Springtime's for musicals

Spring Awakening: ****/*****

I don't get to see musicals very often. They are way too damn expensive for students to see on a regular basis but this past Saturday I got my semi-annual musical fix--Spring Awakening.

Awakening interestingly enough premiered off-Broadway in 2006 but it wasn't always a song and a dance. A play of the same name was written by German Playwright Frank Wedekind in 1891 but was banned for its controversial (at that time) content; think abortion, homosexuality, suicide, masturbation etc...It was only in the past decade that Wedekind's work was adapted for the Great White Way.

Since hitting the Broadway circuit, it has received critical acclaim including 8 Tony Awards and a Grammy. Pretty impressive, huh?

I went into the theatre pretty uninformed about the plot of the production. I figured it was a cheery coming of age testament to way back when but it turned out to be a lot darker than I had envisioned it. This is not me being disappointed, just me dealing with a false understanding / lack of previous knowledge/ ignorance on my part…Much like the time I watched Pan's Labyrinth thinking it was a children's film. Rude awakening, I tell you. Anyways, the darkness proved to be a nice break from the happy-go-lucky style and content of most musicals I've seen.

On a side note: Not to get all reflective but we’ve come a long way since the über orthodox ideologies of even 20-30 years ago. We still deal with many inequalities but not even a fraction of what was considered taboo in the past.

Back to Spring Awakening: The show opens with a song called "Mama who bore me"—Great opener to a fabulous musical. One of the leads, Wendla (Christy Altomare), sings of her sexual curiosity. Her only knowledge of sex is of the stork delivering babies. The catchy rock ‘n’ roll number set a good pace for the rest of the show. The guitar-based soundtrack was a nice touch. It added some edge to the emotionally charged music. I love a good rock-opera [disagree if you will, but We Will Rock You is not included on this list]. The genre is a great way of updating the musical / expanding the viewer demographic.

The cast delivered a high caliber of talent putting longer-term residents of the Yonge Street entertainment sector to shame [see previous musical mentioned]. The set was simple yet impressive; enough to captivate yet not distracting from the performance itself. There were some audience members that were seated on the stage adding to the interesting mise en scène. They also threw some plain-clothed chorus members in there too which was a cute addition.

Of course the show was not without its campiness. From a flamboyant homosexual character [avec some man on man action] to 'cheeky' song titles like "the bitch of living" and "totally fucked", it celebrated the essence of musical theatre.

Definitely would recommend seeing the show if you have any appreciation for theatre [if you don’t, what’s wrong with you?]. Splurge on this one. It’s worth sacrificing two nights of drinking for.

To buy tickets / see cast and crew info click here