Review by Ashlei Havili Thomas, Front Row Reviewers
Set in 1890s Germany, Spring Awakening follows the town’s teenagers as they deal with the turmoil of life, growing up, and their burgeoning sexuality. Wendla (Tearza Leigh Foyston), a young girl just coming into womanhood, opens the play by asking her mother how babies come into being in “Mama Who Bore Me.” Foyston as Wendla is almost ethereal, perfectly balancing girlish charm and naivety with an inquisitive desire to understand the world around her. Foyston’s vocals are phenomenal, drawing the audience’s interest with every note. As Wendla leaves for school, the audience is brought into the boy’s classroom, where Moritz (Geoff Beckstrand)—a struggling student—begs his classmate Melchior (Maxx Teuscher) to help him understand their schoolwork and Moritz’ growing sexual awareness. Beckstrand gives Moritz an impotent rage coupled with fragile desperation. The culmination of this is seen in “Don’t Do Sadness,” where Beckstrand’s vocals and performance are hauntingly beautiful. With only a few scenes, Beckstrand creates an easy friendship with Teuscher that feels natural and unbreakable; this carries the relationship throughout the show, even as their onstage interactions dwindle. Teuscher’s performance is that of a tortured angel. With transcendent vocals and a philosophical idealism, Teuscher brings the audience into Melchior’s orbit. Teuscher and Foyston have an almost innocent chemistry. Their relationship’s growth seems to come in fits and starts, slowly drawing the audience into their orbit. When Wendla finds out she is pregnant, Foyston brings the audience into her confusion and wonder until the whole theater holds their breath to see if the couple’s rocky relationship will have a happy resolution.
This show is very much an ensemble piece, and what an ensemble Spring Awakening has. The cast does a wonderful job entertaining the audience and expertly balancing the heavy subject matter with an absurdist levity. Karin Gittins brings to life numerous characters in the show, deftly flitting between comic relief and motherly grief until the audience is drawn in just by her entrance on stage. Erik J McGinnis has showstopping vocal performances woven in between his energetic, humorous acts that leave the audience in peals of laughter. There are no weak links in this first-rate cast, leaving the audience craving more with every song.
As soon as the audience enters the theater, Chase Ramsey’s scenic design draws the eye. Both simple and intricate, Ramsey uses every available square inch of the black box space to its maximum. Kyle Esposito’s lighting design works in tandem with Ramsey’s to create an otherworldly design that is half rock concert, half lucid dream. Esposito creates several distinct acting spaces within a small theater with the expertise of a master. Emily Wells’ costumes are especially entrancing to the audience, as slowly throughout the show color bleeds into the world of the play. It allowed the closing number “The Song of Purple Summer” to be a riotous rainbow, also tying together the world of the play and the world of the audience with an intentional change to modern clothing. All of this is underscored by the amazing band (band leader Jonathan McDonald, Risa Bean, Tate Cope, Jacob Lambros, and Alek Burden). This amazing production team is led by Brooklynn Kohler, who doubles as the director and intimacy coordinator (a must for this musical). Kohler’s staging is incredibly well done, creating beautiful tableaus for the audience. This production has a class act cast and production staff, working together to create a truly gorgeous piece of art that will have audiences coming back for more.
Spring Awakening comes with a rating of 16 and older, as stated by Hart Theater Company’s production team; the show comes with a content warning of teen suicide, physical and sexual abuse, abortion, and profanity throughout. This is not a show for the faint of heart. Yet watching this musical, you also see the heart and courage of teenagers and young adults who explore the world with a coltish desire to forge their own path. Spring Awakening brings the dark, numbness of winter into hopeful spring and joyous summer, reminding all of us that hard times get better, and hope can always be found. Go enjoy Hart Theater Company’s irreverent, irresistible Spring Awakening in Salt Lake City.
Hart Theater Company presents Spring Awakening with music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater.
Hart Theater Company, 740 W 1700 S Suite #6, Salt Lake City, UT 84104
May 9-11, 16-18, 23-25, 30-31; June 1 7:30 PM, May 5, 12, 19, 26 and June 2 4:00 PM
Tickets: $26.21-31.46
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