“Spring Awakening” eye-opening coming of age musical at the Bushnell

It is hard to imagine that the musical “Spring Awakening” playing at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts through Sunday, was based on a play written in 1891 about incest, rape, sadism, homosexuality, suicide, and adolescent love.
What a shock it must have been then in Victorian Germany, because it’s still very edgy today, with nudity and some profanity — needless to say, not for the kids.
The original play was written by Frank Wedekind who was born in San Francisco in 1864 to a young actress and singer, and a much older father who was a physician and political radical. The family moved to Germany where Wedekind became a favorite of the bohemian set, writing “Spring Awakening” when he was only 27 years old.
In the musical the story line follows the play closely with melodic, rock, and pop music, written by Duncan Shiek, with the book and fine lyrics by Steven Sater.
The story is set in a German boys’ school where one boy, the delicate Moritz, played by Taylor Trensch (looking very Edward Scissorhand-like in the first act and rather “Eraserheadish” by Act II) is being crushed under the weight of the rigid, school system and the unyielding, heartless society and “parent-ocracy.”
It’s a world of dog-eat-dog, where the boys are forced to conform or die trying, and the girls are kept ignorant of the facts of life, with dire consequences for everyone.
Melchior, played with indignant curiosity by Jake Epstein, in the song “All That’s Known” sings:
“Thought is suspect and money is the idol. And nothing’s okay unless it is scripted in their Bible.”
He also sings, “It’s a bitch of a living. And living in your head.”
He falls in love with naïve Wendia, played by Christy Altomare, who has a lovely, sweet voice.
She says to Melchior, “What serves each of us best serves all of us best.”
The ensemble of actors all have terrific voices, and sing quite well throughout, but their dancing isn’t quite up to the same level, and most don’t live up to the excellent angular modern dance movements by the award-winning choreographer Bill T. Jones.
At one point I thought they were all auditioning for the television show “American Idol,” so I wasn’t too surprised to learn that Isle was played by “Canadian Idol” finalist Steffi D.
Bad boy Hanschen played by Andy Mientus was a slippery operator, seducing the gullible Ernst, played by Ben Fankhauser.
Some of the boy’s hairstyles were asymmetrical, but this musical would have been even better served, and closer to the heart and soul of the original radical play, with some really wild existential costumes in exuberant punk-rock edginess.
The costumes by Susan Helftery are all bland as bland can be, with a couple stockings rolled down here and there.
The boys are fine in their school uniforms, but why is sexy Ilse wearing a baggy oversized man’s shirt in one scene, and then a shapeless green dress three sizes too big? Not too attractive for a character that is supposed to be a bad girl. And all the girls are wearing really dull pedestrian dresses that could have been so much more interesting.
There are tears and heartache on display by the actors, but musicals have a tendency to cause an emotional disconnect from the interaction, because of the break in the action to sing to the audience, and “Spring Awakening” is no exception.
Still, the music is really gorgeous, such as the beautiful “The Word and Your Body,” “I Believe,” and “The Song of Purple Summer,” giving hope that change and love are possible in this bleak and predictable world.

SPRING AWAKENING

3 Stars
Theater: The William H. Mortensen Hall at the Bushnell Memorial Center
Location: 166 Capitol Ave. Hartford
Production: Music by Duncan Shiek. Book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Directed by Michael Mayer. Choreography by Bill T. Jones. Music director Kimberly Grigsby. Set design by Christine Jones. Costume design by Susan Helftery. Lighting design by Kevin Adams. Sound design by Brian Ronan.
Running time: 2 ½ hours including one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinee performances Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m., through Sunday Feb. 28.
Tickets: From $15 to $72. Call 860-987-5900 or visit their website at www.bushnell.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Jake Epstein … Melchior
Taylor Trensch … Moritz
Christy Altomare … Wendia
Steffi D … Ilse
Ben Fankhauser … Ernst
Anthony Lee Media … Otto
Andy Mientus … Hanschen
Sarah Hunt … Martha
Gabrielle Garza … Anna
Kimiko Glenn … Thea
Matt Shingledecker … Georg