Spring Awakening (Broadway: Deaf West) NYC Reviews and Tickets

"At times the show feels like there is too much going on; this makes for an experience that is often more rewarding on an intellectual, rather than an emotional level. It’s actually a show about the art of making theatre, how many people can see themselves in the idea of having someone else voice their feelings. Letting the songs speak for you, allowing them to serve as a slate on which to project your fears, hopes and illusions, that is precisely why people come to see musicals."
Read more

"This new production is a wildly impactful and visceral production that goes straight to the heart and doesn’t let go...'Spring Awakening' is as potent as ever...'Spring Awakening,' as evident by the handful of teens waiting in tears by the stage door after the performance I saw, is palpable.
Read more

"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."
Read more

"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."
Read more

"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."
Read more

"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."
Read more

"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."
Read more

"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."
Read more