So my school’s newspaper is called the Heartbeat (a Sacred Heart school, Heartbeat… it’s supposed to be clever), and this year a group of kids started an independent newspaper called the Flatline. And while most of the writers are writing about sports scores, the newest rap album, and crazy new school policies, I am being daring and radical writing mine as a review of Spring Awakening. Now here’s what I need form all of you out in TV Land!
1. Please read it over and give me your honest opinion. I don’t care if you tell me I suck and should crawl into a hole and never write again, or if it’s the most fabulous piece of editorial writing you’ve ever read and you’ll draw me up a contract with the New York Times. Just tell me what you think.
2. Give me a quote about your honest opinion of the show.
Thanks! (It’s not done yet, btw…)
“As the lights in the house dimmed, the lights on stage rose and the opening violin chord sang through the theater, I feel my heart begin to race. I was about to witness what had been described as “the best new musical of this generation”. I am, of course, talking about Spring Awakening, Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s riveting new musical adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s most famous and controversial play. The musical takes the plot of a repressed society in 19th century Germany and juxtaposes it with a modern score and choreography. It tells the story of Melchior Gabor, the brilliant, rebellious heartthrob who’s insatiable thirst for knowledge often gets him in trouble, and his journey from childhood to adulthood through sexual awakening. With an all-star cast featuring Kyle Riabko (Instant Star; “The Parkdale Sessions”), Blake Bashoff (Lost), and Steffi D (5th runner up on Canadian Idol), it’s no wonder the touring cast has been such a success here in San Francisco. But even more than that, it’s probably because it appeals to a mass audience different from that of many of the shows on Broadway right now – teenagers. Teenagers have been flocking to theaters all around the country to see this new phenomenon. “It related to every single thing a teenager has to deal with and I connected so strongly to it,” CJ Morrison says, and with good reason. It deals with everything we may be encountering now or in the near future– school issues, sex, and most of all, our lackluster relationships with our parents.”
