My wife and I saw Spring Awakening last night. Other than
vaguely-remembered positive mentions in this ng, I knew nothing about it.
In fact, it wasn't until I saw that the author was "Frank" Wedekind that I
had even a clue as to what we would see.

So, short form reactions: I enjoyed the show -- very nice to see something a
bit different and I liked the concept of contrasting the 19th century
characters' experiences with contemporary music. I was surprised at how
young most of the cast was. I assume the show was moved wholesale from an
OB or OOB workshop production and most of the original cast was retained. I
was also a bit surprised at the "audience members seated on stage" device
until I noted that Tom Hulce was listed as a producer -- I immediately
flashed back to Equus when I, on a student rush ticket, occupied a similar
on-stage seat. Perhaps it also explains the Equus-like sexual encounter.
On the whole, I thought the lyrics were smart and polished and the music
engaging, if not stylistically diverse.

However . . .

Technically, I don't think this was musical theater. To my mind, what
distinguishes musical theater from a play with music is the way music is
used. If it is integrated with the action and used to advance the story,
then it is musical theater. If it doesn't, it's not. In Spring Awakening,
the music was used to comment on the action or, more accurately, on the
characters' inner-life, but did not advance it. Because the music was used
in this way, after awhile, the song breaks began to feel like unwanted
interruptions, particularly given the similar style of many of the numbers.
A notable exception was "We're F____'d," and, perhaps not surprisingly, it
drew the greatest audience response.

Don't get me wrong -- we both enjoyed the show and felt it was money
well-spent (something my wife has not thought for some time, given the
rather mediocre shows we've been attending). I was absolutely thrilled to
see that a show like this produced, as opposed to Disney dreck,
pre-pubescent-girl-odrama like Legally Blonde, or yet-another-80s-band
retrospective. I think, though, if Spring Awakening had spent a little
more time in workshop it could have been a truly spectacular piece.

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