Ready For A Terrific Rock Musical?

New York

I decided to see what all the buzz was about. So, I went to see Spring Awakening, the new musical that started off Broadway a year ago, and made it to the big time this Fall. The story is pretty self explanatory since we've all been 14, and remember the raging hormones and the wild emotional lability that comes with it. The play was actually written in 1891, banned for years, and ressurected by the creative team of Steven Sater who wrote the lyrics--lyrics that made me want to buy the CD so I could listen to every one of them. And music by Duncan Sheik--angry, rockin', smart tunes with melodies that I could actually remember after I left the theater. When has that happened with a recent Broadway musical?

The finale wraps it up with the message that both light and dark exist, but hope remains the constant as the ensemble sings:
" And all shall fade--
The flowers of spring,
The world and all the sorrow
At the heart of everything...
But still it stays--
The butterfly sings,
And opens purple summer
With a flutter of its wings...
The earth will wave with corn,
The grey-fly choir will mourn,
And mares will neigh with
Stallions that they mate, foals they've borne..
And all shall know the wonder
Of purple summer..."


And the play doesn't step away from the issues: incest, suicide, abortion. They're all right there, as is the age old theme of parents who don't get it ( maybe a little overstated). Go see it. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Compared to Rent, I think it's fresh in its own way. The best think I've seen in its genre since Rent, that's for sure.

By the way, I found a chronology of what it took to get this musical off the ground. You may remember, dear readers, that I met a song writer for musicals last winter when I went to Jacques Brel, and we talked alot about the process of creating the final product.
For those of you who find yourselves impatient with the time involved in the creative process ( I certainly can be counted among that crowd ), take a look at the agonizing time it took to create this work. Six years, and lots of re-imagining--Redford's Sundance, Lincoln Center's workshop--and finally off Broadway. What perserverance!
M.C.

THE MAKING OF SPRING AWAKENING
New Year’s, 1999
Steven Sater meets Duncan Sheik for the first time. That night they write their first song together, for Steven’s play UMBRAGE.

Winter/Spring, 1999
Steven asks Duncan to collaborate with him on a musical version of Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play, SPRING AWAKENING. A couple of months later, Steven calls his director-friend Michael Mayer to discuss the project. Michael, a long-time fan of the play, immediately signs on.

Fall, 1999
SPRING AWAKENING is given a five-day workshop at La Jolla Playhouse in California. Ten scenes and eight songs are presented. Michael reads stage directions, and Steven turns pages for Duncan’s guitar accompaniment.

Summer, 2000
SPRING AWAKENING is given a three-week workshop at Robert Redford's Sundance Theater Lab in Utah.

Winter, 2000/1
SPRING AWAKENING is given a two-week workshop culminating in an unstaged reading at Roundabout Theater Company. Fourteen-year-old Lea Michele is cast as Wendla. At intermission, Todd Haimes (Artistic Director of the Roundabout) offers a second workshop and a future production.

In Februaury, 2001, “Phantom Moon” is released, all songs written by Duncan and Steven.

Summer, 2001
SPRING AWAKENING receives its second workshop at the Roundabout. Plans are proposed for a forthcoming production, but because of scheduling with Michael Mayer's Broadway-bound THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, the production is postponed.

Spring, 2002
Producer Tom Hulce hires Michael Mayer to direct his first feature film, an adaptation of Michael Cunningham's acclaimed novel A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD. The movie will premiere in July of 2004 starring Colin Farrell, Robin Wright Penn, Dallas Roberts and Sissy Spacek, and include a score by Duncan Sheik and two original songs by Duncan and Steven.

Summer, 2002
In the wake of budget cuts following September 11th, SPRING AWAKENING is cancelled from the Roundabout Theater Company's schedule.

Summer, 2004
Just weeks after the opening of A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD, Tom offers Steven, Duncan and Michael to shepherd the languishing SPRING AWAKENING to completion. The team accepts and then agrees to also accept Jon Nakagawa's offer to do a concert reading at Lincoln Center. Work on the project begins anew. Kimberly Grigsby joins as musical director.

Winter, 2005
Six years nearly to the day that Steven first proposed the project to Duncan, SPRING AWAKENING is presented in a sold-out concert reading in the Allen Room for Lincoln Center's “Great American Songbook” series. In addition to Lea, John Gallagher Jr. and Skylar Astin join the project. In attendance at the concert are Neil Pepe and Andy Hamingson, artistic director and managing director, respectively, of the Atlantic Theater Company, and Ira Pittelman, commercial theatre producer. Neil, Andy, and Ira all respond enthusiastically and discussions begin towards a next step.

Summer 2005
The Atlantic Theater Company, in association with Tom and Ira, commits to giving SPRING AWAKENING both a three-week workshop and its premiere production - the first musical the Atlantic will produce in its 20 year history.

Fall, 2005
Creative work continues and designers Christine Jones (set), Kevin Adams (lights), Susan Hilferty (costumes) and Brian Ronan (sound) come on board the project. Casting takes place across the United States under the guidance of Jim Carnahan and Carrie Gardner.

Winter, 2006
SPRING AWAKENING receives its sixth and final workshop, under the auspices of the Atlantic. Bill T Jones joins as choreographer.

Summer, 2006
SPRING AWAKENING opens at the Atlantic Theater Company, to critical acclaim and a sold-out run. It receives two extensions and plans are set in motion to move the show to Broadway.


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