Best of 2011-2012: Spring Awakening
/October 2, 2012.By John Heimbuch, Minnesota Playlist.
To all the musical theatre aficionados out there, I say: brace yourselves.
Although my theatrical tastes run a vast spectrum, including classical work, new writing, unscripted performance, site-specific pieces, and experimental drama, I rarely find myself drawn to musicals. You are welcome to find fault with me for this. The failing is mine. I accept it. You can blame an embarrassing love of Andrew Lloyd Weber during my formative years, but musicals now seem too brash. Too bold. Too on-the-nose in their emotional states and overt theatricality. Therefore, when contemplating what show of the past year had the greatest impact upon me, I was surprised to realize that it was a local production of a mainstream musical…
Spring Awakening, directed by Peter Rothstein and produced by Theater Latté Da and the University of Minnesota, was an amazing experience. But before I delve too deeply into this specific production, I need to make a brief digression and confession about the play.
