Cygnet Theatre Artistic Director Sean Murray will direct “Spring Awakening,” an eight-time Tony Award-winning musical with an electrifying rock score by Duncan Sheik.
The work is a story of youth and sexuality is based on an 1895 play by Frank Wedekind and features a book and lyrics by Steven Sater.
Photo by Daren Scott.
The production, featuring choreography by award-winning dance maker Michael Mizerany, runs March 6 through April 27 at the Old Town Theatre. Opening Night is March 15th.
The production contains mature themes, sexual situations and explicit language that may not be suitable for all ages. Murray said he feels strongly that the rock musical about rebellious 19th century teenagers who take a provocative journey from adolescence to adulthood is a perfect way to begin discussions between teens and adults.
“One of the powerful qualities of the brilliant musical adaptation is that the material is fresh, honest and presented from the kid’s point of view,” Murray explained. “They can see them represented on stage in a manner that they can believe and hear their voices coming from the characters. This is very important as we want young people to discover the power of live theatre for themselves.”
Murray has cast an array of young talent in the roles of the rebellious and questioning students. “We’ve discovered some extraordinarily talented musical theater kids who can bring their youthful energy and authenticity to these characters,” explained Murray.
Spring Awakening premiered on Broadway in 2006 to great acclaim and won 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Direction, Book and Score. The success of the Broadway production has spawned other productions worldwide and jump-started the musical theater career of rock musician Duncan Sheik.
— Press release from Cygnet Theatre