Spring Awakening

Continuing on the Broadway preoccupation: Spring Awakening.

A few years ago, a friend instructed me to find a nice musical to watch on a celebratory night. I flipped through the newspaper ads until my eye fell upon a simple poster, featuring a boy and a girl lying together. Or more precisely, the girl on her back, dress piling erotically to reveal an inch of leg as the boy bent over her, clearly in the process of unbuttoning her top. The faces were half-hidden and her gray schoolgirl stockings only left more to the imagination. The title of the show was Spring Awakening.

I went online and brought two tickets.

What can I say? It was superb advertising. After all. the tension before the plunge is always the most compelling part. Furthermore, we'd been informed that the two actors would actually stimulate sex onstage during the show. Live. Are you telling me that you would have picked "Mamma Mia!" instead?

Cut to: A year later, when I'm listening to the soundtrack nearly every other day. The less said about the story and characters, the better. But the music was something I had never heard on Broadway. Sure, the lyrics are provocative, probably the main attraction to an agonizing pre-teen. But what's outstanding is the rock-balladic nature of the tunes, performed with rollicking gusto and more range of feeling than I've heard anywhere else by the SA cast, all of whom were under 25.

Featured: "Mama Who Bore Me" (my friend's favorite), "The Bitch of Living", "Totally Fucked".

And let's not forget that Spring Awakening's original cast featured a pre-Glee Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff, and the ever-winsome John Gallagher Jr (his hedge-haired character Moritz is probably the second-best aspect of the show). In a way, Spring Awakening has become the Rent of my generation. There are some I know who refuse to acknowledge Lea Michele as anyone else except "the original Wendla". And Jonathan Groff was the only reason I started watching Glee in the first place, because may the gods strike me before I miss a Spring Awakening reunion on national TV. I've already signed the Facebook petition to have John Gallagher Jr guest star next.

Favorites: "Word of Your Body" "Touch Me" "I Don't Do Sadness/Blue Rain"

John Gallagher Jr. after winning a Tony for the role of Moritz, and giving one of the rapid and "awww"-inducing winning speeches in recent history. Jonathan Groff was also nominated, but not Lea Michele.

Other famous poster says everything about the musical you need to know.

I'm so going to look back at these shots in the future and cry. They're positively ethereal.

Suck it, Newsweek.

Don't be frustrated, Johnny! This is all leading to a Tony and a passionate fanbase.

Hanschen (Jonathan B Wright) and Ernst (Gideon Glick) in the one of the funnier and sexier scenes of SA

Anna Kendrick Nails Sondheim and Cabaret

Can't believe I haven't posted these vids of Anna Kendrick before.

A few months ago, I went all biography on Anna Kendrick in the wake of her Up-In-The-Air-Oscar breakout, and found - curiously - videos of her singing. Apparently she's in that Anne Hathaway way. Anna Kendrick started her acting career on Broadway (yay, stage origins!) at the age of eleven or something crazy precocious. A Tony nomination followed; so did performing at Carnegie Hall shows like "My Favorite Leading Ladies" alongside legends like Elaine Stritch and Bernadette Peters.

Anna sang "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" with the ladies from "Cabaret". She wears pigtails. She's the lead performer. As it turns out, she is a phenomenal stage actress. I could not stop watching the video.

Thank goodness for these little side recommendations, because it led me to the Other Great video of Anna Kendrick singing "Lades Who Lunch" from the movie Camp (2003). Again, the quality of her singing and acting just bowled me over. There's something very sharp and confident about her movements - it's calculated, but executed with wonderful aplomb.

IMO, the best video comment is also the most insightful. For me, It's always great to hear praise from an area expertise, and user "SuttaBro" is clearly adept in the study of musical theatricality:

"This performance absolutely stuns me. Sondheim in general is NEVER easy to sing and yet here you have a girl who is about 30 years too young to be playing this role, and she absolutely nails it. The tone of her voice, the facial expressions, the attitude - she completely captures the emotional mood of the song. I am beyond impressed."

Nails it. We have schmucky musicals like Nine starring fake-singer-actors, while real singers like Anna Kendrick fly under the radar? I am fully ready to see a musical adaptation starring Anne Hathaway and Anna Kendrick. Yessir, I am.