Friday, March 13, 2009

Spring Awakening

Posted by Laura / 5 comments » / , musicals, spring awakening

Last night, Johnathan and I went downtown to see Spring Awakening at the Palace. As good timing would have it, when we were buying tickets, there were some left for on stage seating, so we were two of something like twenty people who were able to sit on the stage for that performance.

I’ve historically been hesitant about Spring Awakening because I had seen a bootleg of it and read the plot summary and just didn’t see the appeal. The music wormed its way into my affections to the point where I now know all the words, but I was still slightly hesitant about seeing the show live.

It was totally worth it. We got there very early so we were in one of the first groups to get seated. After what seemed like a requisite warning to essentially behave ourselves (don’t stand up, don’t leave your seat until an usher comes to get you, no singing along, etc), we just sat and waited. (On really hard, rather uncomfortable seats, actually.) A few people seemed to straggle in just a few minutes before showtime and then I think all the patron seats were actually filled.

There were a few empty seats throughout, and some of them were without numbers, so the few of us chatting on our side speculated that at least the people next to those seats would have visitors. We were right! What we didn’t know was that all the seats lacking in patrons would be filled by cast members. That was kind of cool. I had a cast member on my left and Johnathan had one on his right. It was cool to be sitting there enjoying the show (albeit from strange angles), and then to hear the person at my side start singing as part of the chorus. It really made me feel like I was in the thick of things.

The cast seemed to start out a bit mediocre, and then after the first song, things turned up. There were a few times that the tempos seemed inconsistent, almost like the band and the singers couldn’t find the right sweet spot, but I’m not sure how much of that was my altered perception due to being on the stage instead of in the house. All of the cast was good, though, and it’s clear that everyone was well-cast for acting and singing ability.

One of my biggest shocks came in the middle of “Touch Me.” The cast is doing what they do, wandering about the stage in choreographed semi-chaos, singing the song (which was both lovely and amusing), and then I noticed that there was a girl in the patron seats across the way. She was on the top row, in the back, and she was standing up. Wait! We weren’t supposed to do that! What’s she doing? Then I noticed that she had a spotlight. And a microphone. And then it dawned on me that she was not actually a patron – she was in the cast. I felt totally duped, but not in a bad way. It was actually kind of fun to talk to the other people who were sitting on the stage to see who else knew it was going to be that way and who didn’t.

Overall, I found the experience very pleasant. I loved being so close to everything, to see the cast members actual tears and the very little elements of what was happening on the stage. I loved being able to feel the vibrations from the band and how the stage shook while the cast was jumping around and stomping. The energy on the stage was absolutely electric in a way that I’m not sure could be felt quite as much from the house. I really enjoyed the whole experience. If I could tell the cast members anything, though, it would be that I wished they would lay off the choral diction a bit. I’m not sure how much of my perception of the exaggeration was being so close to it and how it came through in the house, but it was my only complaint of the night: some people were pronouncing their consonants too hard. Horrible, right? I know.

We decided, since I picked a Thursday night, to try sticking around for the post-show Broadway Buzz chat. It seems that we weren’t the only ones with complaints about the format of the chats, and the man (whose name is Gary, I think) who ran it did a much better job than the previous ones we’ve been to. He  didn’t even tell the story of how Jacques Brel saved Playhouse Square! I was very impressed. He let the audience ask the questions and only interjected once in a way that was totally nonsensical. I think we may actually start going to the Broadway Buzz again!

I do think I’d like to see the show from the house if it comes through (or nearby) again, just to have that different perspective for contrast to what I saw last night. I would so recommend this show to pretty much anyone of high school age or above. It’s very relevant.

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