Slick musical awakens
Spring Awakening, book and lyrics by Steven Sater, music by Duncan Sheik, directed by Ben Emerson, musical director Michael Nicholas Williams, choreographer Manuel Solomon. Bats Theatre, until April 21.
Turning a well-known play into a musical is very fashionable these days. Some are successful but others are not.
Fortunately, Spring Awakening – based on a German play of the same name, written in the late 19th-century by Frank Wedekind – and currently at Bats Theatre, is one of the better ones.
Groundbreaking in its time, the play still pushes the boundaries, and has many relevant themes of teenagers searching for answers as their burgeoning sexuality sends them spiralling out of control, physically and emotionally.
The music and songs are referred to as alternative-rock, as opposed to mainstream or heavy rock and, in this show, they create a subtler approach, allowing much of the story’s emotion to emerge, with the lyrics for the most part complementing the storyline.
It is easy to imagine that the superficiality of a Broadway musical would smother the essence of such a powerful and emotionally charged play, yet not so with this one as most of the songs are able to convey the reality of the situation without wallowing into sentimentality.
And while the first-half tends to meander, establishing the characters and their storyline, the second half brings out the nitty gritty of what happens when the characters follow their hearts and not their heads.
On a simple yet effective set by Ben Emerson who also directs, excellently lit by Jennifer Lal, the large cast of 14 bring the show alive with some spirited performances and well-executed musical numbers.
Particularly impressive is Emerson’s excellently orchestrated staging, complimented by Manuel Solomon’s choreography, which creates a confident and slick show that uses the whole of the stage space to great effect.
There are many moments of creative originality that use the skill of the talented cast extremely well, yet not at the expense of the underlying emotional tension that develops, especially through the second-half.
The harsh reality of what happens when teenagers go awry through parental intransigence is well played out, and with most of the cast having at least one solo, along with chorus numbers, they display their abilities with highly polished performances to make this a musical show well worth watching. – Ewen Coleman