Spring Awakening

I’ve wanted to see Spring Awakening for over a year now.  I love the music and the concept of a rock musical infused with a 19th century groundbreaking drama.  I finally had my chance to take in the show yesterday.  And before I even entered the theatre I was happily surprised to run into Jonathan B. Wright (Hanschen) on the street.

I enjoyed the show and the show fufilled every aspect of what I expect when I see a musical.   A solid story, an amazing score, great performances, and a pretty kick ass lighting design. However, I may have made a mistake by hoping for a perfect show.  There were some flaws, but not enough that I didn’t leave the theatre feeling fufilled.

The lighting design was very ambitious and included some fantastic elements that even extended into the audience.  But there were a few things that I found more distracting than amazing.  The transition from story to song was very bold which was established from the beginning.  And it completely worked in the big numbers, but it ultimately seemed to forced when a moving song is overmatched by the shift in lighting.  Also the use of moving lights following performers became distracting to me.  I like this technique when a round pool of light follows an actor in a slow cross, but when a shutter cut pattern follows actors all around the stage it turns out ugly and pulls me away from watching the actors perform.  And when will I be done with hanging light bulbs and neon lights.  I’ve seen around 10 shows since I moved to Conn, and all of them had HLBs or NLs and SA included both plus florescents.  I’m not against these elements, just a little tired of seeing them all the time.  But to be fair I hated glowing shapes and target circles after this summer and I’ve moved on from that.

The lighting was for Spring Awakening was very solid and I learned a great deal from it, but I expect a little more out of a tony winning design.

August: Osage County

I’ve been to New York City a number of times since I moved to Connecticut, but today was the first time I made it to a Broadway show in a few years.  I thought August: Osage County was brilliant.  It had the right mix of laugh-out-loud comedy, warm family moments, complete insanity and tragedy.  And the set was stunning.  A triple story home with countless rooms and a pretty cool set of staircases.  But I think the best part of the production was the great performances and the layers of secrets that each character embodied.  I will say that I predicted a few turning points, but there were a lot more that kept me engaged in the 3 1/2 hour play.  And I’m certain everyone left the theater thinking, “I’m glad thats not my family.”