Spring Awakening (Deaf West)

"One of the great musicals of the last decade was born anew on Sunday, when the thrillingly inventive Deaf West Theater production of 'Spring Awakening' opened on Broadway. Any qualms theater-lovers might have about this being a premature, whiplash-inducing revival will vanish like frost in strong sunlight when the young cast of both hearing and deaf actors floods the stage...A first-rate production of a transporting musical." Full Review

"A thrilling new look at a musical that still bears hidden treasures nine years after its debut...Everything benefits from director Michael Arden's muscular approach. Arden brings instruments into the mise-en-scène in a manner reminiscent of John Doyle. Arden's Brechtian embrace of theatricality proves to be vital to the epic theater of adolescence...This revival is that rare reimagining that furthers the themes of the original work, rather than plastering over them with an auteur's vision." Full Review

"It works better than you might expect and it’s a treat to see Camryn Manheim juggle a couple of parts and give voice to Marlee Matlin, sadly underused. But this slick 'Spring Awakening' also snuffs out any emotional rawness. The kids are meant to be a mess of confusion and frustrated horniness, but here they’re so wholesome, you can almost picture them polishing their application to Juilliard...Admiring this revival’s feat is one thing. Feeling for it - that’s something else." Full Review

"'Spring Awakening’s original production' ingeniously integrated 19th-century and modern imagery to thrilling effect. Here, with the interpolation of signing and doubled actors, the integration suffers, having a third performance vocabulary to juggle. The score still sounds great, but it’s just not as fluidly performed to maximize the emotional impact...For all of the valid reservations one can have about this experiment, there’s still beauty to admire, if you’re willing to hear." Full Review

"The production has been billed as a radical reimagining of the show. But those who saw the original Broadway production will find this one – with its minimal setting and maximal passion – reliably familiar, though with some themes and concerns clearly sharpened. It isn’t perhaps as well-sung as the original one and in some cases not as well-acted, though in others, like Krysta Rodriguez’s Ilse, it is perhaps acted better." Full Review

"Today's 'Spring Awakening' is a worthy production of the show, but that's it. You left the original production wanting to tell friends they had to see it, just like 'Hamilton' today; you are likely to leave this one saying it's fine, especially if you've always wanted to see 'Spring Awakening.' Not the same thing." Full Review

"By cleverly pairing deaf actors who are signing with hearing actors who are singing, Deaf West has made the show the most accessible on Broadway, but also forged it into something theatrically exceptional...That such a show should be so joyful and so beautiful — from the evocative lighting to the hand ballet of sign language by the entire cast — is itself a sign: Deaf West has done it right." Full Review

"The juxtaposition of the story's 1891 setting and the intense, heart-pumping, contemporary score by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater remains fresh, but the added element of a combined deaf and hearing cast gives 'Spring' an extra jolt...'Spring Awakening' is a refreshing challenge to the rigid Broadway template." Full Review

"Sheik’s music emphasizes beat over melody, offering insufficient variety...Sater’s lyrics have punch but can be unsubtle...Arden and Liff keep the actors moving in interesting formations...Wedekind’s play is fully realized in the dynamic staging, but there’s also a cool grayness that creates a sense of distance...This doesn’t detract from the superlative performances." Full Review

"'Spring Awakening' is just not a good musical...A smarmy evening that, as writing, satisfies on no theatrical level...You are not supposed to think about any of this. That's why Arden and Deaf West are making something akin to magic here: Their application of their issues guides us to 'Spring Awakening' on their terms, which are vastly more compelling than the show's. I cared about the struggle of the deaf children in an uncaring, hearing world. They convinced me of the virtues of silence." Full Review

"Few things in theater are rarer than a production so fine that it cries out to be seen in spite of the show, but that’s the case with Deaf West’s 'Spring Awakening:' It ranks among the most emotionally charged renderings of a musical to come to Broadway in the past decade, one that all who love the genre should rush to see." Full Review

"This revival would have been unjustifiable were it not for the brilliant idea of placing the story in the context of deafness and using many deaf actors to tell it...Deafness is not a random overlay on 'Spring Awakening' or a trendy gimmick hatched to sell it...I liked the new production better than the original." Full Review

"An inspired and innovative revival that incorporates American Sign Language...Although it's hard to shake off memories of the brilliant original production, Arden's revival is visually stunning, emotionally poignant and thoroughly exciting in its own right." Full Review

"Arriving so soon after Michael Mayer's viscerally impactful premiere production, this underpowered, unexceptionally sung version seems more of a special presentation than a wholesale reinvention...It's not so much the cast as the concept that only half works here...While the intent merits applause, the execution is not sufficiently fresh or Broadway-caliber to justify the swift return." Full Review

"In Deaf West's exhilarating reboot of the moody and stirring 2007 Tony winner, the repressed and rudderless kids are lifting more than their voices. They’re also raising their hands to express themselves — and casting a whole new spell. The show combines hearing and non-hearing actors who use American Sign Language. Some roles are played by two actors — one who sings, one who signs. Many in the cast do both at once. The result: Lines and lyrics look as poetic and provocative as they sound." Full Review

"This intoxicating production kicks the power of Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s propulsive musical into a higher sphere altogether. And yet it seems truer in spirit than even the original 2006 production to Frank Wedekind’s daring, scandal-making play about teens on the verge of a sexual breakdown...The only shadow cast here is of great musical-theater making. The lighting may be dappled but 'Spring Awakening' is brilliant." Full Review

"Deaf West, Michael Arden, and their extraordinary team reinvented this ravishing musical and created something truly mesmerizing...This production is not only important, it deserves to be seen by an even wider audience...Deaf West Theatre’s 'Spring Awakening' is one that will go down in the history books. It’s quite extraordinary when you can improve upon perfection. Dare I say, it's better than the original." Full Review

"This unique packaging of a more than hundred-year-old play as a rock popera has returned to Broadway, proving once again that if the music is appealing enough and the story's themes enduring, directorial brilliance and originality can strike more than once...This cast of mostly unknowns couldn't be better...Deaf West's translation adds a subtle artistic layer that actually deepens and enriches the story telling." Full Review

"The results are moving and both visually and musically impressive, if ultimately a bit repetitious. Although the production never quite delivers the knotted punch of the sharp-edged original, the teens' stifled internal lives roil with the power of outsider-ness and communication crises that transcend straightforward storytelling." Full Review

"Well before the end of act one, you find yourself no longer looking for the speaking actor...And certainly by the end of act two, you’ll wonder why all actors in all musicals don’t use American Sign Language to convey what they’re singing...Director Arden is much better when he just mixes things up. Especially inventive are his use of posters, projection of words and silences. Sometimes he shows amazing restraint and creativity." Full Review

"Theatergoers coming to this raw story for the first time will find a musical with even more layers than the production that first seduced Broadway. The addition of sign language encourages a closer look at 'Spring Awakening.'" Full Review

"While Arden creates some truly beautiful stage pictures, at other moments, the enterprise simply feels overpopulated. Similarly, Spencer Liff’s clever choreography stunningly incorporates ASL (American Sign Language) as well as a wide vocabulary of dance, but ultimately isn’t quite as groundbreaking as Bill T. Jones’ movement for the original...Even with a few missteps though, this production is worth every second of your time, if just to take in the glorious songs." Full Review

"The result is an exhilarating and fluid hybrid of song, word, dance and sign — and a sheer triumph for director Michael Arden and choreographer Spencer Liff. The songs sit seamlessly in the show, often as brightly lit fantasy sequences that snap back into the grim narrative...If anything, the brilliant staging reveals chips and holes in the book and lyrics, which simply don't measure up to the ingeniousness of the new show itself." Full Review

"I wasn't really moved by the production itself...I was intrigued by the new production’s concept of highlighting the miscommunication between the generations by making many of the youngsters deaf and literally unable to speak to their parents or hear them...When I actually saw the show, I found its conceit of having deaf actors sign their dialogue and song lyrics while hearing actors simultaneously speak and sing the same lines to be distracting and to lessen the emotion." Full Review

"The students and grownups speak a different language, and the use of American Sign Language provides a metaphorical layer to the generational divide. Conceptually, it is an inspired touch, but Michael Arden’s meticulous direction adds the poetry and emotion that gives this version its resonance...It is all intricately woven, featuring deaf and hearing actors who both sign and sing...The staging, graced with beautifully evocative choreography and design elements, make for a moving experience." Full Review