There's no such thing as too much Spring Awakening!

                I’m going to apologize in advance for how long this blog post is.  I have a lot to say.  Bear with me, it’ll be worth it.  It’s pretty evident that I love Spring Awakening.  It’s my favorite musical.  I saw the first national tour four times: twice (from house seats) in Durham, and twice (from on-stage seats) in Greenville, SC.  I can’t ever seem to get over how awesome it is.  So, I bought myself an on-stage seat for each of the three performances of the second national tour’s gig here in Raleigh.  So awesome!

                I was unsure of what to expect, exactly, in terms of how things would be different, since the second national tour is non-equity.  I know that traditionally, sets and lighting are scaled down for non-equity tours, due to the fact that they do much shorter engagements, often lasting only one performance, and need to be able to take apart and rebuilt the set very often.  I once saw a non-equity tour of Hairspray and the set was practically non-existent!  Luckily, Spring Awakening doesn’t have a particularly involved set – however, the complex lighting is crucial to the design.  There were only a few things which were different.  They kept all the brilliant lighting.  The side walls became imaginary walls with lights and pictures midair, and one row of stage seating was removed.  The stage didn’t move, and there was no elevated hayloft.  The back wall was the same, and the set had the same feel as the first national tour.  I feel that nothing essential was compromised in terms of the set – especially since all the lighting was still present.  The only thing I truly missed was the fog for “Those You’ve Known.”  I don’t see why they couldn’t travel with a few fog machines.  Oh, well.  The show was amazing – fog or no fog.

                I was quite disheartened by the low attendance at all three performances.  The house was barely even half full on Saturday night, and that was the largest audience of the three performances.  It’s clear that live theater is a tough sell, especially for performances which aren’t part of someone’s season tickets.  It also appears that people are still unwilling to step outside their comfort zones – and I’m most disheartened by the fact that people will leave Spring Awakening during intermission.  It’s not a cultural experience unless you experience all of it – and you miss out on a lot by missing Act II.  This being said, I do have to mention that Spring Awakening is not a show for everybody.  For example, I don’t think it was appropriate that there was a four-year-old girl in the audience.  I saw her sitting there the entire show – inappropriate!  For the price her mom paid for the ticket, she could have easily paid for a babysitter!  No small child needs to see simulated sex or hear a musical number called “Totally Fucked.”  So, in summary: go see Spring Awakening, but leave the little ones at home.

Despite the low attendance, I was quite encouraged by the enthusiasm of the small crowd.  The audience at all three performances was excited, energized, and engaged (excepting, of course, those who mistakenly chose to leave at intermission).  There was plenty of cheering, applauding, and head-bobbing – and a standing ovation every time.  Those who were there truly appreciated and enjoyed the show.   On stage, the energy was palpable.  I couldn’t help but nod along, tap my feet, and get really into the musical numbers. 

In addition, there was a tight core group of stage-sitters, and we all got to know each other pretty well over the course of three performances.  What I love about Spring Awakening is that I knew beforehand that I wouldn’t be the only person with stage seats for all three Raleigh performances.  This show creates such a loyal, dedicated following.  Sitting on stage was such a blast – I loved it so much!  It’s the coolest way to experience such an amazing show.  The experience was made that much better by Paris, the adult women understudy and assistant company manager, who was in charge of on-stage seating.  She was, in a word, awesome.  If you’re with the production company, give Paris a raise – the fans demand it!  She helped get us and the crowd pumped up and reminded us that it’s up to us to create the energy for the show.

Having seen the show several times before, I took the opportunity of sitting on stage to glance out into the audience every so often.  I’m glad I did.  On Saturday night, I couldn’t help but watch an older gentleman (probably in his sixties) who was so into the show.  I first noticed him during “Left Behind.”  I couldn’t help noticing the fact that he was practically sobbing.  He was clearly very affected by (SPOILER ALERT!) Moritz’s death.  And then, throughout the rest of the show, I couldn’t help but peek over at him.  He absolutely loved ”Totally Fucked,” he was grinning ear to ear during “Song of Purple Summer,” and he was giving perhaps the most enthusiastic standing ovation of all during the curtain call.  I’m so glad I got this window into someone’s Spring Awakening journey.

My friend Caleb and his boyfriend Sean came up from Savannah, GA to see the show on Friday night.  Caleb had never seen Spring Awakening before!  I love getting to see how much Spring Awakening virgins love the show, but I will admit that it was very hard for Sean and me to not give away important details beforehand.  I am overjoyed to report that not only did it blow his mind, but his world was rocked so hard that he got tickets for both Saturday performances as well!  I told him he would love it, and I was right, of course.

Spring Awakening has such a reputation for fan loyalty and cast gratitude.  The three of us were at the stage door after each performance, just to chat with the cast and tell them how much their performances meant to us.  The sheer amount of talent in this non-equity cast blew my mind.  They were such an amazing group of talented young performers.  Caleb and Sean kept talking about how great they were.  I’m not exaggerating here: the talent of this cast as a whole was Broadway-caliber.  They brought their own new quirks to these roles, and did such a good job.  I loved all the little things they did – the girls nodding in unison as they tried to convince Wendla to attend Greta Brandenburg’s wedding, the boys’ on-beat glances at one another when Melchior stands up to Herr Sonnenstitch.  They were so genuinely nice at the stage door, and it was so cool to talk to them about the show.  I could tell that they were truly grateful to be in such a groundbreaking piece of musical theater.

I had been vacantly pondering getting a Spring Awakening tattoo for some time now.  I have other tattoos, but none which are musical theater related.  However, between the Saturday matinee and evening show, Caleb, Sean, and I walked past a tattoo parlor in downtown Raleigh, and I decided to go for it.  I’m so glad I did – it really sums up the meaning of the show, and how I want to incorporate those lessons into my life.  After the evening performance, I was able to show it to some of the cast members, which I thought was pretty neat.  I guess I’m now committed to being a theater nerd for life!