The off-Broadway musical Spring Awakening has extended its run at the Atlantic Theatre Company. The show, which was originally scheduled to close on July 9, opened to mostly positive reviews and will now close on August 6.
Spring Awakening boldly depicts how young people navigate the thrilling, confusing and mysterious time of their sexual awakening. Grammy Award nominee Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's songs illuminate the volatile urgency of adolescent self-discovery, the burning intensity of early friendships and the turbulent relationship to an uncomprehending adult world. The story centers around a brilliant young student named Melchior, his troubled friend Moritz and Wendla, a beautiful young girl on the verge of womanhood.
The tuner, which is directed by Michael Mayer, opened on June 15. In his Broadway.com review, Rob Kendt wrote: "It's a double-vision musical, in other words, in which the songs take place in a separate reality from the book. Though both worlds are conjured vividly by director Michael Mayer and his knockout cast, the contrast between the emo power ballads and Wedekind's stark anti-conformist fable has a strange, probably unintended effect: The songs, for all their volume and frankness, let off adolescent steam in ways that feel familiar, even innocuous. It's the 115-year-old play sandwiched between the musical numbers that retains its shock value."
