Spring Awakening

In the regional premier of the hit Broadway musical, we took the piece in a very different direction than the original production and couldn’t have been more thrilled with the results. Our production team sought to really emphasize the storytelling, focusing on the depth of the characters, the reality of their world and the locations within it, the intrigue and tragedy of Wedekind’s plot, and the ultimate message of hope ingrained in the musical. Plus, when the wailing electric guitars pushed the book scenes aside, we saturated every moment with the rebellion and rage of the students’ inner thoughts which could only be expressed externally through pounding rock and roll.

In the strict, oppressed reality of 1891 provincial Germany, the lighting design rendered a realistic (if somewhat heightened) world in which the boundaries and rules of society were all too clear. The many locations of the play were visually distinct and recognizable but all within the same palette. When the music exploded the characters’ emotion into high-octane rock-and-roll numbers with athletic choreography, the lighting transformed the world, bursting with color, texture, and movement. Concert light brought out the students’ rage and turned every song into a spectacular rock show.