Spring Awakening Sets Broadway Closing Date

The hit musical of Spring Awakening has set a closing date of January 18, 2009, at Broadway’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre. Winner of eight 2007 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, the show will have played 859 performances and 29 previews upon closing.

Based on Frank Wedekind’s 19th-century play, Spring Awakening features a score by Duncan Sheik, a book by Steven Sater and was directed by Michael Mayer, all of whom won Tony Awards for their work. The show began life in 2006 at off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theatre Company and opened on Broadway on December 10, 2006, with a cast led by Tony nominee Jonathan Groff as Melchior, Lea Michele as Wendla and Tony winner John Gallagher, Jr. as Moritz

The show’s producers released a statement saying, “Spring Awakening was a glorious challenge from the very start, a challenge that a remarkable creative team took on and transformed into a life-changing experience. And while our Broadway run will come to an end this January, Spring Awakening will continue to touch audiences across the country, through our national tour, and around the world, with productions soon to open in London, Vienna, Toronto, Helsinki and Seoul.” 

The first national tour of Spring Awakening premiered at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco and opens in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre on October 30.The tour’s upcoming schedule includes Tempe, AZ, Chicago, Boston, Tampa, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Washington, DC, and is booked through the end of 2009.

The Broadway company of Spring Awakening currently includes Hunter Parrish, Alexandra Socha, Gerard Canonico, Amanda Castanos, Blake Daniel, Matt Doyle, Andrew Durand, Christine Estabrook, Glenn Fleshler, Emma Hunton, Emily Kinney, Caitlin Kinnunen and Gabriel Violett.