Okay, let's get this out of the way. We saw Spring Awakening at the Curran Theater last night.
This is not a review.
I did not hate it.
I did not love it.
For those who loved it and have seen it more than once, and plan to see it a 3rd or 4th time, go right ahead. Whatever floats your boat, right? Read no further, it's up to you.
I'm not hating.
The musical does not warrant violent reactions from me. It does not deserve an all caps fuck you. Yes, because it's that bland and does not pose a threat of any kind.
Is it something so new and revolutionary and I am nothing but fearful of it? Meh. Hardly.
It is akin to a fat-free, sugarless vanilla jelly. Vanilla being the default of all default flavors. Jelly because however jiggly amusing or almost filling, still is insubstantial.
It reminds me of having a little puppy, not even a chihuahua cos that's feisty, trying to chew my finger but the baby hardly has sharp teeth. It ends up a micro massage, harmless and strangely soothing. I am more weird for thinking this, please don't assume the same of the play.
It is High School Musical with a bit of the OC that aimed high, went to Juilliard but didn't quite finish the course. Now it deliberately wants to flash some punk street cred but it hasn't shed the prestige completely to be labeled a dropout.
It's the little very well trained troupe that could. The child actor transitioning to older parts. Suddenly Harry Potter had to strip for Equus. The Jonas Brothers posing as a rock group. They play their instruments but I just don't believe it .
It's pretty with some talent...only that.
It's not truly sweet. Not truly funny. Not truly tragic.
The only character that stood out, I'm using the term loosely, had to die but even that didn't make an impact.
There's supposed to be sex, the idea of purity being smashed and authority being ridiculed. All I saw was a cliff note reenacted on stage.
Where's the rawness of the act? The flashing of the breasts and the writhing motion didn't do anything for me even as I sat on the 4th row. Give me that at least, the visceral, the titillating...it was all for nothing.
Is it rock? Yes,but only set to 6. We all know Spinal Top had it at 11. But anyway, blame Duncan Shiek who wrote all the music.
I am old and I'm trying to recall the details of why I know him. He had one popular song in the 90s and like the ticket to Spring Awakening, I bought it because it had a promise.
A little bit indie, a little bit emo...it's the rock shirt you didn't buy at the concert you didn't go to so you paid for it at Urban Outfitters.
It's coloring by numbers and I sat through it hoping they'd veer outside the lines.
It's just Not Quite. It's not even quite annoying so I finished it all the way to the end.
I had one and a half favorite songs. That half, I don't remember the words...only a few lines sung in discordant notes. The full song I liked was the final chorus only because "Okay, I can go home now."
2 comments:
i totally agree with you about Spring Awakening. There are some who LOVE it, but was so bored because it had no feeling. my only saving grace was that i only spent $30 to see this from the stage, which turned out to be a great opportunity to see how it was directed, acted, and to have the pov from the actor. however, this show was just too EMO for me. during the funeral scene, i saw some of the actors crying... why? there was really nothing that made me care deeply enough for him... or anyone of the characters. and the wheels flew off the story when the lead came back from boarding school. didn't make any sense. digressing, i did like how they used the 2 adult characters to double/triple roles as general adults and they were really good, but i just never... cared for any of them. and that's something i never want to feel after seeing a piece of art. however, i did like the lighting direction! too bad, because i expected more from the "best" musical of 2007.
also, i wonder if it would make any difference if the show had a different set of actors.
I can't give an example now, but there are stories out there that are problematic in terms of character development or could use some motivation/justification in the narrative...but the caliber of acting is just so great, it makes up for whatever is lacking in the material. you just end up believing the characters because they are masterfully played.
dino thought highly of the lighting too :)
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