Spring Awakening

Synopsis

Act I

Wendla Bergmann, an adolescent in late 19th-century Germany, laments that her mother gave her "no way to handle things" and has not taught her the lessons she is meant to know as a young woman ("Mama Who Bore Me"). She tells her mother that it is time she learned where babies come from, considering that she is about to be an aunt for the second time. Her mother cannot bring herself to explain the facts about conception clearly to Wendla, despite knowing her daughter is reaching puberty. Instead, she simply tells Wendla that to conceive a child a woman must love her husband with all of her heart. The other young girls in town – Martha, Thea, Anna and Ilse – appear to be similarly naïve and are upset about the lack of knowledge presented to them ("Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)").

At school, some teenage boys are studying Virgil in Latin class. When Moritz Stiefel, a very nervous and anxious young man, sleepily misquotes a line, the teacher chastises him harshly. Moritz's classmate, the rebellious and highly intelligent Melchior Gabor, tries to defend him, but the teacher will have none of it, and hits Melchior with a stick. Melchior reflects on the shallow narrow-mindedness of school and society and expresses his intent to change things ("All That's Known").

Moritz describes a dream that has been keeping him up at night, and Melchior realizes that Moritz has been having erotic dreams which Moritz believes are signs of insanity. To comfort the panicked Moritz, Melchior, who has learned sexual information from books, tells Moritz that all of the boys at their age get these dreams. Moritz, Melchior and the other boys – Ernst, Hänschen, Otto and Georg – share their own sexually frustrated thoughts and desires ("The Bitch of Living"). Moritz, who is uncomfortable talking about the subject with Melchior, requests that he give him the information in the form of an essay, complete with illustrations.

All the girls, except Ilse, are gathered together after school; they tease each other as they fantasize about marrying the boys in the town. Martha admits that she has a crush on Moritz, but is made fun of by the other girls. At the top of the list is the radical, intelligent, and good-looking Melchior ("My Junk"). Moritz has eagerly digested the essay that Melchior prepared for him, but complains that his new knowledge has only made his dreams even more vivid and torturous. Melchior tries to calm and comfort his friend, but Moritz runs off in frustration. All of the boys and girls express their desires for physical intimacy ("Touch Me").

Act II

Wendla and Melchior are finishing their moment of confused intimacy in the hayloft; they reflect on and discuss what has just happened ("The Guilty Ones"). (In the Off-Broadway production, Act II began with "There Once Was a Pirate".)

Moritz, having been thrown out of his home, wanders the town at dusk, carrying a pistol when he comes across Ilse, a childhood friend of his. Ilse tells him she has found refuge at an artists' colony, and they reminisce in some childhood memories and "remarkable times". She invites him to come home with her and join her in sharing some more childhood memories, and maybe something more. Moritz refuses and Ilse does everything she can to change his mind ("Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind"). After affirming to Ilse that he truly wished he could go with her, Moritz refuses and Ilse leaves, distraught and upset. Realizing that Ilse was his last chance to escape the fate he's set out for himself, Moritz quickly changes his mind and calls after her, but she is gone. Alone and believing that he has nowhere to turn, Moritz shoots himself.

At Moritz's funeral, each of the children drops a flower into his grave as Melchior laments the passing of his friend while touching on the factors that led to his death, including the way his parents treated him ("Left Behind").

Back at school, the schoolmaster and teacher feel the need to call attention away from Moritz, whose death was a direct result of their actions. They search through Moritz's belongings and find the essay on sex which Melchior wrote for him. They seize the opportunity to lay the blame of Moritz's death on Melchior, and although Melchior knows that he is not to blame, he knows there is nothing he can do to fight them and is expelled as a result ("Totally Fucked").

Elsewhere that night, Hänschen meets up with his shy and delicate classmate Ernst. Ernst tells Hänschen about his plans to become a pastor after school, and Hänschen shares his pragmatic outlook on life. He is amazed with how Ernst has remained so innocent despite the horrible things happening around them. They kiss and Ernst reveals that he loves Hänschen. ("The Word of Your Body (Reprise)").

Wendla has become ill, and her mother takes her to visit a doctor. He gives her some medication and assures them both that Wendla is suffering from anemia and will be fine, but takes Wendla's mother aside and tells her that Wendla is pregnant. When her mother confronts her with this information, Wendla is completely shocked, not understanding how it could have happened. She realizes that her mother lied to her about how babies are made. Although she berates her mother for leaving her ignorant, her mother rejects the guilt and insists Wendla tell her who the child's father is. Wendla reluctantly surrenders a passionate note Melchior sent her after they consummated their relationship. She reflects somberly on her current condition and the circumstances that precipitated it, but resolves with optimism about her future child ("Whispering").

Characters

The children

Melchior Gabor – An intelligent schoolboy with radical ideals who falls in love with Wendla

Wendla Bergmann – An innocent, curious girl who has a relationship with Melchior

Moritz Stiefel – Melchior's best friend. He is tormented by growing up and feelings of failure.

Ilse Neumann – A friend of the other children who was kicked out of an abusive home and now lives in an artists' colony

Hänschen Rilow – An intelligent and bisexual schoolboy. Ernst's love interest.

Martha Bessell – A friend of Wendla's who is abused by her father. She has a crush on Moritz.

Ernst Röbel – A closeted classmate who is ashamed of his sexuality. He is Hänschen's love interest.

Georg Zirschnitz – A classmate who lusts after his older piano teacher

Otto Lämmermeier – A classmate who has a disturbing dream about his mother

Thea – Wendla's best friend. She has a crush on Melchior.

Anna – Martha's best friend

Greta Brandenburg (2015 Broadway revival)

Bobby Maler (2015 Broadway revival)

Natally – Thea's twin sister (2015 Broadway revival)

Boys in the reformatory

Dieter – Usually played by the same actor as Georg

Rupert – Usually played by the same actor as Hänschen

Reinhold – Usually played by the same actor as Ernst

Ulbrecht – Usually played by the same actor as Otto

Adults

Traditionally, the roles of all the adults are performed by one man and one woman. However, in the 2015 Broadway revival, there were two pairs of adults: one hearing pair, and one deaf/HoH pair.

Frau Bergmann – Wendla's mother

Fanny Gabor – Melchior's mother

Frau Bessell – Martha's mother

Fräulein Großebüstenhalter – Georg's piano teacher

Fräulein Knuppeldick – an associate of Headmaster Knochenbruch

Headmaster Knochenbruch – the boys' school headmaster

Herr Sonnenstich – a schoolteacher

Herr Gabor – Melchior's father

Herr Stiefel – Moritz's father

Herr Rilow – Hanschen's father

Herr Neumann – Ilse's Father

Father Kaulbach – a priest

Doctor von Brausepulver – Visits Wendla during her pregnancy

Schmidt – the abortionist

Musical numbers

Note: "The Guilty Ones" replaced off-Broadway version's Act II opening, "There Once Was a Pirate"; the latter is available as a bonus track sung by composer Duncan Sheik on the iTunes version of the original Broadway cast recording. A reprise of "Touch Me," sung by Melchior, appeared in "Whispering" during the Chicago, Vienna, London runs, was added to the tour, and is part of the amateur rental materials. On the original Broadway cast recording CD, the order of "The Guilty Ones" and "Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind" is switched.

The 2021/22 London run re-introduced "There Once Was a Pirate", in place of "The Guilty Ones".

Orchestration

The original Broadway pit consisted of a 7-piece orchestra:

Strings: 1 guitar/violin, 1 viola, 1 cello, 1 bass, 1 guitar

Keyboard: 1 player

Percussion: 1 player

Major production casts

Notable Broadway replacements

Melchior – Kyle Riabko, Hunter Parrish and Matt Doyle

Wendla – Alexandra Socha

Ernst - Blake Daniel

Ilse - Emma Hunton

Moritz – Blake Bashoff and Gerard Canonico

Adult Women – Kate Burton

Hanschen – Drew Tyler Bell and Matt Doyle

Anna – Emily Kinney

Thea – Caitlin Kinnunen

Ensemble – Jenna Ushkowitz

Notable Broadway swings

Jennifer Damiano – Anna, Thea, Martha and Ilse

Krysta Rodriguez – Anna, Thea, Martha, Ilse and Wendla

Matt Doyle – Hanschen, Ernst, Otto, Georg and Melchior

Robert Ariza – Melchoir, Hanschen, Georg, Otto

Notable tour replacements

Melchior – Matt Doyle, Jake Epstein, Christopher Wood

Moritz – Taylor Trensch

Original concept

Before opening the show off-Broadway, Duncan Sheik had composed an arrangement of song demos for the original concept of Spring Awakening. Back then the musical's plot adhered more closely to the original play's plot. Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik had originally intended for Melchior actually to rape Wendla at the end of "I Believe," but decided to change that plot because he wanted the scene to be more loving between the two characters. In workshops, "I Believe" ended with Wendla's scream while being raped. "All That's Known" replaced a song titled "All Numb". Both songs had the same theme, but because the directors had to reduce time for the show, "All Numb" was cut and replaced with "All That's Known".

A song called "A Comet on Its Way" was replaced by "The Bitch of Living". Although both songs followed the same basic theme, Sheik thought that "The Bitch of Living", being more upbeat, fit the show better. "Those You've Known" replaced a song called "The Clouds Will Drift Away", which was cut because Sheik wanted the song between the three main characters to stay close to the "All That's Known" theme. "Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)" was originally intended to be performed after "Touch Me". Another song, entitled "Great Sex" (which was intended to be performed after "Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)"), was also cut from the show because the directors thought the song pointed out the theme of the show too specifically. It was intended to be performed during Hanschen's masturbation scene, but the song was removed and the scene moved into the middle of "My Junk".

Production history

Spring Awakening had a number of workshops, concerts and rewrites over a seven-year period, including workshops at La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego, California, and the Roundabout Theatre Company, and a concert at Lincoln Center in February 2005, under the auspices of actor/producer Tom Hulce. It premiered Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company on May 19, 2006 and ran through August 5, 2006.

Broadway

The musical opened on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on December 10, 2006 and closed on January 18, 2009, after 859 performances and 29 previews. It was directed by Michael Mayer with choreography by Bill T. Jones, costume designs by Susan Hilferty, set designs by Christine Jones and lighting by Kevin Adams. It received nearly unanimous favorable reviews, and easily recouped its initial $6 million capitalization, breaking even on August 27, 2007.

Decca Broadway released the original cast recording on December 12, 2006, which won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album in 2008. The guitar on which Sheik composed songs for Spring Awakening was included in the 2008 exhibition "Writing to Character: Songwriters & the Tony Awards" at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

United States tours

A US national tour (with one stop in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) opened on August 15, 2008 at The Balboa Theatre in San Diego, California. The national tour ended on May 23, 2010 in Orlando, Florida. A non-equity US tour began at Shryock Auditorium on October 14, 2010 in Carbondale, Illinois. The non-equity US tour ended its run on May 15, 2011 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada at the Centrepointe Theatre.

Original London production

The first London production began January 23, 2009 at the Lyric Hammersmith, transferred to the Novello Theatre on March 21, 2009, and closed on May 30, 2009. It won four Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical.

2015 Broadway revival

Deaf West Theatre mounted a production directed by Michael Arden based on a concept of Arden's husband, first National Tour cast-member Andy Mientus. The cast, made up of both deaf and hearing actors, performed the show in American Sign Language and English simultaneously. The deaf and hard-of-hearing actors in certain roles were paired with a hearing actor who voiced the roles. The majority of the hearing actors were also part of the live onstage band. The production incorporated 19th-century-appropriate aspects of oralism in deaf education to complement the themes of miscommunication, lack of proper sex education, and denial of voice. The production opened in Los Angeles in the fall of 2014 at the Rosenthal Theater produced by Deaf West Theatre Artistic Director DJ Kurs, Christopher Sepulveda and Anne Wareham. When it transferred to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills from May to June 2015, Mientus and original Broadway cast swing Krysta Rodriguez played Ilse. The production transferred to Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre with the same cast, except the addition of Marlee Matlin, Camryn Manheim, Patrick Page, and Russell Harvard in the adult roles. It was produced by Ken Davenport and Cody Lassen. The revival began previews on September 8, 2015 and opened on September 27, 2015. It closed on January 24, 2016.

The production was nominated for the 2016 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical and received unanimously positive reviews. In his review for The New York Times, Charles Isherwood called it "a first-rate production of a transporting musical." The Associated Press called it "a sheer triumph," and New York Magazine called it "brilliant and beautiful." The revival focused on making theater and Broadway accessible to people with disabilities. In addition to having deaf cast members, it featured the first Broadway performer to use a wheelchair, Ali Stroker. Spring Awakening was also the first Broadway production to provide interpretation for deaf-blind theatergoers. On January 15, 2016, the producers of Spring Awakening, in association with The Broadway League, presented a symposium titled "How to Make Broadway More Accessible," featuring members of the disability community and a keynote address from Timothy Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics.

2021 London revival

A London revival at the Almeida Theatre began previews on 30 November 2021, and opened on 14 December to critical acclaim. Directed by Rupert Goold, choreographed by Lynne Page and designed by Miriam Buether, it was led by Laurie Kynaston as Melchior, Amara Okereke as Wendla and Stuart Thompson as Moritz. The limited run closed, after a week's extension, on 29 January 2022. The production received a 2022 Olivier Award nomination for Best Musical Revival, and won two Critics' Circle Theatre Awards including Best Musical in the same year.

2024 London reunion Concert

On 1st February 2024, it was announced that Jack Maple and original London cast member Evelyn Hoskins would present a one night reunion concert on 2nd June 2024 at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London's West End. The concert reunited a majority of the original London cast, band and stage management teams. Changes to the cast included; Jamie Muscato (original swing) taking over Melchior, Rich Southgate (another original Swing) as Hanschen and Olivier Award-nominee Jack Wolfe joining the cast as Moritz. The concert raised funds for one of the Original London production's producers, Imogen Kinchin.

2026 Off-Broadway revival

An Off-Broadway revival for fall 2026 has been announced. The production will be directed by Danya Taymor and take place at Studio Seaview.

International productions

The first European production began on August 30, 2008, at Värmlandsoperan in Karlstad, Sweden, closing in March 2009. A second Swedish language production opened in Helsingborg on March 20, 2009. A Finnish production opened in Helsinki on 5 February 2009 and closed in November 2009. A Hungarian-language (first non-replica) production premiered on February 7, 2009 in Budapest at the Nyugati Teátrum, with the title Tavaszébredés. This production ran until May 26, 2009. A German-language staging opened in Vienna, Austria on March 21, 2009, and closed on May 30, 2009. A live cast recording was released. A Danish-language production opened at Aalborg Teater on June 13, 2009, and closed on September 15. There was also Slovenian production in the Ljubljana City Theatre in 2009.

An English-language production opened in Valletta, Malta at the St. James Cavalier Theatre on April 17, 2009, directed by Wesley Ellul, choreographed by Fiona Barthet and featured Davide Tucci as Georg and Daniel Casingena as Otto. This was produced by the MADC. The run was extended after it sold out.

A Japanese-language production opened in Tokyo at the Shiki Theatre Jiyu May 2, 2009. A Brazilian production in Rio de Janeiro ran with the title O Despertar da Primavera from August 21, 2009 to January 31, 2010. It then transferred to São Paulo. A cast recording was released in January. A Philippine production opened in Manila in the Carlos P. Roumolo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, on September 25 and ran until the October 17, 2009. It was performed in English and was directed by Chari Arespachochaga. A Czech-language production opened in Brno, Czech Republic at the City Theatre Brno on November 21, 2009.

Sydney Theatre Company staged an Australian non-replica production that opened on 4 February 2010 at the Sydney Theatre and closed on 7 March. An Argentine production with the Spanish title Despertar de Primavera – Un Musical Diferente opened in Buenos Aires on March 19, 2010. A production played at the Griffin Theatre, Chicago, running from December 4 to January 8, 2011. A Welsh language production toured Wales from the beginning of March 2011 visiting 8 different locations, with Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru (Welsh-language national theatre). The first UK national tour took place in May and June 2011, produced by Sell A Door Theatre Company.

In other media

In the television series 90210, the first few episodes contain the school and some of the characters as they prepare, and eventually perform in Spring Awakening, though in reality the amateur production rights were not available at the time. Parts of some songs and scenes are performed through the episodes, such as "Mama Who Bore Me" and "The Bitch of Living". Annie and Ty played the principal roles.

The 2015 Broadway revival was featured in the award-winning documentary series Working in the Theatre produced by the American Theatre Wing. The 2018 television series Rise focuses on a high school English teacher attempting to put on a production of Spring Awakening while facing resistance from members of the community – including parents of cast members – who consider the material inappropriate for teenagers.

Major awards and nominations

Reunion documentary

On May 3, 2022, HBO released a documentary film entitled Spring Awakening: Those You've Known, which showcases the 15-year reunion of the original company that was held in November 2021 to benefit the Actors Fund.

Proposed film adaptation

In April 2009, McG was announced as the director for the film adaptation. In 2010, lyricist-librettist Steven Sater told Playbill that a film version of Spring Awakening could begin production in Europe in the spring of 2013. In 2012, Duncan Sheik told Broadwayworld.com that the movie was in development, but not everything was in place yet. In March 2014, Sheik revealed to U-T San Diego that the movie would include a new song. In 2020, Academy Award nominated filmmaker Luca Guadagnino expressed his interest in the project in an interview even mentioning that he had discussed a potential adaptation with Sater. As of December 2024, 15 years after the original announcement, no such film has been produced. Steven Sater has made pleas to film executives via social media to continue the development.