In Defense of Glee

Caution: The following blog contains Glee Season 3 plot spoilers.

Much ink and TV time has been spent discussing the Season 2 downfall of Glee.  And many an ultimatum has been thrown around ("If things don't get better, I'm going to stop DVRing Glee!", etc.).  OK, we are now a mere 2 episodes into the new season - a season that creator Ryan Murphy and others have promised would highlight the main characters, and have more focused plot lines.  In other words, Glee 3.0 will try to be more like Glee 1.0, which assumes that Glee 2.0 was all that bad.

The truth, for me at least, is that season 2 was a little uneven.  And it has some of the very best moments of the entire series so far.  Coach Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones).  Sue (Jane Lynch) nurturing Becky (Lauren Potter).  Bullies (Max Adler) dealt with.  Every scene with Brittany (Heather Morris).  Every second Chord Overstreet was on screen.  Artie (Kevin McHale) getting to walk for Christmas.  The Dalton Academy Warblers.  "Thriller."  Gwyneth Paltrow.  Darren Criss.  The return of Finn (Corey Montieth) and Rachel (Lea Michele).  The amazing identify yourself (the t-shirt episode) episode.  And there were some things I could have done without.  Rocky Horror (I don't really care for the show).  Carol Burnett and Sue marrying herself (WTF?).  John Stamos (great guy, lousy encroaching character).  The positives far outweigh the negative for me.



Chord Overstreet as Sam



"Born This Way" (The tee-shirt episode)



"Thriller"


Still, one can understand the "sophomore slump."  Season 2 means it isn't new any more.  The surprises - which often cover the flaws - are fewer.  And writers are damned if they do, damned if they don't.  Trying to change characters can be dangerous.  Too much trying to advance the plots in new directions can be deadly.  And yet, not changing characters and making them grow can be just as deadly.  And if the plots get too repetitive, God help the show.

So, over the past couple of weeks, I've been reading the comments left by people after articles about each of the two first episodes of Season 3 and have looked over the chief complaints about Season 2.  I've narrowed it down to their four main comments about last season and a couple of their thoughts about season three (already)!

1.  There is too much Rachel/Kurt and not enough of the others! 

OK.  There is a lot of Rachel and Kurt (Chris Colfer).  But you go with your strong suit.  They are just that: the most talented, the most complicated, the most broken.  All of that adds up to the most compelling characters.  BUT... let's not forget the transformation of Puck (Mark Salling) into a decent, if challenging, guy.  The emergence of Artie... Two girlfriends!  The football team!  Losing his virginity!  Just about every male solo in New Directions numbers.  Not bad.  How about the "Asian Invasion"?  Mike Chang (Harry Shum, Jr.) is a dancing machine and too sexy for a high school kid... and Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) backing up everyone - not just on stage, but she's the go-to girl for advice and unity.  The emergence of Santana (Naya Rivera) and Brittany as full, multi-dimensional characters.  Quinn's journey from pregnant teen to top of the high school heap, and her downfall... two interesting supporting characters in Lauren (Ashley Fink) and Sam... two down to earth adults with a major plot line - Kurt's dad and Finn's mom (Mike O'Malley and Romy Rosemont) ...  All of that and still too much Rachel and Kurt?  Hmmmm....



Quinn and Santana



Tina and Mike

2.  More Finn!  More Blaine! 

Let's go back to number one first.  More Finn and More Blaine by necessity means More Rachel and More Kurt.  You can't have your cake and eat it, too...  Finn figured prominently in most of the story lines last season, and Kurt wouldn't have grown without Blaine.  And, gay or straight, isn't it nice that there are two couples who are stable AND interesting (Mike/Tina and Kurt/Blaine).  It is hard to think of any plot that didn't involve one or both of these great guys.

3.  Too much singing and dancing! 

Um, it is about a glee club.  Singing and dancing are what they do.  And you knew going into it that it was also a musical comedy, so characters will burst into non-glee club numbers, too.  Sub-complaint: too many show tunes.  I think it is pretty 50-50.  But... (see below)

4.  The show is not realistic! 

Um, it is about a glee club. Singing and dancing are what they do. And you knew going into it that it was also a musical comedy, so characters will burst into non-glee club numbers, too. 

Not to mention that TV is not supposed to be entirely realistic.  If you want real life watch the National Geographic channel.  For me, Glee is a one hour break from the bad news on TV, the Internet and Twitter, from the lousy government, global economic woes, earthquakes, hurricanes and war.  But, even given the musical numbers, there is a certain grounding to the show that is very much based on reality.  Have you been in a public high school recently?  It is more like Glee than not like Glee. 

And that age old complaint: things get tied up in one or two episodes.  Not true.  But even so, each individual episode wraps up all neat and tidy, true enough.  It is TV, folks.  We need closure before the next show starts!  Not real?  Well, each episode clearly takes place over several days, but is cut to fit in 44 minutes.  And in reality, a lot of high school issues come and go in one school day.  Have you forgotten that?  Still, if CSI can get a DNA test result in 15 minutes instead of a week or more and we can accept that, why can't we believe that a group of kids can spend all day in class, practice sports and cheerleading, and still light, costume and choreograph multiple production numbers a week?  I wish real life worked like that.  I tell you, my job would be so much more fun if me and the other cubicle dwellers dropped our wireless keyboards and burst into a full dance number to "The Brotherhood of Man"!

And the two biggest complaints so far about Season 3?  Here they are:



Coach Beiste, Artie and Emma

 1.  Why West Side Story? 

Well, why not?  It is a show the general public at least recognizes and can draw parallels from.  The cast is ideal for that show.  It is a show high schools can actually do.  (My favorite comment at Rolling Stone asked why they couldn't do something more modern like American Idiot or Rock of Ages?  Well, that would certainly blur the line between show tunes and pop songs.  But can we talk content?  As cool as it would be, the story of American Idiot would never be approved (not to mention all of the language and situational cuts that would have to be made) by a school.  And they have already done most of "the score" of Rock of Ages.  Plus, do we really need to see Mercedes as a madame or Quinn having dirty men's room sex with Puck or another gay character for Kurt to play?  You can't have it both ways...

Rachel and Finn

Kurt and Blaine

2.  There hasn't been enough singing and dancing/where has Finn been? 

Wait... before there was too much singing and dancing?  Now "15 minutes between songs is unbearable?"  How else can we focus on plots that don't concern Rachel directly?  And Finn's lack of being "in front" also allows others to take up some screen time... like Artie, Coach Beiste, Emma and Mike Chang?  Not to mention Mercedes' new boyfriend, Rachel's dad's, Mike's parents, Emma's parents...

Coach Beiste and Mr. Hummel

Will and Emma

It has been exactly 88 minutes into the new season.  We have 20 more episodes to see where everyone ends up.  And with Kurt, Finn and Rachel graduating, I'll bet toward the end, we will see more not less of them.  Still, today's news of the hiring of a new actor who will actively pursue Blaine should make things interesting even if it does mean more Kurt.  And let's not forget The Glee Project winners who will figure into major story lines concerning Brittany, Santana and Puck will take up a lot of screen time, too.  Add more Idina Menzel, a juicy plot for Matthew Morrison, and hopefully an interesting end to the Sue-runs-for-office plot, and I think the outlook is terrific.

One thing:  I really miss the slushies...

I'll bet, too, that no matter what, some people won't be happy.  Too much Sue, not enough Sue.  Too much Rachel, not enough Rachel.  Too much singing, not enough singing.  To you, I say stop watching Glee, or at least stop complaining about it.  If you are taking time to complain, then, one, you care enough about it to express an opinion, and, two, you are still watching it!



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3.030
Jeff

REVIEW: Glee: The 3D Concert Movie

Review of Glee: The 3D Concert Movie. 1 hour, 35 minutes. Starring Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Darren Criss, Ashley Fink, Lea Michele, Kevin McHale, Cory Monteith, Heather Morris, Chord Overstreet, Amber Riley, Naya Rivera, Mark Salling, Harry Shum, Jr., Jenna Ushkowitz. Special appearance by Gwyneth Paltrow. Choreography by Zachary Woodlee. Directed by Kevin Tancharoen. Rated PG.

Grade for Glee fans: A 

For the uninitiated: watch the show first, then get the concert on DVD.

Being one of only two people in a movie theatre, the other being my friend Mike, helped erase the potentially creepy feeling we might have had being the only adult men at Glee: The 3D Movie Concert. But there we were at a matinee of the film, 3D glasses on, smiling like fools and tapping our feet. The truth is, we are both Gleeks, and we both really enjoyed the movie. Will it convert those who haven’t joined the Gleek ranks? Not likely, since it gives real fans everything it wants, and doesn’t try for any more than that. But it could put to rest any doubt as to the talent of the cast. They are as terrific live as they are on an edited TV program.

This film is a mock-umentary that chronicles the teenage hormones, fragile egos and incredible talents of the New Directions glee club as they hit the “big time” playing to a sold-out arena. Between signature numbers like “Don’t Stop Believin’” “Don’t Rain on My Parade” and “The Safety Dance, “ we bear witness to Rachel’s drive and insecurity, Artie’s bravado and insecurity, and Brittany’s sweet ignorance and lack of insecurity. Plus we get some smiles from Mercedes, Blaine, Kurt, Puck and Santana. And all of it very tongue and cheek, and all with the TV series’ sharp wit and irony. Gone, though, is the “losers are people too” aspects of these characters. Instead, the glee kids of McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio are big stars, basking in the glow and adoration of the masses.

The masses, as director Kevin Tancharoen skillfully reminds us, are the real life Rachels, Finns, Brittanys and Kurts. The people who are or were on the fringe of mainstream popularity in high school, the displaced, the bullied… the losers. In between the fantasy world of high tech Glee concert numbers are real documentaries of the very people Glee aims to entertain and emulate. A little person who is also a championship cheerleader, who used to fear never being seen as just another girl, rises above it all to compete for Homecoming Princess with a cute jock boy on her arm. Then there is young woman with severe Asperger Syndrome, unable to maintain normal friendships or cope with social situations, whose attachment to the character Brittany allowed her to recognize that she could, in fact, find friends who could accept and love her. Meeting the actress (Heather Morris) apparently - unfortunately, we don’t see this meeting - helped her find the strength to not only socialize in small groups, but to attend a Glee concert with thousands. And there is the young man who, in the privacy of his own journal professes his first love for another young man, only to find his life turned upside down when his best friend shares that journal with the object of affection, who in turn shares it with the school. It is now several years later, and the young man who was forced to come out in 8^th grade, has not only survived, but thrived, as a well-adjusted gay man. He pointedly tells us that had he had Glee and Kurt as role models, his life would have been that much easier to cope. Glee, he says with a very appealing low key honesty, validates him, and he hopes, everyone else who is walking in Kurt’s and his footsteps.

I re-read the previous paragraph and can only imagine what you are thinking: of course these hard luck stories are told to support the Glee promotion machine. And maybe that’s the surface explanation for their inclusion. But it also makes one realize that at its heart, Glee is there for all of us who felt like a loser or still do. That idea is also much more subtly supported by the “man on the street interviews” of concert goers, who tell us why they love the show, which characters are their favorites, and how the show touches their lives. Yes, I said “subtly.” Because nothing says “relatable” like shots of the most diverse audience I think I have ever seen - young, old, gay, straight, handicap-able people, parents, teens, small children, and every race on Earth. The pretty “Quinn” girls are there, singing joyfully along with the chubby “Laurens,” the lady killer “Pucks” right next to the refined “Kurts.” And there are legions of fans sporting the signature “defining words” t-shirts from the “Born This Way” showstopper, and the hundreds of Dalton Academy Warblers fans decked out in private school blue and red blazers and striped ties. In short, Glee is blissfully all-inclusive, and even a fantasy concert brings that all-inclusive mass of humanity to its nearest stadium in droves.

And that concert, actually made to feel more “you are there” with its skilled use of 3D filming, is a true Glee-fest, with all of the best numbers from seasons one and two carefully recreated and then amped up to fit the stadium size with special effects that support, but don’t overwhelm the kids we are there to see. To be honest, I would have liked to see more of Kurt (Chris Colfer), Quinn (Dianna Agron) and Sam (Chord Overstreet), but beyond that, fans of the show won’t be disappointed. A fine balance of production numbers and smaller, one-character numbers are presented. Puck’s (Mark Salling) tribute to plus sized ladies, “Fat Bottomed Girls,” is as spectacular for its simplicity as the all out sexy vamping in Brittany’s (Heather Morris) “Slave 4 U” is for its amazing choreography and production values. Gwyneth Paltrow does a guest shot as Holly Holiday, substitute teacher, and her signature, “Forget You,” while Mike’s (Harry Shum, Jr’s) truly breath-taking dancing skills and Artie’s deep soul vocals are displayed in “P.Y.T”. Theatre fans will thrill to Rachel’s (Lea Michele) stunning “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” and future Finch Blaine’s (Darren Criss) lead vocals on “Teenage Dream/Raise Your Glass.” And Mercedes (Amber Riley), Santana (Naya Rivera) and Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) all shine in fun numbers where they are featured, too.  To a person, the whole cast looks to be having the time of their lives. That joy of performing radiates off of the megaplex screen as it does the flat screen at home.

That a huge arena concert film can still feel as personal as a television program is a testament to the quality of this film. And maybe the best number of the show, “Born This Way” is as exciting to watch as it is heartening to be reminded that we are all, in fact, Gleeks. I had no reason to feel creepy after all.

P.S. - Be sure to stay through the Slushy-filled credits with those 3D glasses on, and stay for the encore number, too. You will not be disappointed.

(Photos and movie logo from 20th Century Fox and Fox Television)

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Jeff
2.361

Glee (Series 2)

Since debuting on Fox last year, Glee has exploded into a global phenomenon. With the cast albums monopolising charts on both sides of the pond, and with their version of 'Don't Stop Believin' becoming better known that the Journey version (for some), and the launch of a live tour, Glee has become an overnight success.

But could it be that this new success has backfired on this new season?

I came into Series 2 full of anticipation, Glee had become one of my favourite guilty pleasures. It is back to school at McKinley High, and the Glee Club remain the bottom of the pile, after not being placed at sectionals, being beaten by Vocal Adrenaline. Adding to this is the arrival of the new football coach Shannon Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones) who seems be totally unafraid of cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch). Sue enlists her usual nemesis Will Schuster (Matthew Morrison) to help bring her down to size. But this backfires when Beiste doesn't fall for their tricks, and even turns on Finn (Corey Montieth), removing him from the football team.

This is just one of the problems faced by the students in the Glee Club. Over the summer, Tina (Jenna Uschowitz) has broken up with Artie (Kevin McHale), after bonding with Mike at a summer camp for Asian children! Quinn (Dianna Agron) returns to the Cheerios and her old position as Head Cheerleader, at the expense of Santana (Naya Rivera) who lost her position due to having a boob job over the summer. Two new students also seem to threaten the positions of the Glee Club. Sunshine (Charice), a Filipino exchange student, seems ready to threaten Rachel's (Lea Michele) position as top of of the New Directions pecking order, whereas Sam (Chord Overstreet) seems able to sing and also be ready to become quarterback of the football team (sound familiar...)

To be honest, the characterisations really bugged me this episode. Will, who we last saw with Emma (Jayma Mays), becomes almost as bad as Sue for most of the episode, and seems to show little guilt for his actions, and Rachel is returned to being the self-centered annoying person she was for most of series one. Perhaps the only evidence we had of character is from Quinn and Santana's fight in the corridor, which showed some great acting from Rivera and Agron.

I felt that as a first episode it was a little flat. The vocal performances were, as usual, very good. Charice and Lea Michele's performance of 'Telephone' (as sung by Lady Gaga & Beyonce) was strong, as was Charice's 'Listen', although the performance was slightly marred by her slightly over-the-top hand gestures.

In general, I was a little disappointed with this episode. I'm hoping that the rest of Series 2 is a lot better! I think the funniest moment was courtesy of Broadway performer Cheyenne Jackson, as the new coach of Vocal Adrenaline (replacing fellow Broadway veteran Idina Menzel), carrying a Hello Kitty backpack. Hopefully the humour and the characters will be back on track next week.

Glee: Best Revival of a Musical?

THE FOLLOWING BLOG CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS ABOUT THE OCTOBER 26TH EPISODE OF GLEE.

What an interesting two weeks for Glee, the nation's hottest TV show.  In the two weeks since an original episode aired, the show has been all over the news. 

In typical fashion, the media can't let a good thing go on without stirring up ugly.  Not that the Glee kids didn't have a part in it.  I'm talking, of course, about the racy and controversial photo shoot for GQ which had the three principal stars (Cory Monteith, Lea Michele and Diana Agron) in "hyped-up" - read sexualized - versions of their characters.  Parents cried, "Foul!"  How would they ever explain this to their 9 year old daughters who are rabid gleeks?  Easy.  It is an adult magazine that your 9 year old has no business even knowing about, let alone seeing.  And never mind that all of the cast is actually adult, a fact that the show even plays up occasionally.  Sure, the pictures are a risque, and maybe keeping an image of wholesomeness would have been wiser.  But, really folks.  If you want your kids to be completely sanitized, stick to the Disney Channel.  Oh, wait... Britney, Christina, Justin and now little Miley all started there.  And look what became of them.

How interesting that this real life issue of Glee pushing boundaries comes just before an episode where the boundaries of art in education are pushed and questioned.  Yes, this is the week where the kids do The Rocky Horror (Glee) Show.  And boy, was it a winner!  Let me preface what follows with the this:  I appreciate Rocky Horror and I enjoyed the Broadway revival, once, but I am not a huge fan, nor fan enough to understand some of the references I am sure the show made.  That said...

Managing to legitimately work in 7 songs from the stage show/film, many in context of the actual script, the show really managed to give us the fullest flavor allowable by 8PM TV on broadcast television.  Purists, I'm sure will take issue with lyrics changes, but they are perhaps the most realistic part of the episode.  After all, schools are frequently censored in regards to the plays and musicals they produce.  Kurt (Chris Colfer) even mentions the Texas production of RENT that got shut down.  I won't go on a self-righteous diatribe about how I feel about that, but I am glad that the show recognizes the realities of putting on any show, let alone Rocky Horror.

Each number, even out of context of the show, was wonderfully staged, endlessly clever with camera angles and just edgy enough to keep everyone interested.  I knew it was going to be cool with the opening number done just like the film - red lips and nothing else - and a cast list of credits that featured only the character names!  Of course, "The Time Warp" stands out as the most well known song, and they pretty much gave the audience what it expected.  But there were 3 excellent surprises that really made the episode extra fun for this viewer.  First, John Stamos' number was absolutely thrilling.  Man, can he sing and dance!  Why the hell didn't this guy show up in Bye Bye Birdie?  Second was Amber Riley's amazing "Sweet Transvestite".  How great that they worked in some non-traditional casting and recognition that she rarely gets to be a "lead."  And most/best of all...Jayma Mays finally gets to really sing!  And be HOT!  Her "Toucha Toucha Touch Me!" was sublimely funny, sexy and right on given the context of the scene.  GIVE HER MORE TO DO!

Also nice, though, was that the show gave equal time to issues that would definitely come up and need to be addressed.  The constant barrage in the media of the female form and body image is well known, documented and addressed, even as it continues.  But finally someone has taken the other side of the coin and recognized that body image is a serious issue for guys, too.  The show played it mostly for laughs (and more sightings of Chord Overstreet's fabulous body) but the truth is even the most confident male has issues with how he is perceived.  Being cool and not being perceived as gay are addressed frequently in the show, but it was nice to see the two guys watching out for each other, helping each other, and most importantly confiding in each other that they worry about how they look.  I bet a kid made to wear the "traditional" Rocky costume, no matter how terrific he is in shape, would be embarrassed.  And any kid (in this case Monteith's character) who feels he is "big" would agonize over doing a scene in his underwear.

Then there is the parental issue, succinctly but pointedly addressed by Harry Crum's character, whose parents had an issue with him wearing a bustier and playing a transvestite.  And the utter lack of support from a school administrator, leaving the teacher and the kids out to dry should any trouble come up was shamefully true.  In another surprise, for once, even though her intentions were characteristically self-centered, Sue Sylvester's (the always wonderful Jane Lynch) indignant speech of the week was spot on and well-stated, whether you agree with her point or not (I can agree and disagree with what she said, depending upon the given situation about arts in public schools).  Of course, in typical (in the best possible way) Glee fashion, the real points being made turn everything on its ear.

Will (Matthew Morrison) did the show for all the wrong reasons, and he got called on it.  The result?  A private for glee club members only performance, and an important character growth scene for he and Emma, one that will likely bear fruit in the long run.  And Sue said exactly the right thing for all the wrong reasons.  The result?  She got another one over on the glee club, but also lost her personal goal, a local Emmy.  Such is the life on Glee.

Let's hope next year they tackle another musical.  But for now, this might just be the Best Revival of a Musical in 2010.

(Photos from FoxTV.com and TVGuide online, and all are copyrighted by 20th Century Fox Television and Ryan Murphy Productions.)

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Jeff
2.57

THEATRE BOOK REVIEW: Spring Awakening: In the Flesh

Theatre Book Review: Spring Awakening: In the Flesh. Book by David Cote and Libretto by Book and Lyrics by Steven Sater, Music by Duncan Sheik. Published by Gallery. Copyright 2008. Hardcover. 176 pages.

I realize that I am way behind the curve on this one, but I just got around to purchasing a copy of this companion to one of my favorite musicals of the last decade, and forever, really, Spring Awakening. 

Provocatively subtitled In the Flesh, the book details the genesis of the entire project, from idea to workshop (several workshops) to the Atlantic Theatre off-Broadway to the award-winning Broadway run.  The last pages even include a few bits about casting the First National Touring company.

Real fans probably know a lot of the information in the book, told from what must have been pretty intense and lengthy interviews of the original cast, the first replacement cast and the creative team.  But as a musical theatre enthusiast, I found the organization of the book - in chronological order for the most part, and at times by thematic ideas - to really plot the course for what started out as an idea based on a favorite - if old and disturbing - play, all the way through to the then future plans for the show.  I was really taken by the candid responses from all involved, citing not just the joyous triumphant moments, but the trials, tribulations and realizations that such a bold endeavor can cause for an artistic soul.  This warts and all approach, however, should no be misconstrued as salacious or gossipy, but rather matter of fact.

Some of the highlights for me included:

• The discussion of a character in the play that does not appear in the final version of the show, but did during workshops: The Masked Man, played mostly by Michael Cerveris, who at various times functioned as in the original play, to being a narrator, to being the "go-between" for the transition between the 19th Century  and 21st Century Germany.

• The change in outlook by Lea Michele, who started with the show from the very first workshop as a young teenager.  How her growth impacted the character, her understanding of the part, and on the piece as a whole is fascinating.
• I loved reading about the various experiences the cast had with the audition process.
• Reading some revealing and remarkably mature observations about their characters, particularly from Jonathan B. Wright, Jonathan Groff, Gideon Glick and John Gallagher, Jr. certainly gives me a new appreciation for the level of professionalism amongst the cast members.
• Very interesting, too, are the bits about how the cast reacted to becoming a "phenomenon" far beyond Broadway.

The Original Cast in "Street Clothes"

• And I really enjoyed reading about somethings they tried during previews on Broadway, including having the cast return to the stage dressed in whatever street clothes they wore that day for the final scene.

 As far as the book itself goes, I loved the style of the presentation, like an old style school book (how appropriate).  And I really appreciated the inclusion of costume sketches, early and ultimately unused set designs, as well as photos that chronicle the backstage and rehearsal periods.  One of my favorite picture sections shows the cast during "The Bitch of Living" video shoot.

"The Bitch of Living"

And, of course, of supreme value is the inclusion of the complete libretto, including vivid descriptions of characters and their thoughts, as well as stage directions.  The entire thing is supplemented by photos that match the action on any given page.

Lauren Pritchard with Tony winners

Duncan Sheik, John Gallagher, Jr. and Steven Sater

Fans of the show will certainly love this book, and true musical theatre lovers and scholars should as well.  Better late than never they say, and I am so glad I got this book even now, months after the show closed on Broadway.

GRADE: A+

(NOTE:  The above pictures are not necessarily in the book, but rather are representative onf my thoughts on the book.)

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Jeff
2.42

Best of the Decade: The Best Musicals #2

There's a moment you know that what you are seeing live in front of you is going to have a profound effect on you personally.  Theatre is great for that; many a theatrical moment has changed the way I've looked at things, felt things, saw differing points of view, but the really profound moments are rare.  Rarer still are those times when you are at a new show and you just know that theatre as you previously knew it has changed.  Only five times in over a quarter century of theatre going have I felt that "life changing feeling": my first Broadway show, Mame, the very first time I saw A Chorus Line, the very first time I saw Cats, and twice in this first decade of the 21st century, which bodes well, I think for the future of musical theatre.  They are my number 1 and 2 Best Musicals of the Decade, which only seems right.

Off-Broadway: The Venue and the Artwork

The moment I knew this show (at number 2) was life-changing was at a late in the run performance of the show off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theatre Company, in a space that had once been a church in the Chelsea area of Manhattan.  The show, of course, is Spring Awakening.  The Moment: At intermission, when I literally could not move from my seat.  My mind was reeling; my senses were firing at full levels.  I still wasn't 100% sure that what I was seeing was real.  All I know was that I felt the most bizarre and strong connection to a group of teenage types, all from 19th century Germany.  I could see myself in each and everyone of those characters - the confusion, the desperation, the ignorance, the bliss, the joy, the bitterness, and the ecstasy of developing sexuality.  I was Melchior, Wendla, Ilse, Ernst, Hanschen and, probably most like Moritz. 

Of course, the real treasures came in act two, and the overwhelming pain and sadness.  I wept at the end of the show like I hadn't wept anywhere else, save for a funeral.  I mourned the loss of young lives so unnecessarily taken; I was angry at the adults and the ignorance and the moral self-righteousness that caused it to turn out the way it did.  I have to admit that as a teenager, it would have been wonderful to have had Spring Awakening, and as an adult, I vowed that I would try always to remember these kids and everyone like them before I speak, judge, counsel any of them that happen into my life.

2.  Spring Awakening
Book by Steven Sater
Music by Duncan Sheik
Lyrics by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater
Choreography by Bill T. Jones
Direction by Michael Mayer

Statistically Speaking:
First Preview: November 16, 2006
Opening Night: December 10, 2006
Closing Night: January 18, 2009
28 previews, 859 performances at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre

There were 17 cast members : Skylar Astin, Gerard Canonico, Lilli Cooper, Jennifer Damiano, Christine Estabrook, John Gallagher. Jr., Gideon Glick, Jonathan Groff, Robert Hager, Brian Charles Johnson, Lea Michele, Lauren Pritchard, Krysta Rodriguez, Stephen Spinella, Phoebe Strole, Jonathan B. Wright, and  Remy Zaken.  There were also two swings.

The Original Broadway Cast also made up the Off-Broadway Cast, with the exception of the two adult roles, which were then played by Frank Wood and Mary McCann.  The Broadway production also added "Ensemble" roles, sung by actors placed amongst the onstage seating for the show.  The original ensemble singers were: Gerard Canonico, Jennifer Damiano, Robert Hager and Krysta Rodriguez. 

The off-Broadway production with

Mary McCann and Frank Woods as the Adults

Between the Off-Broadway and Broadway runs of the show, the most significant changes made were a slight song order change and the replacement of "There Once Was a Pirate" with "The Guilty Ones" at the top of Act Two.

Over the course of its run **, there were:

• 2 Wendlas: Lea Michele and Alexandra Socha
• 3 Melchiors: Jonthan Groff, Kyle Riabko and Hunter Parrish
• 3 Moritzs: John Gallagher, Jr., Blake Bashoff and Gerard Canonico

(** - not including understudies or swings)

The Replacements: Blake Bashoff

and Kyle Riabko

(They also starred in the 1st National Tour.) 

Among the other replacements were Matt Doyle - Hanschen (Bye Bye Birdie, bare), Kate Burton - The Adult Women (Hedda Gabler, The Elephant Man, TV's Grey's Anatomy), and Jenna Ushkowitz - Ensemble/Understudy (TV's Glee).

• Spring Awakening nominated for 11 2007 Tony Awards and won 8: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (Steven Sater), Best Score of a Musical (Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (John Gallagher, Jr.), Best Choreography (Bill T. Jones), Best Direction (Michael Mayer), Best Lighting of a Musical (Kevin Adams) and Best Orchestrations (Duncan Sheik).  The nominees were Best Actor in a Musical (Jonathan Groff), Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Christine Jones), and Best Costume Design of a Musical (Susan Hilferty).
• The show was also honored with 9 Drama Desk Award nominations, winning 4, including Best Musical.
• Jonathan Groff won a Theatre World Award for his performance.

Kevin Adams' Tony-winning Lighting Design

My favorite "Awakening" moments:

• The Theatre: Walking into the Eugene O'Neill Theatre the first time, wondering how they would have to change the blocking to accommodate a Broadway stage and not the intimacy of the church space of the Atlantic Theatre Company.  Wasn't I shocked (and pleasantly surprised) that Christine Jones and Kevin Adams painstakingly recreated the environment of the original space in re-designing the sets and lighting for Broadway.
• The Silence:  The cast would file on stage to cheers and applause.  Lea Michele would step up on her chair and the lights would dim.  We became instantly silent and into the show.

The Original Cast: "The Bitch of Living"

The 1st National Tour: "My Junk"

• "The Bitch of Living"/"My Junk":  Never before has masturbation been so succinctly and accurately described.  And neither has the all-consuming rush of teenage love.  (Any guy or girl who tells you differently is not being honest.)
• "Touch Me":  Not so much because of the truth in the song, of which there is plenty, but because of the gorgeous vocal arrangements and performance of the song.

Original Cast

• "The Word of Your Body": Not since "The Line" pose in A Chorus Line has a single image been so identified with a show and has had the ability to sum up the entirety of it with that single image.
• "I Believe": Passion, lust, needing... and the urgency of peer pressure all rolled into two young lovers on a strung up platform surrounded by a cast of characters singing in stunning harmony and rounds.  A jarring juxtaposition and a shocking end to act one.

Original Cast

• "I Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind": The stark staging - especially that neither actor ever looked at the other, leaving how it might have looked up to the viewer - matched the stark reality of what was happening to these two misguided and misunderstood young adults.

The 1st National Tour

• "Totally Fucked":  The joy of reckless abandon of youth jumping and dancing and cursing against the very adult truth of the song's lyrics is funny and sobering.  And they managed to work it into their Tony Awards number!

Off-Broadway

• "Those You've Known":  I wept at the waste of two lives and the ruination of a third.  I thrilled to the chilling theatricality of the staging.
• "The Song of Purple Summer":  Who cares if you don't really totally get what everything means in the lyrics?  The song is full of beautiful imagery, it is staged simply, and it is sung gloriously.  The perfect ending.
• Seeing the show from onstage:  Glad I had seen it from the front first, but watching these people work from their point of view was worth 5 times what they charged, at least.  And Skylar Astin smells very good...

Since Spring Awakening opened:

• The Cast Recording won the Grammy for Best Show Album.
• There was a very successful First National Tour, and a non-Equity tour is going around the country now.
• The London productions was nearly unanimously praised but had a short run.  Nonetheless, months after it closed, it won the Olivier for Best Musical.

Artwork from the London Production

• There have been dozens of worldwide productions in as many languages.
• A film is in the final planning stages, with casting to begin soon.

Artwork from the Brazilian Production: 

Can you imagine ads like this on Broadway?

• The show was among the very first to exploit all online/social media, including email blasts to newsletter subscribers, which gave advance notice of tickets specials and onstage seating opportunities.

The Original Cast in the Media Blitz

• Lea Michele has been nominated for an Emmy for her role in Glee.  Jonathan Groff  and  Jenna Ushkowitz are both in the popular TV show as well.
• Groff also originated the role of Claude in the revival of Hair, and is preparing to make his London debut in a revival of Deathtrap.
• John Gallagher, Jr. heads the cast of the Michael Mayer-directed American Idiot.  The cast also includes Gerard Canonico and Brian Charles Johnson.
• Jennifer Damiano has been Tony nominated for her performance in next to normal and will be Mary Jane Watson in the upcoming mega-musical, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.  Gideon Glick is also in the cast.
• Krysta Rodriguez has since appeared in A Chorus Line and currently stars as Wednesday in The Addams Family.
• Jonathan B. Wright co-starred in the film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, while Skylar Astin and Phoebe Strole co-starred in the film Hamlet 2.

Hunter Parrish and Alexandra Socha (left)

Kyle Riabko and Christy Altomare

• Kyle Riabko starred in the National Tour and went on to replace Gavin Creel in Hair.
• Hunter Parrish continues to co-star in the Showtime series Weeds.
• Alexandra Socha co-starred in the critically acclaimed revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs.

Forbidden Broadway and TV's 90210

• Spring Awakening  was the centerpiece of Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening.
• Spring Awakening was the school musical which figured heavily into the plot of the first season of the CW's 90210.

The Evolution of the Window Card:

TOP: The Original Broadway Windowcard

MIDDLE FOUR: From the Tonys to Closing

BOTTOM: The Non-Equity Tour

Sources: Websites for Atlantic Theatre Company, http://www.imdb.com/, http://www.ibdb.com/, Wikipedia

Production Photos: Joan Marcus

Other Photos: Vanity Fair, The Spring Awakening site, The Tony Awards site.

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Jeff