Spring Awakening - Hope Mill Manchester

Always happy for another chance to see Spring Awakening, Aspects though, just the thought of sitting through it again has me dozing off..............

Couldn’t agree more there...

I often wonder what Les Mis, Phantom, Saigon etc would have been like in the wrong hands. Would they be what they are today without the right production team at the time? 

I love the soundtrack of Spring Awakening, but I think there are a few problems with it.

a) Broadway has a strange habit of having small shows that are blown way out of proportion - Spring Awakening is one of those, others I can think of are Once, Fun Home or now Come from Away. These shows (IMHO) belong in small-ish fringe theatres the size of the Menier or Southwark at corresponding prices. I wouldn't pay Broadway prices for them (well, actually I did, but I went for cheap tickets for both Spring Awakening and Fun Home and sat far back and didn't enjoy the shows at all because they require intimacy) and I can see how London audiences didn't want to part with a lot of money for a small unknown show with -then- unknown young performers. I'm sure it would have done better in one of the small fringe venues.

b) The original version had a pretty bizarre staging and weird choreography that made it all a bit absurd. I guess the sense of "heightened reality" was what they were going for, but it alienated the characters to me.

c) The original drama by Frank Wedekind is rather overblown. I am aware that he intended to "shock" the audience of his day (and he surely did) but Wendla's story especially is just ridiculously melodramatic. One night with a boy promptly leads to pregnancy, promptly leads to a botched abortion and death. There's also something iffy how Melchior pushes himself onto her in what we today would consider rape.

I wanted to like this show badly because I love the soundtrack. After the disappointment on Broadway, which I put down to the bad seat in the last row of the circle, I tried again when we were super lucky to catch the US Tour in San Francisco during what was just a regular holiday in California and liked it more from the front stalls. Then I saw it again in Vienna with a friend who didn't know the show at all and seeing it "through her eyes" (as you do when you wonder what the person you dragged along might be thinking) it did occur to me how weird it all is. I still regret that I was so tired of the show by then that I didn't bother with the London version and thus missed the young Iwan Rheon and Aneurin Bernard who both went on to much much bigger things. But yea, I think it deserves a revival in a smaller venue with a better director.

True story: My NY-based friend and I were doing a two-show day and after the matinee went to the theatre where Spring Awakening was playing to pick up our tickets for the evening. Jonathan Groff was lurking outsisde the stage door and alone and while I personally would have been too shy to approach him during what was presumably his downtime, my friend immediately chattered at him and told him that I was from Germany, so we talked a bit about Wedekind, German theatre and so on. I didn't have a Spring Awakening playbill yet, but LUCKILY I had bought the full script at the Drama Book Store earlier, so he signed that for me. One of my most treasured memories of Broadway and I've had a soft spot for Groff ever since!

Indeed! I very rarely do stagedoors (I made an exception for Damian Lewis in London, ahem) but when my friend approached Groff, I could hardly tell her nope, don't do that, like he was radioactive.

And yea, Spring Awakening is a fantastic show for young newcomers. There are a few clips of the London production on youtube and I have to laugh, seeing how young and innocent Iwan Rheon and Aneurin Bernard looked back then. Man, now I really want a London revival somewhere small. Maybe this one will transfer!

Do you think this will transfer to London? I so badly want to see it but Manchester is too far away for me

Anyone know when booking opens for this? Thought it might be this week now Little Women has finished.

Thanx

I presume so. I think they did open auditions a week or so ago.

Hallo Michal and welcome to this site. I'm sure this will happen in Manchester. as others have said there have been auditions in the last few weeks. It will be good to welcome you to Manchester, and you don't need courage to write on these pages. Generally it is a friendly place. Welcome. barry