Spring Awakening is a rock musical about teenagers learning about growing up. The music was written by Duncan Sheik, and the story and lyrics were created by Steven Sater. It is based on a German play from 1891 called Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind. The musical takes place in late 1800s Germany and follows teenagers as they explore the challenges of becoming adults and understanding their feelings about love and relationships. The music in the show includes rock songs mixed with folk-style sounds.

The musical was first created in the late 1990s and went through many changes before it opened on Broadway. The original Broadway production began at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on December 10, 2006. The cast included actors Jonathan Groff, Lea Michele, and John Gallagher Jr. The creative team included director Michael Mayer and choreographer Bill T. Jones. The original production won eight Tony Awards, including awards for Best Musical, Direction, Book, Score, and Featured Actor. It also received four Drama Desk Awards, and its cast album won a Grammy Award. The show was performed again on Broadway in 2015 and received three Tony Award nominations, along with other honors.

The success of the Broadway production led to many other performances around the world, including in the United States, London’s West End (where it won four Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical), and other countries. In 2022, a documentary film titled Spring Awakening: Those You've Known was released on HBO. The film shows the reunion of the original cast 15 years after the show first opened.

Synopsis

Wendla Bergmann, a teenager in late 19th-century Germany, feels sad because her mother did not teach her about growing up as a young woman ("Mama Who Bore Me"). She tells her mother that she needs to learn about how babies are made, as she is about to become an aunt for the second time. Her mother refuses to explain the truth about how children are born, even though she knows Wendla is growing up. Instead, she says that a woman must love her husband deeply to have a baby. Other girls in the town—Martha, Thea, Anna, and Ilse—also seem to lack knowledge about these topics ("Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)").

At school, some teenage boys are studying the ancient Roman poet Virgil in their Latin class. When Moritz Stiefel, a nervous boy, makes a mistake while reciting a line, the teacher scolds him harshly. His classmate, Melchior Gabor, a smart and rebellious boy, tries to defend Moritz, but the teacher hits him with a stick. Melchior thinks about how school and society are unfair and decides he wants to change things ("All That's Known").

Moritz shares a dream that has been troubling him, and Melchior realizes Moritz is having dreams about love and relationships, which Moritz believes are signs of being sick. To help Moritz, Melchior, who read about these topics in books, explains that many boys his age have similar dreams. Moritz, Melchior, and other boys—Ernst, Hänschen, Otto, and Georg—talk about their feelings and frustrations about growing up ("The Bitch of Living"). Moritz asks Melchior to write an essay about these topics, including drawings, to help him understand better.

After school, most of the girls, except Ilse, gather together. They joke about wanting to marry the boys in their town. Martha admits she has feelings for Moritz, but the other girls laugh at her. They all admire Melchior, who is smart and handsome ("My Junk"). Moritz reads Melchior’s essay and feels even more confused and troubled by his dreams. Melchior tries to comfort him, but Moritz runs away. All the boys and girls express their feelings about wanting to be close to others physically ("Touch Me").

While picking flowers for her mother, Wendla meets Melchior. They remember their childhood friendship and sit together under a tree. They think about what it would be like to be close to each other physically ("The Word of Your Body"), but they do not act on their feelings. Meanwhile, Moritz checks his test results and is happy to learn he passed his midterm exam. His classmates are excited, except for Hänschen, who is doubtful. However, the teacher and schoolmaster decide to fail Moritz anyway, saying his grade is not good enough.

Martha accidentally tells her friends that her father physically and sexually abuses her, and her mother does not care. The other girls are shocked and promise not to tell anyone, fearing what happened to Ilse, a friend who was kicked out of her home by her abusive parents and now lives without a place to go ("The Dark I Know Well"). Later, Wendla finds Melchior in the woods and tells him about Martha’s abuse. Melchior is upset but agrees to hit Wendla with a stick so she can understand Martha’s pain. He becomes angry and hits her harder than he intended, then runs away as Wendla cries. Alone, Wendla finds Melchior’s journal and takes it with her.

Moritz is told he failed his final exam. When he tells his father, the man is angry and does not care about Moritz’s feelings, only about how others will see him. Moritz writes to Melchior’s mother, his only adult friend, asking for money to leave town and go to America. She kindly but firmly refuses and promises to talk to Moritz’s parents to help him. Feeling alone and hopeless, Moritz considers ending his life.

In a crowded hayloft during a storm, Melchior expresses his frustration about growing up ("The Mirror-Blue Night"). Wendla finds him again and returns his journal. They apologize for what happened in the woods. Melchior tells her to leave, but Wendla suggests they run in the rain until they are soaked. They kiss and begin to touch each other, feeling nervous and unsure. Wendla is not sure what they are doing but knows it is something new. They continue and have sex in the hayloft as Melchior enters her ("I Believe"). (Note: This scene was changed from the Off-Broadway version, where Wendla’s consent was unclear. In the Broadway version, Wendla gives consent but does not fully understand what is happening.)

Wendla and Melchior talk about what happened in the hayloft ("The Guilty Ones"). (In the Off-Broadway version, Act II began with "There Once Was a Pirate".)

Moritz, after being kicked out of his home, walks through town at night with a gun. He meets Ilse, a childhood friend, who tells him she found safety at an artists’ colony. They talk about their past and Ilse invites him to join her. Moritz refuses, and Ilse leaves, sad. Realizing this was his last chance to escape, Moritz calls after her but she is gone. Alone, he shoots himself.

At Moritz’s funeral, the children drop flowers into his grave as Melchior mourns his friend and reflects on the causes of Moritz’s death, including how his parents treated him ("Left Behind").

Back at school, the teacher and schoolmaster try to avoid blame for Moritz’s death. They find Melchior’s essay on sex in Moritz’s belongings and blame Melchior for Moritz’s death. Even though Melchior knows he is not to blame, he is expelled ("Totally Fucked").

Later that night, Hänschen…

Characters

• Melchior Gabor – A smart student with strong beliefs who develops feelings for Wendla
• Wendla Bergmann – A kind and curious girl who has a relationship with Melchior
• Moritz Stiefel – Melchior's close friend who feels troubled about growing up and feels like he is failing
• Ilse Neumann – A friend of the other children who was removed from a home where she was treated badly and now lives in a place where artists live together
• Hänschen Rilow – A smart and bisexual student. He has feelings for Ernst.
• Martha Bessell – A friend of Wendla who is harmed by her father. She has feelings for Moritz.
• Ernst Röbel – A student who hides his feelings about being attracted to people of the same gender. He has feelings for Hänschen.
• Georg Zirschnitz – A student who is drawn to his older piano teacher
• Otto Lämmermeier – A student who has a troubling dream about his mother
• Thea – Wendla's best friend. She has feelings for Melchior.
• Anna – Martha's best friend
• Greta Brandenburg (2015 Broadway revival)
• Bobby Maler (2015 Broadway revival)
• Natally – Thea's twin sister (2015 Broadway revival)

• Dieter – Usually played by the same actor as Georg
• Rupert – Usually played by the same actor as Hänschen
• Reinhold – Usually played by the same actor as Ernst
• Ulbrecht – Usually played by the same actor as Otto

Traditionally, the roles of all the adults are performed by one man and one woman. However, in the 2015 Broadway revival, there were two pairs of adults: one pair who can hear, and one pair who are deaf or hard of hearing.

• Frau Bergmann – Wendla's mother
• Fanny Gabor – Melchior's mother
• Frau Bessell – Martha's mother
• Fräulein Großebüstenhalter – Georg's piano teacher
• Fräulein Knuppeldick – a helper to Headmaster Knochenbruch
• Headmaster Knochenbruch – the head of the boys' school
• Herr Sonnenstich – a schoolteacher
• Herr Gabor – Melchior's father
• Herr Stiefel – Moritz's father
• Herr Rilow – Hänschen's father
• Herr Neumann – Ilse's father
• Father Kaulbach – a priest
• Doctor von Brausepulver – Visits Wendla during her pregnancy
• Schmidt – a person who performs abortions

Musical numbers

Note: "The Guilty Ones" replaced the off-Broadway version's Act II opening, "There Once Was a Pirate." The latter song is included as a bonus track on the iTunes version of the original Broadway cast recording, performed by composer Duncan Sheik. A reprise of "Touch Me," sung by Melchior, was added to the Chicago, Vienna, and London productions, included in tour performances, and is part of materials used by amateur groups. On the original Broadway cast recording CD, the order of "The Guilty Ones" and "Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind" is reversed. The 2021/22 London run reintroduced "There Once Was a Pirate" in place of "The Guilty Ones."

The original Broadway pit orchestra had seven musicians:

• Strings: one guitar or violin, one viola, one cello, one bass, one guitar
• Keyboard: one person
• Percussion: one person

Major production casts

• Melchior – Kyle Riabko, Hunter Parrish, and Matt Doyle
• Wendla – Alexandra Socha
• Ernst – Blake Daniel
• Moritz – Blake Bashoff and Gerard Canonico
• Adult Women – Kate Burton
• Hanschen – Drew Tyler Bell and Matt Doyle
• Anna – Emily Kinney
• Thea – Caitlin Kinnunen
• Ensemble – Jenna Ushkowitz

• Jennifer Damiano – Anna, Thea, Martha, and Ilse
• Krysta Rodriguez – Anna, Thea, Martha, Ilse, and Wendla
• Matt Doyle – Hanschen, Ernst, Otto, Georg, and Melchior
• Robert Ariza – Melchior, Hanschen, Georg, and Otto

• Melchior – Matt Doyle, Jake Epstein, and Christopher Wood
• Moritz – Taylor Trensch

Original concept

Before Spring Awakening opened off-Broadway, Duncan Sheik created song demos for the original idea of the musical. At that time, the story followed the plot of the original play more closely. Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik originally planned for Melchior to rape Wendla during the song "I Believe," but they changed this decision to make the scene between the two characters more loving. In early versions of the show, "I Believe" ended with Wendla screaming during the rape scene. The song "All That's Known" replaced another song called "All Numb." Both songs had similar themes, but the directors shortened the show's length, so "All Numb" was removed and replaced with "All That's Known."

A song titled "A Comet on Its Way" was replaced by "The Bitch of Living." Both songs had the same general theme, but Sheik believed "The Bitch of Living" better fit the show because it was more upbeat. The song "Those You've Known" replaced another song called "The Clouds Will Drift Away." "The Clouds Will Drift Away" was removed because Sheik wanted the song among the three main characters to stay connected to the theme of "All That's Known." The song "Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)" was originally planned to be performed after "Touch Me." Another song, "Great Sex," which was intended to be performed after "Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)," was removed from the show. The directors believed the song made the show's theme too obvious. It was meant to play during Hanschen's masturbation scene, but the song was removed, and the scene was moved into the middle of "My Junk."

Production history

Spring Awakening had many workshops, concerts, and rewrites over seven years. These included workshops at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California, and the Roundabout Theatre Company. A concert was held at Lincoln Center in February 2005, organized by actor/producer Tom Hulce. The musical first performed Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company on May 19, 2006, and ran until August 5, 2006.

The musical opened on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on December 10, 2006, and closed on January 18, 2009, after 859 performances and 29 previews. Michael Mayer directed it, and Bill T. Jones created the choreography. Susan Hilferty designed the costumes, Christine Jones designed the sets, and Kevin Adams handled the lighting. The show received mostly positive reviews and paid back its initial $6 million investment by August 27, 2007.

Decca Broadway released the original cast recording on December 12, 2006. It won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album in 2008. The guitar used by Sheik to write songs for Spring Awakening was displayed in the 2008 exhibition "Writing to Character: Songwriters & the Tony Awards" at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

A U.S. national tour (with one stop in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) began on August 15, 2008, at The Balboa Theatre in San Diego, California. The tour ended on May 23, 2010, in Orlando, Florida. A non-equity U.S. tour started on October 14, 2010, at Shryock Auditorium in Carbondale, Illinois, and ended on May 15, 2011, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, at the Centrepointe Theatre.

The first London production began on January 23, 2009, at the Lyric Hammersmith. It moved to the Novello Theatre on March 21, 2009, and closed on May 30, 2009. It won four Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical.

Deaf West Theatre produced a version directed by Michael Arden, based on a concept by Arden’s husband, Andy Mientus, who was part of the first national tour. The cast included both deaf and hearing actors who performed in American Sign Language and English at the same time. Some deaf actors were paired with hearing actors who spoke their lines. Most hearing actors also played instruments in the live band. The production used methods from the 19th century to teach deaf students to speak, which connected to the musical’s themes about communication, education, and being unheard. This version opened in Los Angeles in the fall of 2014 at the Rosenthal Theater. It later moved to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills from May to June 2015, where Mientus and Krysta Rodriguez played Ilse. The production then moved to Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre with the same cast, plus Marlee Matlin, Camryn Manheim, Patrick Page, and Russell Harvard in adult roles. It was produced by Ken Davenport and Cody Lassen. The revival began previews on September 8, 2015, and opened on September 27, 2015. It closed on January 24, 2016.

This revival was nominated for the 2016 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical and received mostly positive reviews. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times called it "a first-rate production of a transporting musical." The Associated Press called it "a sheer triumph," and New York Magazine called it "brilliant and beautiful." The revival focused on making theater and Broadway more accessible to people with disabilities. It included deaf cast members and featured Ali Stroker, the first Broadway performer to use a wheelchair. It also provided interpretation for deaf-blind theatergoers. On January 15, 2016, the producers of Spring Awakening, with The Broadway League, held a symposium titled "How to Make Broadway More Accessible," featuring members of the disability community and a speech by Timothy Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics.

A London revival at the Almeida Theatre began previews on November 30, 2021, and opened on December 14, 2021, to critical acclaim. Directed by Rupert Goold, choreographed by Lynne Page, and designed by Miriam Buether, the production starred Laurie Kynaston as Melchior, Amara Okereke as Wendla, and Stuart Thompson as Moritz. The limited run closed on January 29, 2022, after a week’s extension. It was nominated for a 2022 Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival and won two Critics' Circle Theatre Awards in the same year.

On February 1, 2024, it was announced that Jack Maple and original London cast member Evelyn Hoskins would present a one-night reunion concert on June 2, 2024, at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London’s West End. The concert brought together most of the original London cast, band, and stage management teams. Some cast changes included Jamie Muscato as Melchior, Rich Southgate as Hanschen, and Olivier Award-nominee Jack Wolfe as Moritz. The concert raised funds for one of the original London production’s producers, Imogen Kinchin.

The first European production began on August 30, 2008, at Värmlandsoperan in Karlstad, Sweden, and closed in March 2009. A second Swedish-language production opened in Helsingborg on March 20, 2009. A Finnish production opened in Helsinki on February 5, 2009, and closed in November 2009. A Hungarian-language production (the first non-replica) premiered on February 7, 2009, in Budapest at the Nyugati Teátrum, titled Tavaszébredés. It ran until May 26, 2009. A German-language version opened in Vienna, Austria, on March 21, 2009, and closed on May 30, 2009. A live cast recording was released. A Danish-language production opened at Aalborg Teater on June 13, 2009, and closed on September 15. There was also a Slovenian production at the Ljubljana City Theatre in 2009.

An English-language production opened in Valletta, Malta, at the St. James Cavalier Theatre on April 17,

In other media

The television show 90210 includes the first few episodes showing a school and some characters as they prepare for and perform in Spring Awakening. However, in reality, permission to perform the play was not available at that time. Some parts of songs and scenes from the play, such as "Mama Who Bore Me" and "The Bitch of Living," are shown in the episodes. Annie and Ty played the main roles in the production.

The 2015 Broadway revival of Spring Awakening was shown in the award-winning documentary series Working in the Theatre, produced by the American Theatre Wing. The 2018 television series Rise follows a high school English teacher who tries to stage a production of Spring Awakening. The teacher faces challenges from members of the community, including parents of students in the play, who believe the content is unsuitable for teenagers.

Reunion documentary

On May 3, 2022, HBO released a documentary film called Spring Awakening: Those You've Known. The film shows the 15th anniversary reunion of the original company, which took place in November 2021 to help raise money for the Actors Fund.

Proposed film adaptation

In April 2009, McG was named the director for the film adaptation. In 2010, lyricist and librettist Steven Sater told Playbill that a film version of Spring Awakening could start production in Europe in the spring of 2013. In 2012, Duncan Sheik told Broadwayworld.com that the movie was being worked on, but some details were still missing. In March 2014, Sheik told U-T San Diego that the movie would include a new song. In 2020, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Luca Guadagnino said he was interested in the project during an interview and mentioned he had discussed a possible adaptation with Sater. As of December 2024, 15 years after the original announcement, no film has been made. Steven Sater has sent requests to film executives through social media to keep working on the project.