playbill vip

From the Directors--

Collaborating together on such a brilliant piece of theatre is a dream come true for us. We've been constantly astounded at how our two separate visions have come together and have been so in tune with one another, each step of the way. From the beginning, we’ve relied on the script and score to lead us on this journey—and though many of the iconic images from the original Broadway production are represented, we’ve tried to create a fresh interpretation of this ground-breaking musical.

The fact that we have had an amazing experience with a truly talented and dedicated cast has made this adventure even more memorable. It’s rare to assemble a group of actors so singularly set on telling the story the way it needs to be told. Spring Awakening is an ensemble piece—and we have been blessed with a hard-working ensemble that just feels like family.

We can’t thank our incredible music director, Seth Durbin, enough for his guidance and inspired work in helping us prepare for this performance.

Most of all, we want to thank you, our audience for supporting us. We hope you will sit back, relax and be swept away on this magical journey that is Spring Awakening.

Jeff Linamen & Billy Surges

Synopsis (Spoiler Alert!)

ACT ONE

A provincial German town in the late 19th Century. Wendla Bergman, a teenage girl, looks into a mirror, gently exploring her maturing body. She wonders about her changing feelings, and wishes her mother would teach her what these changes mean (“Mama Who Bore Me”). Frau Bergman, Wendla’s mother enters, and chastises her for wearing a childish dress – she must dress more properly because she is already in bloom. Wendla doesn’t understand. Frau Bergman has good news; Wendla’s sister has been visited by the stork and now has another baby girl. Wendla asks her mother to tell her where babies actually come from, as she knows the stork story is for children. Her mother tries to tell her, but is too embarrassed to go into detail. Frustrated, Wendla and her friends lament their ignorance of these matters (“Mama Who Bore Me – Reprise”).

At the boys’ school, Herr Sonnenstich makes his pupils recite Latin. Mortiz Stiefel has fallen asleep in class, and Herr Sonnenstich embarrasses him by making him recite when he clearly doesn’t know the text. His friend, Melchior Gabor, tries to come to his rescue by questioning the teacher’s interpretation of the text. Herr Sonnenstich will have none of Melchior’s outside the box thinking. In his mind, Melchior pushes back against the restrictive teachings of his elders (“All That’s Known”). Moritz thanks Melchior and confesses the reason he hasn’t been sleeping: he is troubled by mortifying dreams – he envisions a pair of legs in blue stockings. Melchior confirms that everyone in their class has similar dreams, including Georg Zirschnitz dreaming about his piano teacher. The boys rock out, sharing their various fantasies (“The Bitch Of Living”).
After class, Melchior promises to enlighten Moritz about his dreams. Meanwhile the headmaster and one of the teachers worry that Moritz is polluting Melchior, their brightest student, by association. They take comfort in knowing Mortiz will probably not pass to the upper grade. Later that afternoon, Wendla and a group of girls walk through the woods, discussing their secret crushes. Everyone is in love with Melchior. Everyone, girls and boys, is hung up on the new feelings that are taking them over (“My Junk”).

At the Gabor house, Moritz tries to process the drawings that Melchior gave him describing male and female relations. Melchior’s mother interrupts them, and though she is surprised to see her son reading Faust, she trusts him to decide for himself what is good for him. Moritz is overcome with anxiety about what he has learned as the boys and girls yearn with anticipation (“Touch Me”).

Melchior and Wendla discover each other in the woods. They sit together beneath an oak tree, secretly longing for each other (“The Word Of Your Body”).

  Back at school, Moritz has snuck into the headmaster’s office and discovers that he has passed his mid-term exams. He is ecstatic. The teachers, on the other hand, are concerned that it will reflect badly on them if Mortiz advances to the next grade. Herr Knochenbruch reminds Fraulein Knuppeldick that he will be grading the final exams, and she is reassured that their school’s reputation will be safe.