SPRING AWAKENING @ THE WELK (BY CYC)

“Spring Awakening”: CYC Serves Up this Controversial, Much Loved Musical

Words by Kristen Fogle


Sex kills, people.

While this isn’t the exact message behind “Spring Awakening” (and I could be giving away major plot points in that statement), it serves as a good intro to the show, I think. The Tony Award winning musical, as put on by California Youth Conservatory (CYC) and staged at the Welk Resort Theatre, is generally billed as a coming-of-age story of German teens experimenting with sexuality and learning some vital truths in the process.

CYC should not be confused with CYT, we are reminded by Shaun T. Evans, Managing Artistic Director of the company. This is important as CYT is Christian Youth Theatre, and some of the shenanigans on stage could not be confused with a production put on by a religious based troupe. “Spring Awakening” has some graphic sexuality and language—buyer beware.

Here is the scenario: We open on innocent Wendla Bergmann, who through the popular “Mama Who Bore Me,” we learn needs to obtain life lessons from her mother, particularly those concerning where babies come from. This sentiment is echoed by the other girls in the reprise of the song. Meanwhile, we learn that Moritz Stiefel (wild haired, intense) is having erotic dreams, which are driving him insane. The rest of the boys reflect on their own feelings with "The Bitch of Living.” Moritz requests that his friend, the rebellious, intelligent (reproductive knowledge savvy) Melchoir Gabor give him this information in the form of an essay, (illustrations too please).

When Melchoir and Wendla meet…well you might guess where this goes. Moritz is failed out of school to the dismay of his father, putting him into an even more confusing frenzy (even more so after he sees a girl he loves, gentle, free spirited Ilse). Wendla learns that a friend is being abused by her father. Melchoir’s “informative essay” shows up again. Wendla’s lack of information about life’s lessons catches up to her in a big way…That’s a very brief run down, that disregards quite a few song in the process, but giving away the plot points is, well, giving away the plot.

The company is no stranger to producing big, BIG shows (like Rent and Ragtime), but I am still impressed with their tackling this one due to its history and popularity. Originating from a 1892 German play of the same title by Frank Wedekind, “Spring” was transformed into a rock musical in (mostly) the form we know now when it appeared Off-Broadway in May of 2006, going on to Broadway in December of the same year. Before that, the show went through seven years of workshops, concerts, and rewrites—the La Jolla Playhouse was part of this process.

CYC has some great talents—though California Youth Conservatory to me implies younger than the college students and recent grads that populate the production (there are a few high schoolers sprinkled in there). Among them, Merri Baehr (Wendla) has a voice made for the stage. As does her character’s love interest, Melchoir Gabor, as played by Ivan Pena; this kid needs to make a record. Same goes for Cydney Rothblatt as Ilse, whose show stopping voice warranted a singular bow that sadly never came.

The production also boasts excellent choral direction by Amy McDowell, choreography by Rocky DeHaro, and direction by Shaun T. Evans. Scenes could have been smoother, however, with too many beats in between performers entering. And the choice of hand mics when the actors had face mics was a bit confusing, particularly with boys and girls pulling them out of their traditional German dress. The accents also bothered me a bit—I could not understand why the adults had German accents and the children did not.

But besides these few “huh?” moments, I enjoyed seeing the talented cast get into a production they seemed to be loving. The entire company, as seen in their bios, seems to return to the company for show after show, and if CYC can turn out more and more impassioned young actors, they are truly doing what theater is meant to.

If this one is a bit too risqué—not only a favorite of mine, but definitely one for the whole family—“Big River,” is up next.

“Spring Awakening”
1/7/12-1/15/12
California Youth Conservatory Theatre
The Welk Resort Theatre
8860 Lawrence Welk Drive
Escondido, CA 92026-6403
‎
(760) 749-3448
http://www.cyctheatre.com/
www.welktheatresandiego.com

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