New Video: Adventures in North Carolina

Spring Awakening Tour: Adventures in North Carolina
Krystina, Lucas, Justin, and Matt take us on a two-day adventure in North Carolina as they trek the trails that include Biltmore Mansion in Asheville, Lake Lure, treacherous waterfalls, Flat Rock Chimney, Poc-a-hot-ness, and some southern bumpkins. The danger, the beauty, the music, a Last of the Mohicans montage, come enjoy the beautiful outdoors with our cast!

VIDEO
For those who can't see the video below, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/user/TotallyTrucked?feature=mhw5#p/a/u/0/OHH4A_Nufgg

Lucas Wells Profile of the Month Part II

It's Part 2 of Lucas Wells' Profile of the Month!  This once-jock turned Les Mis-gleek talks about his dream role and where his red hair originated.  Lucas shares some thoughts on his 18 months of rooming with buddy Andy Mientus and his discovery of being a sleep talker!  Check out Lucas' parting words in one of our last profile of the Month vids.

VIDEO



If video is not displaying in your browser, here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TotallyTrucked?feature=mhw5#p/a/u/0/PfG8kQ-Oq_c

Here are the questions asked in this part:

6. Now for your roots. Brendan asks:

a) Are you excited to come back to Detroit and play your home area of Southeastern Michigan?
b) From Mariah: what got you into theatre?
c) Dylan and Connor from Cleveland adds: Did you do theatre in high school and college? What shows did you perform in, what roles?

7. Mariah, Jo Ellen, Stephanie and Anonymous want to know:

a) What is your dream role?
b) What book, movie or TV show would you like to turn into a musical?


8. Missa, Alex and Layla said: We know you’re a huge fan of Glee.

a) If you were to create a role for yourself on that show, what would it be?
b) What song would you want to perform?
c) Can you sing some of it for us?

9. Another most asked question: Who has been your favorite kiss: Christy, Angie, Andy or Ben and more importantly, WHY?

10. From Riley:

Lucas, you are so talented! In some of the TotallyTrucked videos, it has been mentioned that you and Andy Mientus typically room together. What is the most outrageous/hilarious thing that has happened while you have been rooming with each other? Hailey adds, “you so should win the Team Mientus vs Team Wells debate--redheads ARE cuter”.

The SA cast and crew are taking a Spring break of their own, so we will not be posting this Friday.  Enjoy the wonderful spring season and warm weather! More original Totally Trucked videos next week!

Profile of the Month: Lucas Wells Part I

Spring Awakening Tour: Profile of the Month - Lucas Wells Part 1

It's a rarity to get a cast member who's played all the male roles in Spring Awakening, a feat accomplished by our very talented Lucas' Wells. Moritz, Ernst, Otto, Georg - all roles that would not have been if it wasn't for his online video submission from the lobby of a girl's restroom! No wonder Lucas was the top vote for one of our last POM - he's done it all! Thanks to Gabby and Justin for filming Part 1 of the "Prof of the Mof."

VIDEO


Here are the questions asked in this video:

1. Most asked question:
a) What was your favorite role and why?
b) What was the most nerve-racking role?
c) Any interesting stories or funny mess ups?

2. Irene from Guam, Layla, Alyssia, and Taylor from Columbus said:
I hear you auditioned for Spring Awakening by submitting a video online.
a) What song did you sing and how did that whole process go?
b) Any audition tips?

3. From Mari :
How did it come about that you would understudy both Moritz and Melchoir? This didn’t happen on Broadway. Was it a decision made after you auditioned?

4. Marianna and her friend had a few questions:
a) What exactly is the difference between the terms swing, ensemble, and understudy?
b) How do they decide which understudy goes on for each part when someone calls out?
c) Is it difficult to mentally prepare to play all the different roles?

5. Elizabeth and Rozzie posed:
In honor of the recent "doppelganger week" on Facebook, what celebrity have people said you look like, if any?

Next Profile of the Month: Lucas Wells!

You voted, and watching the poll results come in was as suspenseful as anything we saw on the Winter Olympics (for us, at least LOL). Lucas Wells received a huge surge in the last few days of voting, edging out the competition in a tight race and winning by a margin of only 10 votes. What prompted this surge? Perhaps word spread that when he covered Ernst last week in Rochester, Lucas became the only person in Spring Awakening history to have played ALL the male roles (except, of course, for the Adult Men)!! Or perhaps because Lucas did some smart politicking of his own by posting his and Krystina's sweet performance at the Rochester Cabaret on his YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajt_ZIC0rLU Or perhaps it's just his lovable personality. Whatever the reason, the community has spoken!

Leave your question for Lucas in the comment section below. Questions are due by next Monday, 2/22 at 6 pm.

VIdeo: SWING Awakening in Louisville

It was a swing awakening in Louisville which created a lot of firsts. See Krista's 1st time ever, Krystina's extended Ilse run, and, as we had made public in a previous post, Lucas Wells makes Spring Awakening history by being the ONLY person who has played both Melchior and Moritz...crazy cool.

Video 1

A Moment in Spring Awakening History

Some of you may already be following Lucas Well's blog, but this bears re-posting because on the historic day of Friday, May 29th, in Pittsburgh, PA, Lucas became the only person in Spring Awakening history to have played both the Moritz AND the Melchoir track. I'm sure you can only imagine his excitement when he got the news...

Here is an excerpt from his blog:

To MY surprise, I was not even shocked, or nervous. Just very anxious. I couldn’t wait to begin, and the only nerves I had was because I would be playing opposite one of my best friends in the world: Blake.


Before the show, I had excessive rehearsal, because there are technical things Melchior has to do that we cannot learn in rehearsals normally until you go on, and took care of that. By the time everything was said and done... I was standing behind the curtain, behind Steffi D, and in front of Blake when I felt a touch at my back, and Blake said some kind words of encouragement to keep me grounded and know that I was going to do great out there.


It went AMAZING. Blake and my chemistry was incredible. Christy and mine was also. I felt amazing vocally, and even better in the scene work. As I was doing the choreography on the platform under the florescent blue nights in MBN, for half a second I caught myself in awe of what I was actually doing. It was something I had only dreamt of doing in my life. Literally. I knew from the moment I saw the show that I would at some point play the role of Melchior, and it finally came true. After that brief moment, I pulled it back in, and reeled into the moment with Christy.


After everything was over... I walked off stage and softly began to cry a bit. I couldn’t believe I had just done what I did. I had now done something no one in Spring Awakening History has ever done before : play both the roles of Melchior and Moritz. Blake and Christy were there to greet me on the other side of the other side of the stage.


It was a surreal moment in my life.


Read the entire entry here: http://www.lucasandrewwells.com/LucasAndrewWells.com/Blog/Entries/2009/6/1_Oh%2C_So_Much....html


Congratulations, Lucas! We're so very proud of you!

This has been... "A Moment in Spring Awakening History."

Understudies Perform! or Swing Out, Sister!

Being a swing or an understudy is hard work. Not only must they often cover multiple roles and be ready to go on at a moment's notice (sometimes even in the middle of the show), but it's also difficult on the days when you are not performing and cannot be part of all the excitement. We are so blessed to have such a talented group of understudies and swings on this show that it's a joy to root for them on the occasions when they have a chance to really strut their stuff. Here, for your enjoyment, are some videos and pictures of some of our swings going on for their first time! I get excited for them just watching it!

Actor: Lucas Wells
(First swing to perform in the tour ever. He's a Michigan native, people! Michigan, come out to the Wharton Center this week and show some support!)
Role Performed: Georg
City: San Francisco




Here he is basking, drained, exhausted, and exhilarated Post Show. Don't you love how supportive our cast members are to each other? Shouldn't Steffi D be the next Oprah?



Lucas wasn't the only swing to be able to perform in San Francisco. Julie Benko was the first female swing to go on last October. And her family was able to see it! How cool is that?

Actor: Julie Benko
Role Performed: Martha
City: San Francisco



As Andy mentioned in our last blog post, this is a really healthy cast (knocking on ma wooden head). Krystina Alabado didn't get a chance to go on for the first time until just recently in St. Louis. Steffi D captured her moment of elation before stepping out on stage:



Krystina was nice enough to upload a few of her personal pictures to our Flickr group.







More, go to http://www.flickr.com/groups/springawakeninggallery

Post your reactions to the videos below. Also, if you've been lucky enough to see one of our swings/understudies go on, please tell us all about the performance!

Spring Awakening comes to Columbus, OH!

Minneapolis was cold, but we gave the twin cities some heat! The audiences were amazing, as Andy Mientus writes in his blog: "The audience tonight...was absolutely raucous from the first gag and so with us all night. In turn, our energy amped so much, and everyone was having a blast. We were all wearing these silly grins backstage, it was so joyful. What a special night!" Thank you, Minneapolis!

Claire Sparks went to The Mall of America and picked up sweet T-shirts for her fellow swings. Thanks to Steffi D for this vid:



We start performances in Columbus, OH tomorrow!

We have some connections to Ohio in this company.

Cleveland is the hometown of our music director Jared Stein. Jared previously conducted and was the music director for the tour of RENT. He is interviewed (along with Blake Bashoff) in this great feature in the Columbus Dispatch which came out yesterday: http://dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2009/02/01/1_SPRING_AWAKENING_ART_02-01-09_E1_66CMU02.html?sid=101

Some of you saw the episode of The Price is Right which aired last week which featured Jared as one of the players. It was taped when we were in LA. The entire cast was there cheering him on and performed during a commercial break. Well, the website Hunks Du Jour has featured Jared in a Price Is Right Hunkiest Hunk Showdown! Go here and vote for him if you havn't already (this was posted on Andy's blog as well). He's # 10:

http://www.hunkdujour.com/blog/archives/2009/01/0130_friday_tpirness_the_price_is_right_guys.asp

Continnuing with our Ohio connection--Christy Altomare went to school in Ohio, at the Cincinnatti College Conservatory of Music. She wrote the score of Naomi Iizuka's play, Anon[ymous], which won the Cincinnatti ACCLAIM award for best play of the season!

Lastly, Lucas Wells wrote in his blog that he has family in Columbus, who will come out to support. He is the seventh of NINE children (!!), so we're all hoping that his extended family alone will fill up the Palace theatre for at least a night. :)

There are still some on-stage seats available for this week's performance. You can purchase them directly by signing up for the Palace's E-Club at this link: https://oss.ticketmaster.com/html/home.htmI?l=EN
(select your desired date and then select "on stage seating" option).

Guilty Ones in Columbus--write a comment and tell us all that you're doing this week in preparation for the show!


ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. WE HAVE JUST RECEIVED OUR FIRST TOURING AWARD! Broadway/San Diego was given a local Noel Award for Best Touring Production: Spring Awakening! Woo-Hoo!
Congrats to Broadway/San Diego and all the amazing people at the Balboa and congrats to the entire company of Spring Awakening. Much deserved.

2. Deadline for cast video blogging suggestions for St. Louis is midnight tomorrow. Leave your suggestions for the cast as a comment in the previous blog.

It will take about two weeks before your suggestions can be implemented into videos and our TotallyTrucked Youtube Channel becomes active again. So in the meanwhile, I wanted to post some of Steffi D's awesome Hot Minute interviews with some of our cast members. Visit her Youtube channel (link in our Links section) if you havn't already. There are some really hilarious vids. Don't miss "The Invasion"!









Come see us, Columbus!!

Pun