For this week's Old Man and the C, I would like to congratulate the Northwestern University cast and crew for a spirited production of Spring Awakening. Having only recently developed a fondness for musical theatre, I'll leave the reviews to those more qualified, but the high level of singing and staging for last Sunday's final performance was nothing short of remarkable. Keeping audience focus (mine, at least) off songwriter/composer Duncan Sheik's poetically pedestrian lyrics ("Still your heart says/The shadows bring the starlight/And everything you've ever been is still there in the dark night")
is a feat unto itself, and the demanding falsetto on display by tenors Max Cove (Moritz) and Alex Nee (Melchior) was impressively executed.
Also, there is a zesty number entitled, "Totally Fucked."
I may not be as drawn to Sheik's rock-ish score as most, and I did have to sit, mentally squirming, beside a septuagenarian as undergrads graphically simulated coitus, but the timeliness of a show about repression is undeniable. Most importantly, the excellent acting by the NU cast left me curious as to the play of the same title penned by German playwright Frank Wedekind from which the musical is derived. So thank you, Northwestern musical theatre department, for a memorable Sunday...and inspiring yet another trek to the Book Cellar.