Starring Jonathan Groff and featuring Jonathan Groff's saliva

I saw Spring Awakening on Broadway a little over a year ago and wasn't bowled-over impressed. However, I do remember loving the performances and some of the songs---not all. And of course I got the soundtrack right after I saw it, just in case I missed something. After giving it a listen, I still wasn't that impressed. I found the show totally overrated. And yet I still had so much respect for the actors, some of whom are younger and still in high school.

Anyway. It's been a year now, and I decided it was time to give it another chance.

My roommate and I trekked to Times Square this morning at 7:30. It was so cold, our two blankets failed to keep us warm. Our feet became blocks of ice. We could barely move our limbs and faces. (Yet I ended up dragging myself to McDonald's a few blocks over and bought for us three hash browns, two apple pies and 1 steaming hot cup of coff-pee.)

It was so cold. Let me reiterate this. It was so cold.

We waited for two and a half hours with our asses molded to the frigid New York City sidewalk. At 10am, we purchased four tickets for $30 each. Success.

So, anyway, on to what I thought of the show tonight: I really, really liked it. Some of the music still bored me a little...I'm personally not a big fan of "Whispering," "Those You've Known," "My Junk," or "The Guilty Ones." However, songs that stood out for me this time---that didn't at all last time---were "And Then There Were None," "All That's Known," and "Touch Me." Favorites that remained favorites? "Mama Who Bore Me" (both), "Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind" and "Totally Fucked." Love those. Love those!

Other than the new actors portraying the adult characters, new actors, both named Blake, included Blake Bashoff as Moritz---who had frightening big hair to fill, as he is the first actor to play Moritz after Tony-winner John Gallagher, Jr.---and Blake Daniel, who portrayed Ernst. I thought that both were great singers and exciting to watch. However, and maybe this is because John Gallagher, Jr. seriously cemented the personality and physicality of Moritz during his long run, I felt that Blake Bashoff's Moritz was seemingly an imitation of Gallagher's. I quickly forgot about this, though. His voice is fantastic and his rendition of "Don't Do Sadness" was passionate, aggressive and desperate. And Blake Daniel? His sweet, darling singing voice was boyish and---I'll say it---adorable. I hope he stays in the production for a while. He was wonderful! I fell for him, no lie.


Let's talk about the most surprising aspect of the production: the amount of saliva that lead actor Jonathan Groff (Melchior) sprayed through the course of the performance. It was REALLY IMPRESSIVE, and they should have labeled the first two rows as the Spring Awakening Splash Zone. I mean really, it was intense. But props to him. His performance seemed more driven than a year ago, and it's a relief to know that these actors don't tire easily of the characters that they have to portray 8 times a week. I don't think I could do it.

Other standouts: Skylar Astin's solo in "Touch Me," Skylar Astin's two huge curls, Blake Daniel and Jonathan B. Wright's hilarious-yet-touching (no pun intended) duet in "The Word of Your Body (Reprise)," and Brian Charles Johnson whenever he sings.

One irk: the songs are so "rock" that sometimes I had no idea what was going on. Songs in other musicals---more "traditional-style" musicals, like Grease and Wicked---feature the characters doing something onstage and literally moving the plot along. However, Spring Awakening functions more like a rock concert. Mike stands and everything. And some solos were just so poetic and the characters so stationary that I was totally lost in what they were trying to tell me by singing the song.

But anyway. Go see it. Really. It's bold and touching and everything that everyone says it is.

Picture credits: AOL CDN, TheaterMania.com