If you’re a regular visitor to The Drama Teacher, you’ll be aware on a recent Broadway tour I saw an amazing musical Spring Awakening, a show nominated for 11 Tony Awards in 2007 and winner of 8, including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score.
Currently performed on Broadway by a cast mostly aged between 16 and 26, Spring Awakening has been dubbed the new Rent. It is a show based on an 1891 German play of the same name (banned at the time) and has been on Broadway since December 2006.
Spring Awakening follows a group of teenagers’ coming of age from adolescence to adulthood and the plot is supported by a fantastic rock score by Duncan Sheik. It covers many teenage themes, a few not so pleasant, but while some consider Spring Awakening controversial, it is certainly honest and raw, and one of the most energetic musicals I’ve seen in years.
For those readers in the US, you are no doubt already familiar with this show, but this is not the case for many of us back home in Australia. Hopefully, we will see Spring Awakening in Australia soon, but in the meantime, check out the behind-the-scenes video below (dating back to its original Broadway cast) and purchase the awesome CD soundtrack (may require a little searching in Australia).