History Theatre / SpringAwakening

In 2015 the show was revived when prominent deaf Theater Company ''Deaf West'' transferred their production to Broadway. This version, directed by Michael Arden, made several of the characters deaf and incorporated American Sign Language into the dialogue and choreography. This created an AlternateShowInterpretation. The production had several Deaf performers and included Ali Stoker, the first person in a wheelchair to perform on Broadway.

This show provides examples of:

''Spring Awakening'' was originally a play written by Frank Wedekind in 1891, and the Broadway musical [[AllMusicalsAreAdaptations based on said play]] was written in the 21st century. The musical features music by Duncan Sheik and lyrics and book by Steven Sater. The original play was very controversial to audiences of that time period due to explicit sexual content, and didn't have its first production until 1906 in Germany. It wasn't introduced to the United States until 1917, when it premiered in New York City. It was nearly shut down due to it being a "pornographic work." The musical version premiered in New York off-Broadway in May of 2006. It then moved to Broadway in December 2006, and became a sensation much as ''{{RENT}}'' did in TheNineties. It closed January 19, 2009, after 888 shows.

In 2015 the show was revived when prominent deaf Theater Company ''Deaf West'' transferred their production to Broadway. This version, directed by Michael Arden, made several of the characters deaf and incorporated American Sign Language into the dialogue and choreography. This created an AlternateShowInterpretation (see YMMV). The production had several Deaf performers and included Ali Stoker, the first person in a wheelchair to perform on Broadway.

Melchior and Wendla [[spoiler: have a sexual encounter (the consent of which is ambiguous), and Wendla becomes pregnant. Whoops.]] Moritz is disgusted with his sexual feelings, which distract him from his schoolwork, causing him [[spoiler: to fail school and disappoint his parents who he can't turn to. He ends up committing suicide. Wendla's mother takes her to have an abortion, which Wendla does not survive.]] Two characters, Hanschen and Ernst, discover their homosexuality with one another. And, to top it off, two female characters, Martha and Ilse, are sexually and physically abused by their fathers.

* AdultsAreUseless: Almost everything any adult does is to the detriment of one of the teenagers. The only ones who may not qualify are the piano teacher and Hanschen's father.
* AbusiveParents: Martha's, Ilse's, and Moritz's.
* ActingForTwo: Well, a lot more than just two. All of the adults in the show are played by just two actors, The Adult Men and The Adult Women.

* AgeAppropriateAngst

* AllMenArePerverts: Or maybe it's just a teenage thing...
** [[AllWomenAreLustful The young ladies have plenty of perviness to go around.]]
* AluminumChristmasTrees: In the original productions, the punk rock-esque hairstyles some of the boys sported are assumed by many to be a result of the show's AnachronismStew, but in fact, [[WordOfGod the director]] claims that they were inspired by some actual hairstyles in photos from the era.

* AnachronismStew: Though still set in 19th century Germany, the lyrics to the musical are in a very modern idiom.
** When a character takes out their microphone and sings, they are said to be in their own "Song World", not in 19th century Germany anymore but in a more modern world. Steven Sater uses this to explain the many topics in the show are still very much relevant to the youth of today: death, rape, sexuality, adolescent love, authority and places in society, hence why Hanschen references turning his stereo on in "My Junk," and the Workshop's version of "The Bitch of Living" mentioned wearing jeans, although the characters singing it where smartly buttoned into their stiff school uniforms.

* AnimeHair: Moritz.
* AntiHero: Melchior.

** BigYes: Following "Totally Fucked", when Melchior is asked [[spoiler: if he wrote the essay believed to have pushed Moritz over the edge]].
* BiTheWay: Hanschen.

* BlahBlahBlah: A lengthy section of "Totally Fucked."
* {{Bowdlerise}}: When the cast performed a medley at the Tony Awards, several lyrics to "The Bitch of Living" were changed to please CBS. Including, among others, "nothing but your hand" to "getting what you can" and "breasts" to "chest". The company then [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the censorship in the "Totally Fucked" portion by [[FingerOnLips censoring themselves]] on the words "ass" and "fucked". ([[Theatre/ForbiddenBroadway "Totally Bleeped,"]] indeed.) When the show performed another medley on ''Good Morning America'', part of "Totally Fucked" was also performed, but this time with the phrase "totally fucked" changed to "totally stuck" and "kiss your sorry ass goodbye" as "kiss your sorry life goodbye".

* BreakTheCutie: Everyone, but especially Wendla and Moritz.

* ClusterFBomb: [[CaptainObvious "Totally Fucked"]].

* DarkReprise: The penultimate song in the musical, "Those You've Known", which is a direct nod to Melchior's first song "All That's Known" at the very start of the musical. "Those You've Known" features reprises from "All That's Known" and "I Believe".

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Hanschen, accompanying the idea of ''murdering'' a girl, along with raping her. Yikes.
** The murder is kind of compulsory, though, given he's masturbating to a depiction of [[Theatre/{{Othello}} Desdemona]].
* DeathBySex
* DeathByNewberyMedal: Or, in this case, by Tony Award.
* DeliveryStork: Frau Bergmann is still trying to use this story with sixteen-year-old Wendla, who becomes frustrated and insists her mother finally explain to her what ''really'' happens. She doesn't, and [[TearJerker this ends very, VERY badly.]]

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Moritz]]
* DrFeelgood: In the original play, this leads to [[spoiler: Wendla's death by abortion pills.]]

* DysfunctionJunction: Big time.
* TheFourLoves: Martha, perhaps? She is shown to have a crush on Moritz, as mentioned during the start of the musical (as well in the original play), despite the rest of her friends going completely goo-goo over the radical that is Melchior Gabor.
* GhostSong: "Those You've Known", in which [[spoiler: Wendla and Moritz appear to Melchior as spirits, to reassure him.]]

*** Sater and Sheik composed two songs for the graveyard scenes before "Those You've Known". Their titles were "Clouds Will Drift Away" and "Blue-Mirror Night (Reprise)"
* GriefSong: "Left Behind."
* IAmSong: "All That's Known."
* InnocenceLost: Martha.
* IntercourseWithYou: "Touch Me."
* IrrelevantActOpener: The cut song, "There Once Was a Pirate", it only seen performed in the Off-Broadway run.
* IWantSong: "Mama Who Bore Me" and "Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)".
** "All That's Known", again. And "Touch Me" is most ''definitely'' about wanting sex.
* LyricalDissonance: At least half of the musical, including "The Bitch of Living" and "Totally Fucked."

* LoveHurts

* MissConception
* MindScrew: Budapest's version of said musical garnered a collective "what the fuck?!" from fans with their extreme and rather unnecessary alteration to the blocking/choreography/stage design that already existed. One rather creepy example is the new design of "The Dark I Know Well", leading to a very disturbing scene that is usually left to the audience's imagination.
** Ilse is seen carrying a plastic baby with her, Moritz and Ilse appear to have sex, The Song of Purple Summer is sung by the ensemble whilst wearing sauna-like towels, The Bitch of Living's Latin class' wooden chairs are instead neon-coloured cubes (of course) and Georg actually gets up close and personal with his piano teacher who, in this version, is portrayed by an elderly woman.
** [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And their microphones are taped to their foreheads.]]

* MinorCharacterMajorSong: Martha is a minor character whose only major song is "The Dark I Know Well," a duet with Ilse about their physically [[spoiler: and sexually]] {{Abusive Parent}}s. The actresses frequently [[TearJerker get thanked by fans who were also abuse victims]].
* MrFanservice: Well, since this ''is'' an angsty rock musical marketed to teens, and the majority of the cast was under twenty-five (not including the Adult Man and Woman) the males are particularly popular amongst the female fans, although Moritz and Melchior divided most of the fandom into two separate camps.

* MusicalWorldHypotheses: Mostly All in Their Heads for solo numbers, though group songs seem to make use of the Adaptation Hypothesis.
* NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization: [[spoiler:Wendla]], in the musical. See AntiHero above.
* OminousLatinChanting: At the beginning, background, and end of "All That's Known".
** This is a neat variation on the usual OminousLatinChanting: they're chanting a passage from ''Literature/TheAeneid'' as part of a Latin class.

* RapeAndRevenge: [[spoiler: Suggested as Martha's desire in one of the Vienna productions. During ''The Dark I Know Well'', Martha is shown literally overshadowed by the sinister silhouette of her father, finally seizing a pillow and stabbing it with a knife as Ilse helps her. The pillow begins to bleed. It's popular fanon that Martha actually manages this outside of the time frame of the play, mostly because she's left such a [[TheWoobie woobie]].]]
* SanitySlippageSong: "Don't Do Sadness".

* SomewhereSong: "My Junk."
* TheTalk: "In order for a woman to conceive a child... she must... love her husband, love him... as she can love only him! With her whole... heart! There, now you know everything."
** Which leads to the heartbreaking scene where [[spoiler: Wendla and her mother learn Wendla is pregnant, and Wendla doesn't understand how it could have happened as she isn't married. The worst thing is that this and only this seems to cause her mother distress even as she shrugs off all the blame.]]

* TeensAreShort: The teenage characters are all supposed to be 13-15 years old, but in reality it's rarely feasible for actors near that age range to be hired, particularly with the amount of sexual content in the show. To disguise this they make sure the majority are short in comparison to the adult actors.

* TeenPregnancy: [[spoiler: Wendla.]]

* UnwantedHarem: Melchior, of course.

** MARTHA. What happens to her after "The Dark I Know Well," for God's sake?
*** She attends Moritz' funeral, for one thing.

* YouAreNotAlone: [[spoiler: Melchior discovered Wendla's grave (who had died from a botched abortion while Melchior was at reform school, because he got her pregnant and was framed for his best friend Moritz's suicide) and decides his life is no longer worth living. He is visited by Wendla and Moritz, and all three sing "Those You've Known." Melchior ends the musical with renewed hope, since his loved ones are not as far as he once thought.]]

* In the original play, [[spoiler:Melchior rapes Wendla]]. The musical presents it as QuestionableConsent and even [[RomanticizedAbuse romanticizes]] the scene.

** During the Ham4Ham performance of "Totally Fucked", original cast member Jonathan Groff and revival cast members Andy Mientus and Krysta Rodriguez, who were brought in allegedly because Groff didn't want to curse in public in front of children, censored the word "fucked" by signing rather than singing it. Averted with them outright singing "You can kiss your sorry ass goodbye," later to the crowd's laughter.

In 2015 the show was revived when prominent deaf Theater Company ''Deaf West'' transferred their production to Broadway. This version, directed by Michael Arden, made several of the characters deaf and incorporated American Sign Language into the dialogue and choreography. This created an AlternateShowInterpretation (see YMMV). The production had several deaf performers and included Ali Stoker, the first person in a wheelchair to perform on Broadway.

** [[spoiler: "Here rests in God, Wendl- Born- Died- Of... Anemia?!?"]]

* WhamLine: The 2015 revival manages a very unique one. [[spoiler: Throughout the entire play, Wendla has been "speaking" through another girl who plays her audible voice as she signs her dialog. In the scene when she realizes that she got pregnant because she didn't know what sex was (or what it can lead to), she screams at her mother for not telling her. The wham comes with the fact that Wendla is so incensed that her "voice" goes quiet and it's actually the deaf actress speaking aloud. Though the line itself (My God! Why didn't you tell me everything?!) may be hard to understand if you are not used to hearing a deaf person speaking, the importance is conveyed by the fact that she ''is'' speaking aloud.]]

* Whamline: The 2015 revival manages a very unique one. [[spoiler: Throughout the entire play, Wendla has been "speaking" through another girl who plays her audible voice as she signs her dialog. In the scene when she realizes that she got pregnant because she didn't know what sex was (or what it can lead to), she screams at her mother for not telling her. The wham comes with the fact that Wendla is so incensed that her "voice" goes quiet and it's actually the deaf actress speaking aloud. Though the line itself (My God! Why didn't you tell me everything?!) may be hard to understand if you are not used to hearing a deaf person speaking, the importance is conveyed by the fact that she ''is'' speaking aloud.]]

* ClusterFBomb: [[CaptainObvious "Totally Fucked"]]
* CounterpointDuet: Moritz and Ilse's "Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind".

* GriefSong: "Left Behind".

* LoveHurts.

* SomewhereSong: "My Junk".

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6a01240b840df7860e01240b9d33ea860e-500pi_6304.jpg]]

** During the Ham4Ham performance of "Totally Fucked" with original cast member Jonathan Groff and revival cast members Andy Mientus and Krysta Rodriguez, who were brought in allegedly because Groff didn't want to curse in public in front of children, censored the word "fucked" by signing rather than singing it. Averted with them outright singing "You can kiss your sorry ass goodbye," later to the crowd's laughter.

''Spring Awakening'' was originally a play written by Frank Wedekind in 1891, and the Broadway musical [[AllMusicalsAreAdaptations based on said play]] was written in the 21st century. The musical features music by Duncan Sheik and lyrics and book by Steven Sater. The original play was very controversial to audiences of that time period due to explicit sexual content, and didn't have its first production until 1906 in Germany. It wasn't introduced to the United States until 1917, when it premiered in New York City. It was nearly shut down due to it being a "pornographic work." The musical version premiered in New York off-Broadway in May of 2006. It then moved to Broadway in December 2006, and became a sensation much as ''{{RENT}}'' did in TheNineties. However, its closing date was January 19, 2009, after 888 shows; though it was revived in 2015.

''Spring Awakening'' was originally a play written by Frank Wedekind in 1891, and the Broadway musical [[AllMusicalsAreAdaptations based on said play]] was written in the 21st century. The musical features music by Duncan Sheik and lyrics and book by Steven Sater. The original play was very controversial to audiences of that time period due to explicit sexual content, and didn't have its first production until 1906 in Germany. It wasn't introduced to the United States until 1917, when it premiered in New York City. It was nearly shut down due to it being a "pornographic work." The musical version premiered in New York off-Broadway in May of 2006. It then moved to Broadway in December 2006, and became a sensation much as ''{{RENT}}'' did in TheNineties. However, its closing date was January 19, 2009, after 888 shows.

--'''Melchior.''' [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority "All That's Known,"]] [[ADateWithRosiePalms "The Bitch of Living,"]] [[MeaningfulEcho "Those You've Known"]]

* DoubleEntendre: The song "My Junk" sounds like a rather sweet innocent bouncy song about two teenagers falling in love, even though others don't think they're cool... that is until [[spoiler: you find out that the song is actually just about the joys of masturbation.]]

* [[spoiler: TeenPregnancy]]: Wendla.
* TrailBalloonQuestion: Moritz tries to ask his father what would happen, "hypothetically speaking," if he failed his exams. His father immediately sees through it.

* [[spoiler:DeathBySex]]
* [[spoiler:DeathByNewberyMedal: Or, in this case, by Tony Award.]]

** Also, Ilse is seen carrying a plastic baby with her, Moritz and Ilse appear to have sex, The Song of Purple Summer is sung by the ensemble whilst wearing sauna-like towels, The Bitch of Living's Latin class' wooden chairs are instead neon-coloured cubes (of course) and Georg actually gets up close and personal with his piano teacher who, in this version, is portrayed by an elderly woman.

** "Mirror-Blue Night" pretty much evokes a MindScrew reaction the first time you see it. The whole musical is not at all literal, and kinda makes you think on its themes.

* YouAreNotAlone: "Those You've Known."

In other words, HilarityEnsues. Many fans will admit the music is better than the story, as the exploration of teenage sexuality and uncertainty [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny might seem like old hat today]]. (Keep in mind, though, that the play was a groundbreaking example of modern drama and one of the first to address such issues.)

* ActingForTwo: Well, a lot more than just two. The "Adult Woman" will play Melchior's mother, Wendla's mother, Fraulein Knuppeldik, Georg's piano teacher etc. "Adult Man" will play Hanschen's father, Moritz's father, Herr Knochenbruch, Melchior's father and the teacher of the boy's Latin class; Herr Sonnenstich.

* ActingForTwo: Well, a lot more than just two. The "Adult Woman" will play Melchior's mother, Wendla's mother, Fraulein Knuppeldik, Georg's piano teacher etcetera. "Adult Man" will play Hanschen's father, Moritz's father, Herr Knochenbruch, Melchior's father and the teacher of the boy's Latin class; Herr Sonnenstich.

* DawsonCasting: A necessity, given the young age of the characters and the subject matter.

->"''You watch me, Just watch me,''
->''I'm calling. I'm calling, and one day all will know.''"
->- Melchior. [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority "All That's Known,"]] [[ADateWithRosiePalms "The Bitch of Living,"]] [[MeaningfulEcho "Those You've Known"]]