Thrillingly Transformative ‘Spring Awakening’ is Skylight’s Season Highlight

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Spring Awakening logo - Skylight Music Theatre

The most important—and satisfying—theater of this early spring season can be found in Skylight Music Theatre’s production of “Spring Awakening.” It is difficult to describe the experience of sensory overload one experiences when witnessing this 1890s-play-turned-contemporary-rock-musical, now appearing in the Cabot Theatre. The musical opened last weekend and continues through March 17.

The original 1890s play by Frank Wedekind had a limited run and then was banned for its intimate focus on teen sexuality and angst in an oppressive society.

A musical based on Wedekind’s play opened on Broadway in 2006, winning eight Tony Awards that season. Among those in the cast were Lea Michele (Funny Girl and TV’s “Glee”) and Jonathan Groff (King George in Hamiltonand TV’s “Glee”). The show had an exceptional run and was a hit for its book and lyrics (by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik) as well as its talented cast. Michele was cast in the leading role of Wendla, with Groff as another leading player, Melchior.

A reconfigured musical version appeared on Broadway in 2015, with a production that featured both hearing and deaf actors. Among those in the cast was Marlee Matlin, perhaps the world’s best-known deaf actor. Done in collaboration with the LA-based Deaf West Theatre, the production took this musical to a new level. It was done in such a way that the audience almost immediately became used to the concept of both hearing and deaf actors communicating together. 

At all times, the Broadway production’s dialogue was both spoken and “signed” in American Sign Language. A few bits of dialogue occasionally appeared on an onstage blackboard. The ease in which the audience was transported into this new world of theatrical expression has remained with this reviewer, who was fortunate enough to see this Broadway show.

Now, a similar experience can be seen at Milwaukee’s Skylight Theatre. Intrigued readers should not hesitate to get their tickets soon, as this show may sell out. 

‘Spring Awakening’ Rivals Anything in Milwaukee Theater

Under the co-direction of Artistic Director Michael Unger and Alexandria Wailes, with a talented cast and orchestra, Spring Awakening rivals anything produced in Milwaukee theater. 

The show is best enjoyed by forgetting about which actors are speaking, and which are signing. All of the actors, regardless of their hearing abilities, occasionally sign in unison. In certain cases, such as with the non-speaking Wendla (Erin Rosenfeld) and her friend and classmate, Moritz (Joseph Saraceni), the characters are shadowed by speaking (and singing) cast members (Emma Knott and Edie Flores, respectively). 

Then there’s another male lead, Melchior (Caden Marshall), who both speaks and signs, but not continuously. At times, his words are spoken by other cast members. It’s a sneaky bit of misdirection that is very effective in letting us know that “we are all the same.” 

This all sounds confusing, and for a brief moment, audiences should expect some discomfort as they get used to the arrangement. In the capable hands of these directors, it is all sorted out, brilliantly. The strong story line (and lovely melodies) will sweep the audience along, as the signing actors allow their hands to dance in front of them. 

This musical seems to evolve organically, despite the fact it has been precisely choreographed.

The musical opens with a childlike Wendla signing (and singing, with Knott’s help) a ballad to her mother, “Mother Who Bore Me.” Wendla is far older than her child’s frock would suggest, and she is beginning to feel some unusual physical and mental changes. She tells her mother that she knows “the stork” did not deliver a baby to her married sister. She presses for additional information, to her mother’s discomfort.  Based on these vague “facts,” Wendla surmises that only married women can have babies.

Today’s teens might have difficulty understanding how someone Wendla’s age would not learn how to access these “facts.” The sheltered Wendla lives in a rural village, without access to the internet, older siblings or friends who will admit having this knowledge, cell phones, TV, or their father’s “racy” magazines. In short, she is completely cut off from information by a world that is dominated by adults: her mother, her church pastor and her teachers. 

Ditto for Wendla’s classmates, who she has known since childhood. The boys are more likely to raise a fuss about this, and they do so terrifically during a couple of the production numbers. Told in contemporary vernacular, the kids sing, “The B---- of Life,” “My Junk,” “Touch Me,” and  ”Totally F-----.” 

Such mature language (as well as references to suicide, rape, abortion and child abuse) make this show most suitable for teens and older theatergoers. 

The younger characters in this cast remain under the thumb of the adults, who show a dismaying degree of unity. When Melchior says he is not remorseful over his physical encounter with one of the girls, his somewhat-lenient mother (Liz Tannebaum) agrees with her husband (Joel Kopischke) that he should be packed off to a prison-like reformatory.

It is no coincidence that most of the adult characters in this show are played by the same actors, reinforcing their similarity. Particularly of note is Karen Estrada’s frequent appearances as both a bosomy piano teacher and also a stern schoolteacher. The piano teacher’s scenes (and the fantasies imagined by one of her male students) are among the musical’s brief comic moments. 

Top-Notch Cast, Musicians and Production Team

The cast is all top-notch, and the younger cast members realistically portray a misunderstood group of teens. Choreographer Reed Luplau focuses more on group movement than actual dance, with a couple of spectacular exceptions. Also excellent are the handful of musicians under the direction of Eric Svejcar.

The show basically has no set. The stage’s cement-block back wall and the lighting elements dangling above are all clearly in view. Further reinforcing the musical’s bleak setting are props such as basic wood benches, tables and chairs. There is also Wendla’s single bed, framed by a white iron headboard, a transparent full-length mirror, and a blackboard. All serve many purposes in scenes that variously appear in script against the rear wall, such as “the woods,” “Melchoir’s house,” etc.

The minimal (or nonexistent) set puts more responsibility on the show’s sound (by Chad Parsley) and lighting (Annie Wiegand). A large production team also provides support in terms of intimacy direction (Michelle Mary Schaefer) and fight direction (Jamie Cheatham) in addition to many others who assisted with sign language interpretation, etc.

This must-see production might expand one’s understanding of what is possible onstage. In any case, it is a kaleidoscope of ideas, movement and objectives that is easy to appreciate.  It is perhaps unlike anything local theater patrons have seen, which is all the more reason for curious theatergoers to check it out. 

 Spring Awakening continues through March 17 at the Cabot Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway, Milwaukee. For tickets, go to skylightmusictheatre.org, or call the box office at 414-291-7800.