Spring Awakening pushes the actor to understand more of his or her own sexuality. I don’t mean that in the sense of, “What is my sexual orientation? Do I want to have sex? How many people want me because of my body?” This show explores the beauty in understanding your body. It’s about understanding and accepting oneself. It’s about being comfortable in the skin you are given. And Spring Awakening has helped me grow in being confident in my own skin and body.

My character, Hanschen, uses language as a device for seduction. He is incredibly articulate and loves playing with words in order to get what he wants.

It has been stunning to watch the beautiful vulnerability everybody puts on the stage, but it was difficult for me to reach this point when it came to me in my role. Hanschen kisses another character, and I was nervous about what others would think and how others would react and judge my vulnerability. Yet Stafford and the cast have been nothing but supportive. It’s a blessing to be working with all of these fantastic performers and directors who are pushing for growth. 

 Roberto Aguilar (Hanschen)

My favorite scene is the one in which Hanschen woos my character Ernst and they kiss. I've never kissed another guy before, and I was quite nervous at first. After working with both Stafford and Roberto I became much more comfortable with the idea. The rawness of the scene is very truthful and real. It's different, it's exciting, and quite beautiful.

I've had many of my own awakenings throughout the rehearsal process. I never knew I could sing or dance the way I do. I've found parallels with myself and my character (and other characters in the show) and in those parallels I'm learning more about myself.

Spring Awakening is the kind of show that makes me want to do theater for the rest of my life. 

JT Bernhardt (Ernst)

                                     
                                                                                               

        

“The Dark I Know Well” is such a truthful song. The way that this number is blocked, you get to see inside the characters’ heads. The secrets that these characters share with the audience are life-changing and painful.

I’ve been fortunate to work with Chris McCoy before, so I’m familiar with his dance style. I enjoy it when he has to demonstrate particularly “sexy” or “seductive” choreography.

Chris makes the material fun and much less awkward to tackle. His dance moves are always inventive, and he’s open to bouncing ideas off of the cast to see what works best for us.

I have some pretty hard harmonies in a few of the numbers, so I get really excited when I finally nail one and lock it in!

 Rachel Wagner (Ensemble)

I love jumping over the chair twice in "Bitch of Living." This really gets me pumped up. It is my favorite scene because it speaks to everyone who has ever lived and felt negative emotions in some capacity.

"Left Behind" also gets to me because of the scene’s powerful acting. One day, while rehearsing this song during a funeral sequence, Marcos—as Moritz who is supposed to be dead and in the open coffin—snuck up and waved. No one was able to sing properly after that laugh.

After the uncomfortable introduction to the sexual subject matter, we moved through the joking stage where we did nothing but laugh at what we were doing to ourselves. Eventually we accepted what we were doing and came to approach these scenes with grace and professionalism.

The music and the real situations these kids get into speak to me. Emotionally I am tuned in to the ones around me. Physically I'm just starting to get comfortable being me. 

Christian Hebron (Reinhold
      Ensemble) 

 

I confess that I'm primarily a singer, not an actor, and hence the Spring Awakening music is one of the most important parts of the show for me. 

It creates a medium that allows me to express myself and my character in a way that ordinary dialogue does not. The amalgamation of all the musical instruments and singing of the human voice brings to life and electrifies the production.

The song "Those You've Known" has an extremely moving emotional arch and musically gives me chills. I consider it the culmination of the Spring Awakening message, which is one of resilience, perseverance and hope for better times to come.

“Totally Fucked” is one of the few numbers that I've found difficult because it's such a high-intensity song. It becomes very easy to get carried away and go crazy with the choreography forgetting that you still need to have enough breath to sing.   

Johnny Wylie (Georg)

                                                                                                             

I love how “Word of My Body" expresses the pain that is so often inherent in desire; how these two emotions in many cases are inseparable.

Anyone, young or old, who has ever been consumed by a lust that they knew was either ill-fated or unrequited, will be moved by this song. (I personally know nothing about this!)

Spring Awakening has been an interesting ride. This is the first time I have been in a play in a few years, and I find myself now in the role of "Mother," and a repressive mother to boot. I myself am not generally a repressive type so finding the truth in this character has taken a little digging.

Being slightly older that most of the cast has forced me to remember that people are people no matter what age. It was my instinct to take space, act as a teacher and keep a division between myself and this young cast.

But as the time progresses and I hear their stories, I am reminded again, that we are all just human and that I have so much to learn from them!

Joyful Simpson (Frau Bergman
Frau Gabor, Frau Bessel, Ensemble) 

 

I never thought I had it in me to SING ROCK MUSIC! I'm a classically-trained opera singer for crying out loud. I go straight for arias like "Nessun Dorma" and "La Donna E Mobile." Spring Awakening's technique and style are so different from what I'm used to. The music brings out a different energy in me that I've never felt before. And I like it.

My favorite song is "Left Behind" during the funeral scene. My character thinks of his past as he mourns and wonders if he can ever forgive himself for what he's done (avoiding spoilers). I know this feeling. Thinking of my past, I always dismissed and forgave anything mean or malicious that someone said to me. During the funeral scene, when my character wants nothing more than redemption, it hit me in full flux that I was always the forgiving type. I guess this has been so much a part of me that I never realized it before.

Jonathan Conklin (Herr Gabor

Herr Stiefel)

I am having a very strong reaction to Spring Awakening. I have found myself being vulnerable more often than not. 

Sometimes I have felt I even need to close myself off from the cast, just because something inside of me is stirring up a crazy whirlwind of emotions. I can't pinpoint the reason; I only know that it started during this show. It must be because Spring Awakening brings me back to when I was younger, feeling left out of situations and wanting friends.

I have to keep reminding myself of where I am today, and how far I've come. I don't have to feel that way anymore.

During “Left Behind” in the funeral scene I am most emotional. It can get hard to sing with tears rising in your throat. It helps that everyone around me is completely invested as well. It's a really beautiful song.

Annie Dick (Schmidt

Ensemble)

I find the graphic nature of the show to be refreshing; these things happen in life off stage, why not put them on stage? In fact, the argument of the show can be said to be that of breaking our boundaries—in what way could this be better accomplished than by putting our culturally-created fears in front of our eyes for examination?

My favorite scene is set in the reformatory late in Act II. It is an incredibly difficult scene to stage effectively, and I feel that Stafford and the boys have done a magnificent job tastefully navigating subject matter that could easily go wrong.

Of all the songs, "The Mirror-Blue Night" speaks the most to me—it examines the doubt, the fears, and the anxiety of being on the cusp of making major decisions; the final moment before the storm of reality comes.

Spring Awakening has taught me that all people have something to protect: some of us have radical notions about how society should operate that are a hundred years ahead of our time, other characters strive to protect the institutions they and their ancestors have built in the name of progress from barbarism.

Skylar Collins (Herr Sonnenstich
Headmaster Knochenbruch

Doctor Von Brausepulver
Father Kaulbach, Ensemble)

I had no idea that I would feel so many emotions and really understand the characters in Spring Awakening as I do. At a young age the kids learn about grief and how to go on after a loved one's life has been taken away. This is something that I, too, had to learn very early on.

All of the scenes and emotions in Spring Awakening are completely real and honest. Everything that happens in life is shown on stage, ranging from a first kiss to a suicide. Going through these scenes can be difficult, but the cast has become my family and we are all here for each other.

One of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of the show has been trying to get my message across without words. I don't have any speaking lines, but with my movements and singing I have pushed myself to really open up to the audience without actually saying anything.

I am absolutely loving my journey in Spring Awakening and I can't wait to share it with everyone!

Sara Weiner (Ensemble)

My favorite scene is when Melchior and Wendla meet in the woods for a second time. The manipulative tactics Wendla employs to get the physical pain she craves is fascinating to watch, and seeing Jess Walsh go through these tactics is fascinating. The evolutions of both Wendla and Melchior in such a short scene are very exciting to witness.

Initially, the songs are very upbeat. As Moritz slips further into confusion and mental instability over his own sexual frustrations, the songs become darker and allow the narrative to travel further into the depths of emotional turmoil and inner conflict.

The songs after this shift allow Spring Awakening to achieve more than a shallow story about horny, angsty teenagers. The lyrics paint a picture about the confusion and the terrifying nature of experiencing our own awakenings in life. However, as we see in “The Song of Purple Summer,” the outcomes of these awakenings are beautiful; no matter what the consequences of your immediate actions, the earth will continue to rotate and life will go on.

Jason Moscato (Rupert 

Ensemble)