Preview: Spring Awakening

It has arrived Toronto! For tickets to see one of our favourite musicals of the past decade please click the header!!!

Show Description:

Winner of 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical, SPRING AWAKENING’s alternative rock score by Duncan Sheik is "the most gorgeous Broadway score this decade" (Entertainment Weekly). Based on Frank Wedekind’s controversial play of the same name – effectively banned from performance for nearly 100 years – the musical follows a group of teenagers as they come of age in late-19th century Germany. Stephen Sater’s book and lyrics for SPRING AWAKENING grapple with the difficult issues of sex, gender, and identity with refreshing energy and honesty.

Directed by Michael Rubinstein (Theatre 20, The Wylde Project, BirdLand Theatre), LOT’s production features a talented cast of emerging artists whose ages mirror those of the characters they play, artfully blurring the lines between fiction and reality. The musical employs the unconventional staging used to such great effect in the Broadway run – integrating the audience along the wings for a close-up view of the on-stage action. Join this group of talented young performers as they navigate teenage self-discovery and coming-of-age anxiety in a powerful celebration of youth and rebellion – the daring, remarkable SPRING AWAKENING.

The Lower Ossington Theatre
100A Ossington Ave, Toronto, ON (Ossington just below Argyle)
September 21 to October 8, 2011
Wed-Sat at 8pm & Sun at 4pm
Tickets: $45 (Regular Seating) / $65 (Premium Seating)

Hunter Parrish of TV's Weeds and Spring Awakening

As a follow up to Justin's post below about the closing of Spring Awakening I thought I would link the New York Times article, that ran in Saturday's paper about Hunter Parrish. You may know Parrish from television's "Weeds," one of my favourite shows. But you may not know that he has been starring in Spring Awakening for several months. Both Justin and I saw him, and I for one was really impressed. Usually when TV or film stars come back to the stage it ends up being a little Katie Holmes, but Parrish wowed. He has an impressive voice, and a lot of presence. I can't wait to see how the experience informs his performances in "Weeds" this season.

Spring Awakening closes this evening

Seeing Broadway's Spring Awakening was an overwhelming emotional experience. It was affecting and captivating. It is a jolting and exhilarating piece of contemporary theatre that explored new revolutionary theatre techniques and succeeded in doing so. Spring Awakening's rock score is strong and the staging is fast paced and wickedly engrossing. 

It is coming to Toronto in a few months and I encourage every single person to fight, beg, buy, or steal a ticket for this shows short run at the Canon Theatre. It is incredible and a must see. 

It concludes its Broadway run tonight at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre and I am in mourning. 

"Following a critically acclaimed premiere Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company in 2006, Spring Awakening arrived on Broadway Nov. 16, 2006, and officially opened Dec. 10. As of its final performance, the new musical will have played 859 performances and 29 previews on Broadway"(playbill.com). 

For info on the Toronto production go to www.mirvish.com 

Stage to screen news

News from New York as just a couple of days ago at the Oct. 6 Revival: Broadway's Next Act panel discussion at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, as possible film adaptations of the award-winning musicals Spring Awakening and In The Heights were mentioned.

Ana Gasteyer moderated the evening, which featured Spring Awakening composer Duncan Sheik, In the Heights creator-star Lin-Manuel Miranda, Legally Blonde director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell, original Rent star Anthony Rapp and "Hairspray" film director Adam Shankman.

Although both refused to go into much detail regarding the topic, I think we can all agree that this is going to happen. With the right casting and with a director like Baz Luhrmann, Rob Marshall, or Stephen Daldry, we could see some powerful film adaptations of important Broadway shows.