Spring Awakening Manila: Third time's the charm

 

The atmosphere in the theater lobby at 3 in the afternoon yesterday, October 18, was electric, buzzing. Must admit, I was myself almost vibrating with excitement. I had a feeling that this show was going to be TOTALLY FUCKED (and that's a good thing). I had even snuck out of a retreat because I didn't want to miss Spring Awakening's last day in Manila.

This was going to be my third time to see the local staging. I was unhappy with the performance on the first night I watched, but I had seen it since and there had been an improvement - energy was higher, flats and sharps were mostly in tune. So I believed with all my heart and love for this gorgeous musical that the local cast was going to peak and rock it on their last day of the run.

Note: This is going to be pretty long. I know that best practices for web dictate that content should be written in succinct bits that can be consumed quickly. But I think I have a lot to say! So if you want the mini review, just read the next line.

OH MY GOD, IT WAS INSANE. Everything clicked and they brought Spring Awakening to life. I was overjoyed.

THE GIRLS

There was a transformation in the girls' scenes. "Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)" set the stage for the contemporary numbers and gave the signal that Spring is not your average 19th century musical. And for the very first time, "My Junk" was solid, tight and infectious. Sing-along factor! Their non-singing scenes were smoother, more rhythmic and natural. 

ANNA & THEA

I liked that they both seemed to have distinct personalities this time - Thea slightly naive and excitable, and Anna a little darker and more realistic, but a good friend. Great singing, too. Thank you for the high energy this time! 

MARTHA

Martha's shining moment is "The Dark I Know Well". I hardly listen to it on the original cast recording because it is so sad. But yesterday's performance reminded me how heartbreaking but beautiful this song is. Sitti found her low register and totally rocked it.

ILSE

I loved Ilse yesterday. My complaint from the first show was that she was, although okay overall, too smiley. She smiled at everything - the sex scene, running into Moritz, "Purple Summer", really probably half the time she was on stage. This, I felt, was too shallow a portrayal of the complex character that is Ilse. But this last show was different.

She did a good job with what has always been, at least to me, the most confusing storyline in the play. Her father sexually abuses her but she gets kicked out? And what made her come back? And how did she end up staying in town if she already ran away once? Maybe these things were explained in the original play. But the Spring re-staging has kept Ilse vague. She pops in and out of the musical numbers and when the girls first mention her name, you find out that she has been kicked out by her parents – but you don’t quite remember who they are talking about.  

As such, "Blue Wind" is important because it is the first time that Ilse really comes out and has an actual interaction with another character. She does duet with Martha on “The Dark...”, but they aren't experiencing something together or expressing anything to each other, they're just singing the same song.

And while we've already found out that she was sexually abused by her father, this scene really shapes her character. She is sort of dazed, I think, when she runs into Moritz - she tries to laugh off the traumatizing sexual harassment and rape that happened in Parapia but still sounds sad when she talks about the different artists. Not to mention, imagine ending up somehow back home in a man's shirt and no pants! That would be embarrassing even today but as exemplified by Frau Bergman's sermon about Wendla's "kindergarten dress", 1891 Germany was even more stringent. She suddenly runs into an old friend and, in what seems like a reflex reaction, tries to reach out to him by inviting him to her house. Then she launches into the saddest of lyrics – no matter what the season, there is sadness. She gives no indication of having sensed Moritz's precarious mental state, and she wraps up their short exchange by berating him and telling him that by the time he wakes up she will be dead in some trash heap somewhere. (Did she actually say "trash"? Am too lazy to get up and check the text...)

She is definitely the most elusive character in Spring, and yesterday's Ilse was a revelation. It seemed as though the actress had seriously internalized and gotten to know the character better – and on stage was able to hint at the complicated subplot while suggesting that there is merit in, unlike Moritz, going on even despite tragedy.

Was happy that, like Sitti, she found her lower register and brought the depth needed to "The Dark I Know Well" and "Blue Wind". 

WENDLA

I’ve been pretty vocal about how unhappy I was about Wendla on opening night. Was happy to hear an improvement during the second time I watched and am even more ecstatic that there was a bit of a breakthrough yesterday.

“Mama Who Bore Me” was almost completely in tune, and the actress did not seem as scared. She was not as typically childish in the scene with mama Frau Bergman and their exchange on where babies come from was a hit. She brought the required spunk and energy to “My Junk”, and gave her best performance of the night in “Word of My Body”. Hearing her great voice during that song made me think that she just needs to work on being more consistent. She was very convincing here, when she runs into Melchior in the woords with no annoying quiver in her voice... but this unfortunately came out again in the scene where she asks Melchior to beat her.

But am happy because this is the first time that I *felt* the attraction between Melchior and Wendla. The hayloft scene was much improved and she sold the audience on her plight yet pro-choice in “Whispering”. As Melchior’s “good conscience” at the end, she delivered that clear, crystal voice.

I was happy with her performance, especially given the marked improvement from opening night. Was joking to my sister that I would have rated her 20% on opening night, 40% on the second time I watched – twice as good, but still not good enough. Today I would have given her an 85, well over passing! I was even able to genuinely congratulate her after the show.


On to the boys...

THE BOYS

Thank you for the best “Bitch of Living” of the run (of the shows I’ve seen)! Maximum energy that made angst look fun. (When is Spring-eoke???) They were properly supported by the band this time, and they were so at home on the stage that the movements – jumping in the air, lying on the floor, mini-somersaulting downstage – didn’t seem choreographed. They kissed some ass man!

HANSCHEN

Dear, dear Hanschen. He was even better, if you can imagine, in this last show. Still greasy and oh the perfect bad boy. Both his singing and speaking improved, with lines flowing (especially in the reformatory scene) more smoothly. I’ve forgotten that he also gets to deliver one of my favorite lines in the play – “I go up to my room turn the stereo on, shoot up some you, and you is some song”. Thank you, Hanschen!

ERNST

...was still great as unsuspecting gay guy. He quickly declares his love for Hanchsen, and come on, who wouldn’t? Hanschen will probably ditch him for some wealthy girl (not to mention that there is no “coming out” in 18th century Germany) but you fall in love with this portrayal of Ernst for being naive but completely genuine. His voice was also more solid.

GEORG

I liked him better this time. Loved him and saucy piano teacher in “My Junk”. Am glad that they gave him fewer solos because he goes too R&B and that isn’t really the Spring tone. He also seemed to settle better into his character as reformatory ringleader and owned the scene.

OTTO

I wish this guy had more lines cause I got to hear his singing voice when I was sat on stage, and he has a great one! Was so happy that they gave him the solo in “Touch Me”.

MORITZ

Oh dear, where to start. I loved Moritz as early as opening night, and he was even better the second time I watched. Yesterday, he blew me away as the perfect tortured rockstar. I got excited every time he pulled the mic out of his back pocket to jump into “Bitch of Living”, “And Then There Were None” or “Dark I Know Well”. Amazing.

I think Moritz is the easiest character to get attached to because of everything he goes through. He just has no coping mechanism! But it isn’t his fault. Today Moritz might have made it might as an angsty band frontman. Too bad they weren’t in to self-expression back then... probably why these characters helped raise a generation that included Hitler.

Yesterday we were witness Moritz’s shift from uncontrollable lust to pure desperation and finally, surrender. 


What was new yesterday was feeling a real bond between him and Melchi. Another great line in the play, Moritz’s only real happy moment, is when he finds out that he has passed the midterm and need only conquer the final exam to graduate to the next level. He is so overjoyed when at this turn of events that he says, “Truly, heaven must feel like this”. He hugs Melchior and it is a great moment between my two favorite characters in the play.

I died a little when he was called in to the principal’s office to be informed that he wouldn’t make it. I wanted to slap Jet Pangan when he was scolding Moritz for “failing”. So much impact in this performance that made me tear up more than once.

His singing, though charming and off-center on opening night, got even better, grittier and more solid. Again, this guy was not acting, he was pure Moritz on stage. BRILLIANT. This guy was born for this kind of thing and I would definitely watch him in another production.

MELCHIOR

...has been consistent since day one, but yesterday’s performance reached a new level. He reminded me that the beauty of theatre is in that no story can possibly be told the same way twice. It seemed as though his immersion in Melchior’s psyche made him so comfortable in the character's skin, allowing him to move beyond merely delivering lines. It was so charming when he looked extra pleased with himself or half rolled his eyes, completely in character, after making a hirit or side comment.

Best of all, his relationships with Moritz and Wendla felt real, genuine and solid. I didn't realize that I was missing this on opening night, but last night highlighted how much important it is to feel like they are real friends, or that he is really in love.


He and Moritz are so much the odd couple. In the classroom scene at the start of the play when Melchior stands up for Moritz, you don't know if he's protecting a buddy or if he's standing up for his beliefs. But as soon as Moritz confides in Melchi about his wet nightmares, you know that they are pals.


As I said I finally felt the attraction between him and Wenlda starting with a *spark* in “Word of Your Body”. I think that Melchior imagines that he has a pretty good grip on how the world works. After all, he’s read all those books. He’s an intellectual, a thinking guy, and even if he talks so casually to Moritz about sex and female genitalia, it doesn’t seem like he’s very interested in it. Even when he talks about the sexual experience for the female, he uses has a logical method of processing the information – “I just imagine how it feels”.

But here comes Wendla and not only is he physically attracted to her, but it looks like he can have an intellectually stimulating conversation with her as well. And then she throws out a wildcard and asks him to beat her. He doesn't want to, but he still agrees, then ends up going too far. Afterward, he should be mortified by what he's done but what he really cannot bear is realizing that his untoward actions have woken him up and pushed him into unfamiliar territory – feeling.

He goes in to “Mirror Blue Night”, which I especially loved. Felt the self-loathing and frustration. And that voice! The sex scene was a lot better also, more, ehm, consensual and natural. The graveyard scene was touching and heartfelt, and I felt proud of the character’s full circle – he echoes his song from the start of the play, “You watch me / Just watch me / I’m calling / And one day all will know”. Now we know!

And yes, he has a better ass than Kyle Riabko’s. (That’s the Melchior I saw on Brodway. He was brilliant and I was not expecting any nudity but when he pulled his pants down I couldn’t help but think how un-toned his butt was.) Here in Manila, I somehow went two shows without seeing any butt! I think the butt got rave reviews though, feedback from other people I know who saw the play. And it turns out that many people were disappointed that they did not catch a glimpse of Wendla’s boob... to which I say that they should sit on stage left, where they will see both boobs! Next time?

THE ADULTS

Both Adult Male and Adult Female have been consistently great from the start. But one of the things that bothered me on opening night was how much the adults outshined the kids. In a play like Spring, that isn’t supposed to happen! Thankfully, the quality of yesterday’s show put the kids in the spotlight and these two back in supporting roles.

EVERYONE!

To wrap up, everyone was great. So on yesterday! Was so happy with the impact and / or soulfulness of the numbers that the whole cast sings. “Touch Me”, “I Believe” and “Guitly Ones” were great, harmonies were wonderful and haunting. “Purple Summer” was a strong finish. And of course, everyone rocked “Totally Fucked”.

I was so moved and happy that the cast was able to deliver in the quality necessary to allow the audience to appreciate story. I was singing along to almost every number and energetically bopping my head to the beat. I couldn't help but applaud after almost every song. Am so glad to have been there for this, and hope they were able to keep the energy going until the last show.

***

Spring Awakening is more than a cautionary tale. It is an expression of the love, joy, excitement, frustration, friendship, pain and anguish that comes with growing up. No matter how much we’ve “grown up”, everybody has memories of those moments that have made us who we are. Good times, bad times, completely shitty times when we know we are totally fucked. And when that happens even now even now, all we can do is learn, get up and start over again.  

Congratulations again and a heartfelt thank you to the cast and crew of Spring Awakening Manila.