Spring Awakening

[Master Xander]

I fell in love with the music. Then I saw the clips. WOW.

I really, really, really want to see this.

[Driveshaft4Dee]

D'ohhh! I should have expected a thread for this. Damnit...

In other words, I hate this show. Sorry!

[The Life of Riley]

Aw, I wanna see this. A guy from my hometown won the Tony Award for Best Actor for this show (Jonathan Groff).

[Driveshaft4Dee]

Sorry this one I will never ever see.

[ozchick]

Dee, can you tell us why you are not a fan?

[Driveshaft4Dee]

All of the hype around it. And the Tony awards? Come on...best choreography? I can get up and dance around and bop my head like that too and I don't even know how to dance.

I hate shows with tons of hype. i.e. - Spring Awakening, Legally Blonde...

[ozchick]

So it's they hype that bothers you, rather than the actual production or performances?

I've not seen it, so I don't have any opinion of the production itself, but I have the cast recording, and enjoy most of the songs. Song of Purple Summer is beautiful, My Junk has a catchy hook, and The Dark I Know Well is one of those songs where I can just feel the pain in it.

[Driveshaft4Dee]

Basically. And maybe that sounds shallow but...oh well.

[ozchick]

I get it. I have a friend who's never seen Forrest Gump for the exact same reason.

[Master Xander]

I understand... that's the reason I've never read Harry Potter. ;)

It's hard to defend the choreography Tony win, but... as far as expressing the emotions through movement and all that, Spring Awakening works. Until I see this live, I can't fully explain it, but I think it works. It's hard to explain, but once you wrap your head around the idea that choreography is not just dance, but movement as well (I've been in a lot of shows with choreographed movements rather than dance, and it's tough), it may be easier to defend/understand.

Too much hype kills anything good, really. I think that's one reason I never truly got into Rent when it first started.

[ozchick]

:bump:

Just read this article (http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/12264) on TheatreMania about some new casting for SA. Kate Burton is taking over the "adult women" track, and there will also be a new Moritz. Replacing Tony winner John Gallagher Jr. is Blake Bashoff. The article said he was known for his role on Lost, but the name didn't ring a bell. A quick look at IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003942/) reveals that it is none other than Room 23 addled, Alex loving, Other, Karl.

[Driveshaft4Dee]

WHAT?! Oh that's SO not good. Am I going to have to go to the show or stagedoor now just for him?

Argh. Mannn...

[Master Xander]

Force you to watch Spring Awakening? Oh horror of horrors... ;)

[Driveshaft4Dee]

You have no idea. :p

[DesignByRazor]

I've wanted to see this since I first heard the cast do an excerpt from it on The View. I just love the music, and I can't wait to have a chance to see it live... and now that Karl's in it, I just have one more reason to go!! :D

It's still only playing on Broadway as of now, though, right? As in, you have to go to NY to see it?

[ozchick]

It's still only playing on Broadway as of now, though, right? As in, you have to go to NY to see it?

Yes. As of right now it's only in NYC. But the 1st National Tour is starting in the fall (http://www.playbill.com/news/article/107718.html).

[The Life of Riley]

My 17 year-old sister saw this a few weeks ago and met Blake Bashoff afterwards.

Apparently he's "waaaay hotter in person" and she wants to marry him.

[awesome_cupcake]

this is playing in toronto right now...i was thinking about seeing it

[Master Xander]

Looks like Blake Bashoff (Karl) is Moritz in the touring cast of Spring Awakening (http://www.playbill.com/news/article/119005.html).

[Driveshaft4Dee]

So btw....passed by Blake on the street a week or two ago? Did a double take in the middle of the street, then "Hm"ed and walked on.

[ozchick]

Looks like Blake Bashoff (Karl) is Moritz in the touring cast of Spring Awakening (http://www.playbill.com/news/article/119005.html).


Here's an interview with Blake Bashoff about playing Moritz, on Broadway and on tour, and he talks a little about Lost too. From Playbill.com (http://www.playbill.com/news/article/119126.html).



Blake on Broadway and Beyond
Moritz is hitting the highway. Blake Bashoff and his pal Melchior (Kyle Riabko) will be taking their roles on the road with the Spring Awakening national tour beginning in mid-August. The rest of America, beginning with San Diego, is in for a treat because they are both individually and in tandem continuing to capture and refine the spirit of the characters created by John Gallagher Jr. and Jonathan Groff. No easy feat. Bashoff, who has been acting since he was a child, came to Broadway a stage newcomer, fresh out of TV phenomenon "Lost," where — SPOILER ALERT— his character had a violent death at the hands of some mercenaries. Normally this would be a bad thing, but this demise dovetailed perfectly with a chance for Bashoff to join the cast of Spring and face the twin specters of repression and death on a nightly basis as Moritz.
Question: Congratulations on heading out on tour.
Blake Bashoff: Yes, it's finally official. I'm really excited. When I first auditioned at the end of October 2007, it was actually for the national tour or for the Broadway replacements. Then John Gallagher Jr. departed, and they were in need of a Moritz, and so I feel really lucky that I got to do these six or seven months on Broadway leading up to the tour. I'm excited because I'm from Los Angeles and the world of film and TV, so to be able to do it at home for six weeks in front of the film and TV industry is really exciting to me.
Q: This show is your first big-time theatrical experience, yes?
Bashoff: Yes, in fact, I sort of passed on the opportunity when it first came to my agent and manager because I felt like it was so far out of my comfort zone, but it ended up being a really great thing. I just needed a kick in the ass.
Q: Was it a big adjustment coming from TV to your Broadway debut?
Bashoff: I had no preconceptions. I knew going into the show, to replace a Tony Award winner is pretty daunting and intimidating, but luckily the cast is and was amazingly supportive from the get-go. It was a totally different ballgame for me. I remember from the first day of rehearsals I'd go onstage and notice that everyone around me had their props and their costumes on and I was like, "Oh! So we do that ourselves here!" Because, you know, in film and television there is somebody else responsible for everything.
Q: You mentioned replacing the acclaimed Gallagher. Did a part of you get caught up in the idea of, "Hey, I better bring something different to this"?
Bashoff: Absolutely, because he was so brilliant in his own way, and he was so specifically and uniquely him. So it was more about going back to the original source and re-creating from scratch rather than replacing. Luckily, the creative team was very open to me putting my spin on it, and of course I wanted to be true to the Moritz and the essence that Gallagher created because it's just so great, but also putting my own stamp on it. That's been a challenge but also really satisfying and exciting, too. When I entered the Broadway production, it was already an existing machine, which is a different ballgame from the tour, being able to create something new and organic from scratch with people who are just starting, so I am looking forward to that as well.
Q: Did you consciously work to bring more humor to Moritz?
Bashoff: Well, I think Gallagher is innately a rock star, and I'm not. So just naturally he's a bit more rock star-ish and intense. It wasn't a conscious choice. I think there's humor on the page, and when you bring it to life, it just sort of lives there. It wasn't intentional — it's become this accidental great thing.
Q: What would you tell a friend of yours from L.A. about Broadway if they were thinking of coming out east to work onstage?
Bashoff: The hardest part, I would tell people, is the schedule. It's grueling, it's demanding. Film and TV, you have breaks here and there, you work, you go back to your trailer, but this is a grueling schedule, . . . and if you love it, it's really rewarding.
Q: So while you are doing the Broadway show, you have to be rehearsing with the tour cast as well?
Bashoff: Yeah, it's going to be intense. It's going to be almost a month of double duty. I'll pace myself, and I don't think I'll be needed every day because of Moritz's character track, but I am looking forward to spending my days rehearsing for the tour and my nights on Broadway. It's fun [laughs] and exhausting. I don't now how I'll feel.
Q: Do you get asked a lot about what is going on on "Lost"?
Bashoff: It's crazy how many questions I get! I always knew it was a worldwide phenomenon, but it's pretty intense how many die-hard fans there are.
Q: Of course, now I have to ask you if your character is really dead.
Bashoff: Well, it's "Lost," so, who knows? I mean, [the "Lost" producers] were really accommodating with Spring Awakening and vice-versa, because when I first started, I was here for two weeks rehearsing. I went to Hawaii for two weeks to film the death episode, then I came back and actually gained a week of rehearsals because of the stagehands strike. But if "Lost" needs me or wants me, I'm there; and it's "Lost," so hopefully there will be some flashbacks before the end of the series. I would love to return in some capacity.
Q: It is wild that you have been part of a phenomenon-type of TV show and now this musical with its own dedicated followers.
Bashoff: I know. It's really amazing. The fans of both are just really committed and impressive, and it's all for them. It's the people that we do this and for and our love of the craft, and luckily we have very amazing and supportive fans whose lives you touch through art. What's better than that? [Spring Awakening is playing the Eugene O'Neill Theatre. Tickets are available by calling (212) 239-6200 or by visiting www.TeleCharge.com (http://www.TeleCharge.com). The Eugene O'Neill Theatre is located at 230 West 49th Street in Manhattan. For information on tour dates and cities, go to springawakening.com.]

[Master Xander]

There's a local version that goes up in September, and I'm excited. :) I know a few people in the cast, so that's bound to be fun. Plus the onstage tickets are the cheapest, so I'll definitely go for those. :D

[Master Xander]

I'm planning to watch the local version of the show later this month. :D

[Leia Amos]

It was here in August and I missed it. Boo! After Riley talked it up a lot I really was interested to go see it!

[*Saint*]

I had a friend in it in the final cast on Broadway. Thankfully, I got to see it last year before it closed. Interesting show...love the songs, though.

[Master Xander]

I watched the local version.

I don't know if it's the staging or the writing, but the first act of the show is soooo sloooowwwwww. And I was disappointed with Mama Who Bore Me and Bitch of Living, as they didn't seem to POP, but I think that's more on the performers than the show itself. Things did pick up in the second act, though, and Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind and Totally <snip>'d were as awesome as I hoped they would be.

The guy who played Melchior totally bugged me... His acting was okay when he had to be intense, but normal speaking lines were MEH. It felt like he was trying to be Jonathan Groff with his voice, and I guess he wanted to sound younger, but instead he had this annoying speech pattern where ever sentence/line ends with his pitch climbing up. It was weird and annoying. :mad:

[rosalind711]

I just got to see the touring company this past weekend. It was amazing. The music really is moving. I mainly went because Melchoir was played by Craig Manning from Degrassi, but it really was moving.

[MinaKitty]

I saw the tour last night and really enjoyed it. But it got me thinking.

At what point does the audience bear the sole responsibility for what they are paying to see? The Theater made a really huge push to let people know that there were "THEMES" and "LANGUAGE" and "NUDITY". A letter was sent to season ticket holders offering to swap their tickets for another show if the holder didn't want to subject themselves to anything. The tickets themselves were printed with a warning. The website was plastered with information. It was in the print and media outlets.

And still, at intermission, I was behind a couple who were leaving. "You are lucky I didn't get up right after THAT," the man was saying. "There's no way I am sitting through another act. Let's go to the nice Irish pub down the street."