A Midwest Spring Awakening

This is a very exciting development. On November 27, Theatre Wit will debut an original staging of Duncan Sheik’s 2007 Best Musical Tony Winner, Spring Awakening. This is not the first time Chicago has seen Spring Awakening; the tour made a stop here earlier this year. However, considering that tours are generally weaker interpretations of the original Broadway production (which I was lucky enough to see & love in previews), this news wasn’t as exciting as a fresh, new production cast with generally unknown talents.

The Players



As soon as I saw Aja Wiltshire’s picture in TimeOut, I recognized her from somewhere. Then I remembered: she played Alice in Closer at Aston Rep. This was a long time ago I was not overall impressed with the production, but I do remember thinking she was a good actress with a clean accent, but seemed miscast. I also remember that a lot of her lilts and tones were very reminiscent of Natalie Portman’s performance in the movie (I know this because I have seen that an embarrassing number of times). This makes me nervous because Spring Awakening is so accessible and easily able to emulate, even without intention. Aja Wiltshire does not remind me at all of Lea Michele (whom I’ve been a fan of since she was a wee one in Ragtime), so I hope her performance is a completely independent interpretation. She has good stage presence & is a good actress, so I am excited to see hopefully see her perform under a director who will give her more artistic license.

The Ensemble

Spring Awakening’s greatest appeal to me is that it is a blank-slate artistically with so much potential to be re-imagined depending on the theatre company. This is a show that can shock the senses with the lights of a huge Broadway house, or be presented just as well with nothing but the soulful creativity of a community theatre. The message of the dangers that result from withholding restricting applicable sexual knowledge from our children is not all that gripping in the Teen Mom reality of our current world. This is not a message-driven musical, but one that depends entirely on artistic perspective and quality vocals. From their substantial audition pool, I am confident that the vocals will not disappoint. As for the artistic interpretation, I hope they tell this story with a cohesive style & aesthetics that are as bright & fresh as this new cast.

The Original Broadway Company

Props to fellow Delawarean John Gallagher, Jr.  
Best Supporting Actor Tony for Spring Awakening