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Spring Awakening
by Los Angeles County High School for the Arts THE
SHOW: Frank Wedekind’s controversial play explicitly portraying
adolescents dealing with their new sexual desires, as well as violence and
abortion, has awoken cries for censorship since its inception. But its musical
version by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater, opening on Broadway one hundred years
after the first production of Wedekind’s play debuted in Germany, went on to
become a huge hit and earned the 2007 Tony Award for Best Musical. Of course, more outcries followed the story as it became
available to regional theatres, including youth theatres. The show is, indeed,
about youth – teenagers living in a repressive society where they are still
told of baby-toting storks. Where physical and sexual abuse of children is kept
hushed. Where adolescents wanting to understand the changes they’re undergoing
and the hormones flooding their bodies, feeling unable to seek advice from those
who might best help, are instead forced to rely on whispered rumors and myths.
Or on uninformed experimentation. All resulting in confusion, shame, and
tragedy. A setting reflecting a small German town in the early 1890s, or perhaps
a modern-day suburb near you. THE PRODUCTION: Directors Graham
Jackson and Erica Robson keep
their production at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts edgy,
daring, and true to the spirit of the show. A few frames hang above the stage
through which we see projected paintings, photos, and other images that
unobtrusively set the scenes. Nick van
Houten’s careful lighting effects set the moods well, and Kathie
Bretches-Urban’s nineteenth-century costumes are aesthetically pleasing
and complement the characters. Those characters are played by LACHSA’s immensely
talented performers led by Liam Starzyk
as the smart, confident, and comparatively worldly high school student Melchior
Gabor. Through Liam’s performance we see his easygoing confidence crack as
biological theory collides with the real-world impact of breaking with societal
norms, and the human impact on the sheltered Wendla. Kelsey Smith is terrific as the happy, curious Wendla whose world
gets shaken by the ugliness of abuse faced by her friend Martha, and whose
nervousness and vulnerability help drive the power of the show as events unfold.
She also delivers great vocals whether belting out the rock numbers or her more
haunting moments like her solo Whispering.
Kelsey and Liam work very well together throughout as their relationship builds. Dylan
La Rocque is Moritz Stiefel, becoming obsessed with the secret of sex while
failing in school. As the pressures drive him to the edge, we feel his growing
helplessness. Georgia Mendes is Ilse,
former childhood friend who was abused and ran off to live a life with a
free-spirited but dangerous sort. Her powerful duet with fellow abuse victim
Martha (Katie Powers-Faulk) is one of
this production’s great moments, as is her last meeting with Moritz in Don’t
Do Sadness/Blue Wind. Each member of the relatively small cast is superb
including the forbidden tension between the assertive but tender Hanschen (Quinn
Martin) and the shy Ernst (Joseph
Ottavi-Perez), the outrageous and highly expressionable schoolmasters (Vilem
Lehmann-Boddicker and Aidan
McCollough) or the amusing piano teacher of fantasy (Jennnifer Kaplan), and the very different mothers in the intelligent, gentle, and
progressive Frau Gabor (Molly Billman)
and the conservative, uneasy Frau Bergman (Jennifer
Kaplan). The cast as a whole excels with their dancing, acting, and singing
in several well-staged and choreographed numbers, from letting out teenage
frustration with adults with rock numbers, dealing with puberty in My
Junk and Touch Me, and trying to overcome tragedy in their beautifully
poignant final scenes. Performed December 13 - 15, 2013 Rob Hopper ~ Cast ~ Add Artist Page Frau Gabor/Frau Bessell: Molly Billman Thea: Sarah Colt Anna: Tessa Debole Herr Sonnenstitch/Father Kaulbach/Herr Gabor/Schmidt: Sheldon Donenberg Otto Lammermeier: Jackson Glenn Herr Stiefel/Herr Rilow/Herr Neumann/Doctor von Brausepulver: Kole Hoffman Frau Bergman/Fraulein Grossebustenhalter: Jennifer Kaplan Moritz Stiefel: Dylan La Rocque Headmaster Knochenbruch: Vilem Lehmann-Boddicker Hanschen Rilow: Quinn Martin Fraulein Knuppeldick: Aidan McCollough Ilse Neumann: Georgia Mendes Ernst Robel: Joseph Ottavi-Perez Martha Bessel: Katie Powers-Faulk Marianna Wheelan: Gaby Ritter Georg Zirschnitz: Jack Samson Wendla Bergman: Kelsey Smith Melchior Gabor: Liam Starzyk Producer: Gary Soerensen Lighting Design: Nick van Houten Costume Design: Kathie Bretches-Urban Set Design: Amanda Stuart Sound Design: Emmanuel Munda Technical Director: Chris Krambo Student Assistant Director: Catalina Adragna Student Assistant Choreographer: Kyra Sorce Student Assistant Musical Director: Molly Billman Student Stage Manager: Rebecca Bangasser Stage Crew: Tech Track Class Program Design: Dana Wayne Graphic Design: Anna Simpson
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