Broadway's 'Awakening'
Having seen the Broadway musicals Spring Awakening and Company last week with a night off in-between, I felt like the nail hit on the head by the beginning of Ginia Bellafante's piece "Sex, Repressed and Unleashed" in Friday's New York Times:
"Let's say, though, that despite a hypothetical preference for shearing sheep over watching actors sing, you have gone to see 'Spring Awakening' or 'Company' or both, and suppose now that you unexpectedly find yourself re-evaluating the form, perhaps at least in part because both new productions engage with sexual politics in a way rarely seen on the mainstream stage. Taken in tandem, they lay a greater claim to our interest than taken alone, together playing out the debate about the role and relevance of sexual freedom that has consumed us since the 1960s."
I'll have more to say about Company when Nonesuch Records releases its new cast recording of the Stephen Sondheim revival in a couple of weeks. As for Spring Awakening, it may be the less engaging of the two plays for adults, but it's still an earnest yet entertaining blend of crowd-pleasing Andrew Lloyd Webber-isms with the relatively edgy rock attitude introduced by Rent almost exactly a decade ago.
Set in repressive 1891 Germany, Spring Awakening leaps into the present with every song and is basically a poignant musical argument for universal sex education, responsibility, and choice. There are no easy answers here, and while the musical depicts various common forms of sexual activity, it's hardly prurient. At its best, it serves as a timely and frank reminder of the immense difficulty of being a teenager at any time ever. And while my thirteen-year-old daughter has seen both the stage and film versions of Rent more than once, I'd have to say we made the right mutual decision to hold off on this for a year or two, when I'm sure she'll appreciate it.
Steven Slater wrote the book and lyrics to music by singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik. The best moments belong to the failing student Moritz, who, as played by John Gallagher Jr., bears a striking resemblance to Johnny Rotten of punk rock's most theatrical creation, the Sex Pistols. But Spring Awakening is thankfully neither punk lite nor Broadway bland. And it definitely beats sheep shearing as a spectator experience.