Beck Center for the Arts: Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening is one of my favorite musicals and the only musical I've stalked across the country, seeing the First National Tour seven times in four states (Cleveland, Ohio; Pittsburgh and Philadelphia [twice], Pennsylvania; Orange County, California; Detroit [twice], Michigan) and I was fortunate enough to score on-stage seats for one of the Philadelphia and both of the Detroit performances.

A compelling story about adolescent angst, love, and fitting in, Spring Awakening featured music by pop musician Duncan Shiek and book and lyrics by Steven Sater. While buying my first ticket to the first performance at PlayhouseSquare (incidentally, I don't think anything nearly as compelling has appeared since, though I have hopes for Memphis) the ticket seller warned me vaguely about the explicit nature of the show: In Pittsburgh I had a rather large woman stomp on my feet as she disgustedly left the theater before the first act was over.

It's true: Spring Awakening is not a show for everyone and along with explicit lyrics features brief nudity and a simulated sex scene. But it's also true that those most likely to be offended by these aspects are the ones that most need to benefit from the message (for a more detailed synopsis the Wikipedia page is pretty accurate). When I saw Spring Awakening on the schedule for this season at Lakewood's Beck Center for the Arts I was both intrigued and apprehensive: Wanting to see the ground-breaking musical again but afraid that my fond memories would be tainted by a watered down version, poor execution, or both.

Rachel and I headed over for tonight's performance and found neither to be the case. The Beck production, a collaboration with Baldwin-Wallace College's Musical Theatre Program, retains the full vigor of the original book. While the staging was considerably, but not completely, different (notable changes include removing the audience risers stage left and right and pushing the Adult Man and Adult Woman to the extreme corners of the stage apron for most of their dialog; notable similarities are the raised square platform upon which the majority of the cation takes place with the band behind) the story telling was no worse for the wear.

Beyond that it's hard for me to comment on  the blocking and choreography generally: there were a few humorous moments in the first national tour that were lost here (namely in between the two Mama Who  Bore Mes as well as within My Junk) but as a new production with a new creative team it is unreasonable to expect a duplicate, let alone a precise copy of the original, and I doubt that those not familiar with the First National Tour are likely to miss anything.

That is to say, this production under well-known Cleveland musical director Victoria Bussert's direction was satisfying. Audio issues plagued the first act rising to the level of distraction with uneven and wildly varying speech levels (at times leaving some talent with loud open mics, and other talent unmiced) and several of the females were almost naisly -- both seemed largely resolved by Act II.

Generally well cast, Kyra Kennedy's Wendla struck me as a little too mature (and less innocent) than one would expect from a character oblivious to the birds and the bees. James Penca, on the other hand, played Moritz with a more biting sarcasm than I'm used to, particularly in his musical numbers. While I'm still a bit undecided, I think the net was positive. I certainly noticed some nuances  in the dialogue, specifically among the boys, that I hadn't noticed before.
Adult Male (Scott Plate) all of the adult roles in the show -- as parents to youth as necessary and as school headmaster -- makes subtle changes for each of his roles, though the show would be well served if he hit the desk a bit less emphatically as it is a bit jarring.
 
All-in-all  it was an excellent performance and it seemed to be well received by a diverse audience, and I even observed several of the, shall we say, older audience members thoroughly enjoying some of the cruder references.
 
I've been needing a fill of Musical Theater and this was just the ticket. Through March 4th at the Beck Center for the Arts, 17801 Detroit Ave, Lakewood.
 
Lincoln

2010 In Review

So I'm a few days late here and December was really somewhere between blah and depressing (Having a property tax payment, real mortgage payment, and mortgage-esque loan repayment to my parents perpetually on the horizon tends to get me stressed late in the month, and early in the month I was just feeling kind of isolated. Visiting my parents, I think, was that month's one saving grace. But then, of course, the year was capped off by the news of my paternal grandfather passing.

But the rest of the year, as a sum, really was pretty awesome.

The Situational Awareness and Dating Story: Though I did quite a bit of dating in 2010, I am still single. Aside from practice, I've tried to get a better idea of who I'm looking for, and what that feels like. I have a pretty good idea, intellectually, and physically who I'm interested in but I'm finally honing in on what really hooks me.

Situational awareness is "being aware of what is happening [around] to understand how information, events, and [...] actions will impact your goals and objectives, both now and in the near future". For better or worse, I tend to mantain a fairly high level of situational awareness, and it's rarely lost.

Essentially (since I've tried writing and rewriting this paragraph in a way that both provides more detail and doens't sound demented) I'm most attracted to people who that je ne sais qoui is so strong that I loose all situational awareness and we are the only two people in the world--the type of person with whom a connection is so compelling that I can walk into a parked car while listening to her. Its a feeling I've experenced but a handful of times....Ok, so enough of that...

January, spent my first quality time in New York City, primarily Manhattan, including 3 nights at the famed Waldorf=Astoria (probably not something I'll do again, though) and a night at the Hilton Times Square (one of the best hotels of 2010 for both location and service). I attended New York City Ballet for the first time [I wish Cleveland had a professional ballet company], and heard the Chicago Symphony at Carnegie Hall [I was underwhelmed...but reminded of what a gem we have with both the Cleveland Orchestra and Severance Hall]. I discovered that if I ever leave Cleveland, the only other city I can imagine living in is New York--I love the mass transit, walkability, energy, and immense culture. I'd love to have a pied-a-terre in Manhattan some day, but I don't know that I'd permanently leave Cleveland.

We started the year strong in a musical theatre sense with both the standard Phantom of the Opera and the new Next To Normal, but I didn't really fall in love with any of the other musicals I saw in 2010.

Chasing a musical that I love on several levels, I saw Spring Awakening in Detroit, both the matinee and evening performance from the on stage seats on the same day-- the night before leaving an Akron Symphony concert at about 10pm and arriving at the hotel at 1am, and needing to be at a project in Columbus for 9am the next day. These were the 7th and 8th times I've seen that show in the 4th state, making it the show I've seen the greatest number of times without having any creative involvement.

I went back to Minnesota and had an interesting experience with the Minnesota Orchestra, along with visiting the Walker Art Center for my 2nd time -- It is one of a handful of museums outside of Cleveland that I'd make a point to visit again (the only other that comes to mind is the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in NYC)

I found myself back in New York for a weekend mid-year with just a handful of days notice, courtesy of PlayhouseSquare...and I attended the Tony Awards. And almost tripped Scarlett Johansson twice.

For the Cleveland Museum of Art's Summer Solstice, my aforementioned friend and I participated in and won a photo scavenger hunt, making it one of the most memorable and fun nights to date. I almost went in for a kiss at the end of the night*. I chickened out. I think I'll regret that for a while. Meanwhile, more of the collection has been installed and the remaining pieces of the puzzle are well under way. I continue to be a proud member of this fantastic and free resource.

Over the summer I made my way to my maternal grandparents in St. Ignace, Michigan which combined with Mackinac Island is an amazingly picturesque corner of the world and a nice way to get away from that hustle and bustle--but yet again, had to drive to Columbus for a project. I did a lot of driving to Columbus (and greater Pittsburgh) for work this year; I'm not particularly fond of either city, but I also keep forgetting to visit the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh [I swear it's on my list].

The only truly "new city" from this year was Jacksonville, Florida wherein I saw the "far" end of Interstate 10 -- the other end of which is near and no so dear in California, and touched the water of the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. Compared to the wonderful energy and compactness of New York City, Jacksonville disappointed me with so/so culture and urban sprawl second only to Southern California.

September saw Cleveland Public Theatre's Pandemonium benefit party where, in one of the more disappointing events of the year the woman I had invited for a first "date" canceled with what would be the most creative excuse I've ever been given, had it not unfortunately, been true.

In October, I visited Las Vegas where I served as an excuse for my dad to avoid a baby shower, having previously seen Cirque du Soliel's O [wonderful] and Zumanity [**] on my own, my dad and I attended Ka, which ranks as one of the most technically captivating bits of live entertainment I've seen, and a great use of technology.

Later in October, I attended Heights Arts's 10th anniversary concert and party...as everything Heights Arts does, thoroughly enjoyable, though 2 glasses of pinot grigio might have been a glass too many and I finished the night with a silent auction bidding war that I hadn't planned on getting involved with. But it is for a good cause.

Of course, throughout the year in Cleveland there were almost countless performances at...

...Cleveland Play House (Bill W. and Dr. Bob being the most moving drama of the year, The 39 Steps being one of the funniest),

...The Cleveland Orchestra (wherein I haven't missed a performance of a program at Severance Hall since the beginning of the 09-10 season, and only missed two weekends of the Blossom season.) If I was going to choose one concert from 2010 -- it is tough. I've enjoyed most of them, though Ashkenezy's Pictures at an Exhibition and Mahler's Symphony No. 1 (combined with Franklin Cohen playing Neilsen's Clarinet Concerto) both spring to mind.

...The Cleveland Institute of Music continues to amaze with a seemingly endless (except at the holidays and summer) menu of free concerts by amazingly talented students and faculty. Quite possibly one of the most delightful recitals I've heard, was violinist Diana Cohen's Second Master of Music recital.

...If I were to list every other organization that made a mark on my 2010, I'd invariably leave a few out...and this post is already long enough.

Oh, and I've continued studying the violin. It's a long and steep hill, but I'm making progress. I'm getting pretty good at reading music, my tone is improving, but I still have a way to go with rythm.

Suffice it to say, it turns out 2010 wasn't that bad. Let's see if 2011 can beat it!

Lincoln
*- Excluding relatives, there have been exactly 0 thus far. Hey, I'm socially conservative.
*- Not really for me. Hey, I'm socially conservative.

I am increasingly convinced...

...that a significant portion of my sanity may be found in a hotel's Lost and Found. The question is, of course, which hotel?

After Saturday night's concert in Akron I drove a little over three hours to Detroit, checking in at just past 1 AM with the help of a slightly confused desk clerk.

My plan had been to sleep in late before catching both the matinee and evening performances of Spring Awakening at the Fisher Theater: In hindsight it would have undoubtedly been wiser to get to my own bed at a reasonable time and then wake up earlier to drive to Detroit this morning. C'est la vie. I made the plan to stay overnight before the end of April and beginning of May turned into "Lincoln-Covers-the-Midwest-then-gets-pre-birthday-visit-from-Dad" and never bothered reevaluating them until it would have been too late to properly* cancel the reservation.

Sleeping in was the first part of that plan that was foiled: I woke up to the sound of rain on the hotel room's bay window [my first encounter with a bay window in a hotel room, I believe], but not the pleasant tap-tap-tap: More along the lines of rapid automatic weapon fire.

Somewhat sleep deprived I make my way to the theatre for the matinee--but first deposit several checks at a nearby Bank of Ameria ATM**--; a group of people was split across several locations on stage, and since I was seated next to one of those people I offered to swap seats so that they could be more closely grouped; by sheer coincidence I wound up in SA13, the same seat I was in when I first discovered the magic of on-stage seating for Spring Awakening in Philadelphia. This performance didn't feel like it had quite the energy, and I was surprised by how empty (and, by average age, old) the house was: I noticed a distracting slapback off of the rear wall that I've never heard in any other venues, but those relatively minor comments didn't keep it from being a worthwhile performance. I'm ashamed to admit that I did almost drift off to sleep on at least two occasions before I caught myself.

After the performance I made my way to Cuisine -- yes, the name of the restaurant is Cuisine -- and had a Cesar Salad (good, plenty of dressing); the Roasted Duck (I think this is the first time I've tried Duck--and I'm not sure I need to do it again) finished with ice cream. Despite the languid pace of service, which I suspect was intentional since I had told the staff I was killing "a couple hours" and was otherwise quite attentive, once I was settled up ($56.00 including tip and without alcohol making it one of my more expensive meals for one) I still had about 70 minutes to kill before the house opened for the evening performance.

In an attempt to nurse a growing headache, I bought some Advil and Mountain Dew from the pharmacy across the hallway from the theater -- from quite possibly the most customer-focused retail clerk I've met this decade, going out of her way to point out cheaper options and then diging out a coupon for the product I did buy -- I retired to my car planning on napping. The near-constant symphony of chirping car horns announcing the arrival of ushers quickly ended that dream.

For the evening's performance I was seated in the second row stage left: The violist and violinist (doubling 2nd guitar) were immediately behind me hidden from the view of most of the audience, with percussion directly in front of me, followed stage left to right by the upright bass, guitar, cello, and keyboard/music director. As a fan of the violin family of instruments who didn't notice the violin on stage until about 4 performances in it was great to hear both the violin and viola so clearly. Being in the midst of the orchestra, there were times when the vocals got lost, but it was nonetheless beautiful music and there were sounds that I had never noticed--either in live performance or listening to the original cast recording.

The slapback that distracted me for much of the first performance was nearly nonexistent from this seat, and I missed being kicked in the face during Totally Fu--ed by what seemed like mere inches: The onstage experience is nothing if not immerse.

Following the end of the performance I returned to my car and embarked on another three and a half hour late night drive: This time to Columbus, marking my sixth hotel in the past three weeks, and once again encountering a slightly confused desk clerk just past 1AM. Unfortunately, I do not have the leisure of sleeping in tomorrow--er--this morning.

If you happen to know where my sanity may be found, please let me know or provide it with forwarding information.

Lincoln
* - As a HHonors "Diamond VIP", I've unintentionally discovered that I can get away with a lot of things that you aren't allowed to do. I probably could have called the Diamond Desk and weaseled a cancellation without penalty, but I didn't feel that was the ethically proper course of action to take.

** - It's funny: Bank of America has always been "my" bank. They display no loyalty to me, but I feel a loyalty to them such that despite not having a single branch or deposit-accepting ATM in Ohio, I continue to use them. Why? I love their online banking, there is a relatively convenient withdrawal-only ATM, and it seems that everywhere outside of Ohio that I find myself has a BofA branch. And I'm too lazy to move my accounts.

Orange County: Spring Awakeining [Revised/Final]

I originally wrote this sitting on the floor of LAX waiting for my flight home to Cleveland via Houston after seeing Spring Awakening. Again. With my Mom.

This was my 6th time in my 3rd state for this show, making it one of few musicals I've seen more than once. When I first bought my ticket for the show in Cleveland I knew nothing of it, and had a box office sales rep try talking me out of it including the phrase "a very, extremely, explicit show".

I saw the show that first time, fell for the music (including some profane titles, let alone lyrics) and it touched me. I saw it again in Cleveland, then once in Pittsburgh, twice in Philadelphia (including once on stage in SA13 -- the best seat in the house), and now once in California.

There were some cast changes since the last time I saw this tour and it felt a little weird -- the Adult Man, in particular caught me off guard... not that it was bad, but kind of like when you put on a new pair of shoes after wearing your familiar pair and it just doesn't seem quite right.

I'll post more later, but my flight is boarding now.

My one huge complaint about this stop was the show seemed to be lacking the energy I've found previously -- maybe it was the weeknight performance, the fact that it was only the 3rd show at this venue, or it could even be California's energy conservation regulations -- but while energetic, it didn't hit the mark. In fact, one of my Mom's comments (the first time she's seen the show) was that it "didn't quite seem to have the energy that it would take to overcome the darkness".

But she also called it "the most depressing thing she's ever seen" -- something I can't agree with... but then again, I still think the line "we've all got our junk and my junk is you" is one of the most romantic lyrics I've ever heard.

The show drew more laughs at more lines for a longer period of time than I've noticed in any of the other cities I've seen the show in. There were some subtle differences -- like I don't think I've ever noticed the cigarette actually being lit.

I was in BB8, she was in BB9, second row house right (stage left) of center which was almost as intimate as the onstage seats--we nearly got hit by a flying reed during the scene leading to All that is known--I loved it, but it was probably a little too close for a first timer to really get a feel for the show.

Lincoln