Spring Awakening, BU on Broadway’s latest musical which opens Thursday night, is a coming-of-age story about a group of German teenagers in the late 19th century. It is based on a controversial play by Frank Wedekind, but the musical brings the story into current times with a rock score reminiscent of Rent.
The show opens with adolescent Wendla at home with her mother, asking how babies are created. Her mother refuses to tell her anything more than that it happens when a woman loves her husband. The scene then switches to the male lead, Melchior, getting in trouble with his strict teacher for questioning a Latin translation. Immediately we are thrown into a world where adults have complete power and the young characters have only questions.
From here, the production progresses through a series of short scenes and musical numbers in which we meet different students and learn about their individual struggles with their newly-realized sexuality and the repressiveness of the adults in their world.
Each of the actors playing teens brings a palpable angst to their portrayal, and throws themself into the jerky, angry choreography with gusto. Fiona Brysonand Mike Melkonian, who play all the adult men and women, do an excellent job of setting themselves apart from and above the younger characters through their stern words, uptight posture and condescending attitudes.
As Wendla, Jessie Torrance has an appropriately innocent demeanor and a beautifully expressive voice. Jack Moriarty excellently portrays Melchior’s 19th-century bad-boy charm—we are told at one point that “he doesn’t believe in anything anymore, not even God.” He also captures the character’s intellectual curiosity and growth by the end of the show.
For me, though, the real stand-outs in the cast are Austin Pohlen as Moritz and Julia Wreden as Marta. Moritz is the most angsty character out of an angsty bunch, and Austin shows this by having his body constantly tensed and twitchy, as if everything stresses him out and scares him. Marta sings one of the most powerful songs in the show, “The Dark I Know Well,” about being abused by her father. Julia handles this difficult song with genuine pain in her voice, but still does justice to the beautiful melody.
Overall, the cast are incredibly talented singers. The addition of live musicians on stage adds to the powerful musical experience. The scenes may sometimes feel a bit awkward, because though the themes and topics are still very relevant, the writing (a translation of a 100-year-old play) shows its age. The cast handles the difficult material well, though, and once the musical numbers begin, you’ll never want them to end.
Spring Awakening goes up in the Tsai Performance Center April 19, 20 and 21 at 8 pm. Tickets are $10 for students and $12 for adults, available in the GSU or at the door.
Photo credit: Amanda Friedman
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at BU chapter.