THEATRE REVIEW: "Spring Awakening" at the Oriental Theatre (Chicago, IL)

     On May 8th, 2011, I saw a performance of the Duncan Sheik / Steven Sater musical "Spring Awakening" at the Oriental Theatre (now called the Nederlander Theatre).  Christopher Wood and Elizabeth Judd starred in this production.  Devon Stone, Coby Getzug, and Courtney Markowitz co-starred in the production, which also featured Rachel Geisler, Jim Hogan, Aliya Bowles, George E. Salazar, Emily Mest, and Daniel Plimpton.  Neither this non-equity tour, nor its cast, got a great review in the Chicago Tribune.  That was because, admitted the reviewer, he had seen the musical several times already, which means he saw the full-scale staging (either Off-Broadway, Broadway, or the First National Tour, which performed in Chicago [also at the Oriental Theatre] from August 4th through 16th of 2009).  This, however, was basically my first time seeing the musical.  So I didn't think it was all that bad.  







 
       It was after seeing the tour of "Next to Normal" twice that I made the decision to see this production of "Spring Awakening."  In fact, the second time I saw "Next to Normal" was just two days before seeing this show.  This tour had most of Christine Jones's scenic design from the Broadway Production.  The only real difference I noticed from an uploaded video on YouTube of the Broadway Production was a platform in the center of the stage didn't elevate during two songs ("The Mirror-Blue Night" and "I Believe").
      The songs from "Spring Awakening" I always liked the best were "Those You've Known" and "The Song of Purple Summer."  From what I remember, this cast sung those songs beautifully.  After seeing this musical, I read the 1891 play version of "Spring Awakening" by Frank Wedekind, which was banned the year it came out.  I wonder what Frank Wedekind would have thought of the musical "Spring Awakening," with contemporary rock music interspersed throughout the show.  




Coby Getzug as Moritz and Christopher Wood as Melchior (photo by Andy Snow).





    "Spring Awakening" (the musical) started out at the Linda Gross Theater for an off-Broadway run that lasted from June 15th through August 5th, 2006 (preview performances began on May 19th of the same year).  The production than transferred to the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, where it ran from December 10th, 2006 through January 18th, 2009 (preview performances began on November 16th, 2006).  The Broadway Production of "Spring Awakening" won eight 2007 Tony Awards including Best Musical.  It also won four 2007 Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Musical.  Of course, the Second National Tour of "Spring Awakening" was a far cry from these original award-winning productions.  I am still grateful I got to see the show--even in this slightly scaled-down, cost-cutting form.
    







  The Second National Tour of "Spring Awakening" performed in over sixty cities, including Chicago (obviously), Los Angeles, Nashville, and Fort Lauderdale.  The tour launched in Carbondale, IL on October 14th, 2010 at the Shryock Auditorium.  The tour stayed in Carbondale for one day (probably performing a matinee and evening performance), prior to moving on to Macomb, IL the next day for (I'm guessing) two more performances at Western Hall.  As far as I know, the final tour stop was at the Centrepointe Theatre in Ottowa, Ontario, where the production performed from May 13th through 15th, 2011.   The tour stopped at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, where the production performed from February 1st through 6th, 2011. When the First National Tour of the musical performed in Los Angeles from October  27th through December 7th, 2008, it was at the Ahmanson Theatre.  The Second National Tour's Chicago Engagement, where I saw the show, was one of the tour's final tour stops.  Just a week after I saw "Spring Awakening" on May 8th, 2011, the Second National Tour was performing for the last time on May 15th.
 



The Second National Tour cast of "Spring Awakening" (photo by Andy Snow).





    The Second National Tour of "Spring Awakening" featured direction and choreography recreated by Lucy Skilbeck and JoAnn Hunter.  It wouldn't be a non-equity tour without an associate director and choreographer.  Besides featuring a score by Duncan Sheik, as well as book and lyrics by Steven Sater, the production also featured remnants of the original direction and choreography by Bill T. Jones and Michael Mayer.  The tour also featured costume design by Susan Hilferty, lighting design by Kevin Adams, and sound design by Brian Ronan.  Oh!  Did I mention that parts of the musical were extremely inappropriate?  For example, in one scene, one of the characters (Hanschen) masturbates on stage while reading aloud from "Othello."  






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