Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening is playing at the Brook Atkinson Theatre located at 256 West 47th Street. It runs two hours fifteen minutes with one intermission. The show closes on January 9, 2016.

The musical opened on Broadway at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre on January 10, 2006. It closed on January 18, 2009 after 829 performances and twenty nine previews. Marlee Matlin played Adult Women.

The original cast album won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show album in 1998.

It was nominated for eleven Tony Awards in 2007 and won eight. The Tony Awards it won for were, Best Musical, Book of a Musical (Steven Sater), Original Score (Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater), Feature Actor in a Musical (John Gallagher Jr.), Direction (Michael Mayer), Choreography (Bill T. Jones), Orchestration (Duncan Sheik) and Light Design (Kevin Adams). It was nominated for Leading Actor (Johnathan Groff), Scenic Design (Christine Jones) and Costume Design (Susan Hilferty).

Spring Awakening was nominated for nine Drama Desk Awards and won three for direction, music and lyrics.

The London production won three Laurence Olivier Awards in 2010 for Best Musical, Best Actor ( Aneurin Barnard) and Best Supporting Role (Iwan Rheon).

Marlee Matlin won an Academy Award in 1996 for Children of a Lesser God.

Camryn Manheim is known for her role as attorney Ellen Frutt in The Practice from 1997-2004. She won an Emmy Award in 1998 for The Practice and was nominated again 1999. In 2005 she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Elvis. Camryn is in Person of Interest as “Control”.

Krysta Rodriquez played the role at the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, Ca until June 15, 2015.

The musical takes place in 1891 Germany.

Ten minutes before the show starts cast member start coming on stage in their under garments. Gradually they put on their clothes.

Melchior (Austin P. McKenzie) is in class. His friend Moritz (Daniel N. Durant) tells him he is having nightmares. He can’t concentrate in class because he has had very sleep. Mortiz questions him on the sexual feelings he is having. He asks him to write out what he knows with illustrations.

Wendla (Sandra Mae Frank) asks her mother where babies come from. Her mother (Camryn Manheim) is evasive. Wendla insists on wanting an answer. She tells her when a woman loves her husband then a baby is born.

Melchior and Wendla hook up and explore their sexuality.

Something happens to Moritz. The notes Melchior gave him are found by school officials. He is expelled from school.

Hanschen (Andy Mientus) realizes he is gay.

What happens and what I left out you will just have to see this amazing show. I don’t want to spoil it for you.

The 28 cast members are made up with deaf and hearing actors. Both actors do sign language. Daniel N. Durant (Alex Boniello), Marline Matlin (Camryn Manheim) and Sandra Mae Ford (Katie Boeck) are deaf, the actors in parenthesis are the ones who are their voice.

Ali Stroker is the first actress on Broadway who is in a wheelchair.

Many of the cast members play several roles.

To point out any one actor would give the rest of the cast an injustice. They are all wonderful.

This is a must see show.

Review by Rozanna Radakovich

Photos by Annazor.

To read a candid interview with the cast, scroll down to the left for recent Photos. Click on recent photos for this and other shows.