every year but is Broadway really different or have young actors just been asked to expose themselves in the name of art?
The musical will resonate with the younger crowd – that is if parents allow their children to go to it. Is it the new “Wicked?” No. However it is something that should be noticed – even if the musical is trying to be that way.