Consider the following thorny issues
that society grapples with today: abortion, homelessness, child abuse, rape,
unplanned pregnancy, homosexuality, and teen suicide. Now imagine how these same topics were candidly
portrayed in an 1891 German book Spring
Awakening written by Frank Wedekind.
It didn’t go over so well then as it was banned in that country for some
time.
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Photo: Stan Barough |
Undaunted, the rock musical
called Spring Awakening based on that
controversial work was crafted by Grammy Award-winning songwriter Duncan Sheik with
book and lyrics by Steven Sate. The
production opened on Broadway in 2006 and captured eight Tony Awards, including
Best Musical, Direction, Book, Score and Featured Actor, and four Drama Desk
awards plus a Grammy. The female lead was played by Glee’s Lea Michelle prior to her move to TV.
After a successful run on
Broadway and London and touring productions in the U.S. and Canada, Spring Awakening arrived at the Olney
Theatre Center, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary. Director Steve Cosson, aided by an attractive
talented cast and an imaginative creative team, blended the often dark and
heavy storyline that was set in late 19th century Germany with modern
rock music, lighting and staging to present a sparkling and moving production.
It is a great challenge to mesh
19th century European mores with contemporary optics and sound. That dichotomy is left to the audience to work
out. In its totality, despite that
challenge, the production succeeds.
Using a strong score under the
direction of Christopher Youstra with great work from the orchestra, the storyline
delicately and ably weaves a series of subplots into a dramatic tapestry
involving adolescents discovering their feelings about sexuality and
intimacy. Parents of these kids were
loathe to have frank “birds and bees” conversations, so the youngsters had to
learn about such matters on their own in various ways while dealing with the
effects of puberty.
Wendla, played tenderly by Alyse Alan Louis, never received sexual guidance from her mother and paid
the ultimate price. She caught up with a
friend from her early childhood years, Melchior, a handsome, intelligent, and
rebellious fellow (performed splendidly by Matthew Kacergis) who, through book
learning, was aware of the mechanics of sex and enjoyed his intimacy with a naïve
Wendla. Sadly, this encounter ultimately
had tragic consequences as two lives were lost.
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Matthew Kacergis and Alyse Alan Louis Photo: Stan Barough |
Then there is Moritz, played
solidly by Parker Drown. He, too, had
his issues involving his sexual feelings but was even more victimized by evil,
unscrupulous schoolteachers (played deliciously by Ethan Watermeier and Liz
Mamana, who also perform other adult roles) and his unsympathetic father.
Ernst (David Landstrom) and
Hanschen (Austin Vandyke Colby) find love with each other. Happily, this gay couple is among the few who
did not experience sadness, frustration or tragedy and provided some of the
lighter moments in the production.
Other characters include Ilse (Maggie
Donnelly) who runs away from home to escape abuse; Martha (Marylee Adams) who
was abused by her father; Georg (Chris Rudy) who fantasizes about his voluptuous
piano teacher; and Otto (Christopher Mueller) who dreams about his mother. You get the picture.
There were some comedic moments,
such as a masturbation, uh, autoeroticism scene, with the good-looking Colby as
Hanschen constantly being interrupted by his father. And the exchange later on between him and
Ernst (Landstrom) is quite enjoyable.
The music is electric and was
performed wonderfully by the entire cast.
Alyse Alan Louis’ rendition of “Mama Who Bore Me” is gorgeous as she
exudes her frustration of her mother’s reticence about discussing sex. She also shines with Matthew Kacergis as
Melchior in “The Word of Your Body” (a song that is reprised two more times
with other characters) and “Whispering”.
Her acting is spot on as her character draws significant empathy from
the audience
Kacergis, who recently played in
Olney’s well-received Cinderella, has
charismatic leading man looks and a stellar singing voice. His acting skills are right for the role,
demonstrating a take-charge and defiant persona inherent to Melchior. Kacergis’ numbers are all performed well but
his touching performance of “Left Behind” is truly magnificent as it showcases
his full tenor range.
Parker Drown effectively plays
the complex and emotional character Moritz.
It would be tempting to overact in such a role but thankfully he does
not cross that line. Drown, a Helen Hayes
Award winner, morphs effectively from the 19th century Moritz character
to a modern rock performer in “And Then There Was None”. He also excels in “Don’t Do Sadness”.
Although mostly appearing in the
ensemble, Christopher Mueller’s singing talent stands out. A great resonating voice, Mueller delivers as
Otto in the reprise of “The Word of Your Body”.
The company performs the outstanding numbers “The Bitch of Living” and “Touch
Me” extremely well.
Sam Pinkleton’s choreography is
particularly exceptional in “Totally F*cked” with the ensemble moving around
the stage with high energy and cohesion and using chairs as props.
Also needing to take a bow is
the lighting designer Robert Wierzel.
Employing three rows of LED lights forming a boxy arch around the sides
and top of the stage and coordinating lights in the rear to illuminate a
forest, Wierzel effectively mixes colorful combinations to coincide with the
mood of a particular song or the dramatic dialogue.
And credit costume designer Sarah
Beers for nicely outfitting the girls in period plaid skirts and simple white
blouses and the boys in their gray jackets, black vests, white shirts, striped
ties, knee-length shorts and high socks.
Though it’s a sad story for the
most part, Spring Awakening is
riveting and entertains with especially good musical numbers and fine acting by
the cast, well deserving of the standing ovation it received the night this
performance was reviewed.
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Running Time: Two hours with an
intermission.
Spring Awakening plays through March 10 at Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD 20832. Tickets may be purchased by calling
301-924-3400 or visiting it online.