Performing arts opens strong with "Spring Awakening"
By Steve Drum
SCAD’s Performing Arts Department gives an impassioned and moving performance in this week’s showing of the rock musical “Spring Awakening” at the Lucas Theatre.
Adapted from an 1891 German play once banned for its provocative storyline, this 19th-century boarding school sizzles with modern angst and sexuality.
Dealing frankly with abortion, incest and suicide, the material is a bold choice for SCAD’s school-sanctioned show. But the cast has more than risen to the challenge of the content.
These kids are (quite literally) raging with hormones. Writhing on the stage and tearing at their uniforms, the characters are plagued with questions of desire and existence that no adult seems courageous enough to answer.
These young actors handle the tension beautifully, lending a mature understanding to the terrors of adolescent anxiety.
The company’s vocals are near-perfect, with fourth-year Galyana Castillo, second-year Lana Scott and fourth-year Max Reinhardsen putting in some particularly strong performances.
As Wendla, first-year Anne-Marie Trabolsi lets some of her scenes get away from her. But when she opens her mouth to sing, she is the one to watch, finding a heartbreaking intimacy that only deepens as Wendla’s stakes rise through the show’s second act.
As her star-crossed lover, Melchior, fourth-year Dylan Travers’ performance can suffer from the opposite problem, sometimes disappearing from his voice when a song asks for him to take center stage. Travers finds his footing as well by the end of the second act, however, connecting his singing to the complexity of character he brings to all of his scenes.
The production’s technical elements got a little unwieldy on opening night — some overblown sound design and some underwhelming choreography.
Just like the lesson in its story, the bravest moments of this show come when it simply allows its characters’ voices to be heard.
“Spring Awakening” is playing March 3 at 8 p.m. and March 4 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20 general admission; $15 with senior, student or military ID; $5 with valid SCAD ID.
To reserve tickets and for more information, call the Savannah Box Office at 912-525-5050.
