Each Night It's Like Fantastic
A good showing with its energetic choreography and intricate staging.
As a teenager, I am always looking for outlets to express myself or things to identify with, and the musical Spring Awakening certainly strikes a chord. I brought all my teenage excitement with me to PANGDEMONIUM!'s production, hoping to leave even more excited. And yes, my excitement levels had received a boost by the end of the evening (partly due to the meet-the-cast session), yet some things did leave me underwhelmed.
Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater got it all right in the music and lyrics department. Spring Awakening's predominantly rock score ranges from youth anthems like The Bitch of Living and Totally Fucked to ballads like Left Behind and Touch Me. It is all full of youth and vigour. Yet the lyrics are also loaded with metaphors a lit student would have a field day analysing, sometimes hard-hitting, other times poignant. In my personal favourite Don't Do Sadness / Blue Wind, Sater skilfully packs the lyrics with nature imagery, adding innocence to the characters' confusion and angst. And here, Sheik's music was delivered beautifully by a highly competent 7-piece band.
The script is easy to identify with: growing up isn't easy for anyone. Set in 1800s Germany, Spring Awakening explores the coming of age, and sexual awakening of a group of young people on the brink of adulthood. Cemented by strong characters, the script takes on classic issues such as abortion, domestic violence and suicide.
Having been a Spring Awakening fan since its debut, I can't help but compare PANGDEMONIUM!'s production to the original Broadway one, and indeed Pangdemonium! manages a good showing with their energetic choreography and intricate staging. Yet, what I most found fault with was not the production values but the casting.
Eden Ang's performance was uncomfortable to watch. He played Moritz, a teen who is as disturbed by his hormones as his parents are about his grades. Plagued by too much artificial angst, Ang's performance came across as whiny and trying too hard. Admittedly, Moritz is probably the most complex character in the musical, and there's no denying that great skill and emotional richness are required to pull the part off. Yet Ang's performance suffered greatly by comparison to John Gallagher Jr.'s skilful portrayal on Broadway... Ang fell flat and was unable to do Moritz and his solos justice. Although I understand Pangdemonium!'s intention to introduce more fresh faces to the local theatre scene, Moritz's character was simply too integral to the play for his miscasting to be forgiven.
Nathan Hartono did a better job as the charming, intelligent and sexually aware Melchior, although his singing was better than his acting. He had difficulties reaching the depths of emotion the part requires – and for this he could have benefited some of Ang's surfeit of angst.
Julia Abueva managed her emotions better as the sexually clueless Wendla who is Melchior's childhood playmate turned teenage crush. Yet both faced the same problem vocally: they were unable to rock out to Spring Awakening's music. Hartono's voice would make him a good jazz balladeer while Abueva is more of a traditional show-tune belter. But no, not rock... What the pair lacked vocally was precisely what sealed Jonathan Groff and Gallagher Jr.'s original performances.
Nevertheless, there were two stars who dazzled. Rebecca Spykerman played runaway Ilse, the only character who defies social conventions and escapes her abusive home to embrace a Bohemian lifestyle. Ilse would have fitted into Rent as comfortably as Spykerman fitted into her character's skin. Sure, Spykerman may not have Abueva's powerhouse belting ability, but her vocals were strong and steady. Moreover, her movement onstage showed that she really understood her character. While most of the other cast members overplayed their characters' emotions, Spykerman showed that being a teenager is not about being angry or depressed all the time; rather it's about what happens when curiosity collides with fear, or naiveté with experience, and the disarray this engenders.
The other standout was Candice de Rozario who took on the roles of all the adult women. And there is no other way to put it than that she was the only real woman onstage. From a no-nonsense educator to a piano teacher who is the object of her student's lust in The Bitch of Living, her array of performances showcased her range. However, unfortunately, this trained mezzo-soprano was given a non-singing role... Also strong was Adrian Pang who played all the adult men.
The sets were effective, simple and solid and the transitions were smooth. The most notable transition came in the last song, The Song of Purple Summer when everything opened outwards, switching from a grim, dark graveyard scene to a brighter setting and revealing a bare stage on which the cast poignantly delivered their hopeful final number.
And indeed, the darker themes of Spring Awakening never overshadowed the universal truth it drove at: that education is extremely important, especially at the threshold of adulthood. Education also never stops; parents have as much to learn about parenting as do children about growing up. And another point, perhaps especially relevant in Asia, is the need to educate with both care and candour.
However, during the intermission I noticed a group of kids aged about 9 to 12. They had exited the auditorium looking unsettled by the pre-intermission Melchior / Wendla sex scene. I do not know if it was just the Asian in me, but I felt that those kids were not yet ready... But then again, how does one judge readiness? I guess not every awakening will be as ideal we would wish, and some may be downright rude - yet what matters most is that they are carefully handled.
In Singapore, the line "Spring and summer, every other day" doesn't mean very much, but the universal language of adolescence means as much here as it does anywhere. I am glad that I managed to watch Spring Awakening live at an age (19) when I am still clinging on to the last of my teenage years and the musical seems fresh to me. But then, perhaps it will remain fresh to everyone, as growing up is not something anyone forgets.
A friend told me that after watching the show, she went home, pulled her two teenage children close to her and told them how much she loved them.
Yes, the big, bold musical performances in Spring Awakening are sure-fire crowd-pleasers: with song titles like The Bitch of Living and Totally Fucked, you know you're not exactly watching Hello, Dolly!. But all the sound and fury has an urgent purpose. Spring Awakening is a desperate plea to the adults in the audience to remember what it was like to struggle with the sex and violence of growing up, and to remember that our children need to hear more than Do This or Do That day in and day out. What they need is to have someone in their lives – a parent, a teacher, a mentor – who will say to them, "I'm always ready to listen to you and to talk to you. I love you and I will treat you and the questions you have with dignity and respect."
The alternative, as the events of Spring Awakening show us, can be the difference between life and death.
I caught the original multiple-Tony Award-winning stage production in 2006 and I am happy to report that Pangdemonium's version of this edgy, angsty, angry but also equally tender and romantic rock musical compares very favourably. It's a toss-up between the two. Pangdemonium has assembled a gifted cast of young actors, led by Julia Abueva (whose vocals are exquisite) and Nathan Hartono who proves to be a revelation in this, his debut acting role. Production values are also impressive, particularly the work by set designer Eucien Chia.
Support Spring Awakening because we want to see more contemporary Broadway and West End shows coming to Singapore. Support Spring Awakening because we need to encourage bright young talent in our local theatre scene. Most of all, support Spring Awakening because it will rock your socks off! - and maybe save a life or two.
Kenneth Kwok, 4 Feb 2012 (4.0 out of 5)