Spring Awakening in Chicago: Reviews and Press

We have only one more week left in Chicago! Make sure to tell all your friends and family so they don't miss out, and remember, $25 student rush tickets are available at the box office two hours before each performance.

REVIEWS:

CHICAGO TRIBUNE “Spring Awakening” is a must-see for anyone interested in the trajectory of the American musical theater. It pulses with life, youth and creativity. Blake Bashoff is startling and moving...Steffi D adds a whole new complexity to Ilse which felt much less exciting on Broadway. Many of the featured roles are performed in similarly spectacular fashion, including Andy Mientus’ provocative Hanschen and Ben Moss' earnest Ernst." http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/the_theater_loop/2009/08/revolutionary-spring-awakening-arrives-in-chicago-radical-spirit-mostly-intact.html

CHICAGO SUN TIMES "The kids are all right in vivid Spring Awakening. An ingeniously wrought mix of the old and new...seductive, poetic score...a thoughtful, intense Jake Epstein...the impressive Steffi D, with a captivating voice and German Expressionist aura..."
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/weiss/1702881,CST-FTR-Weiss06.article

BROADWAYWORLD.COM "Spring Awakening is a rockin' journey of passion & neon...offers the best all-around crafted tour to hit Chicago since JERSEY BOYS...the angelically voiced Christy Altomare shines as the important, yet underwritten, Wendla...if you want to chalk up major Coolest Parent of the Summer points, bring your teenagers to see this show!
http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/SPRING_AWAKENING_Is_a_Rockin_Journey_of_Passion_Neon_20090805

GAPER'S BLOCK (popular Chicago specific blog)
REVIEWS:

CHICAGO TRIBUNE “Spring Awakening” is a must-see for anyone interested in the trajectory of the American musical theater. It pulses with life, youth and creativity. Blake Bashoff is startling and moving...Steffi D adds a whole new complexity to Ilse which felt much less exciting on Broadway. Many of the featured roles are performed in similarly spectacular fashion, including Andy Mientus’ provocative Hanschen and Ben Moss' earnest Ernst." http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/the_theater_loop/2009/08/revolutionary-spring-awakening-arrives-in-chicago-radical-spirit-mostly-intact.html

CHICAGO SUN TIMES "The kids are all right in vivid Spring Awakening. An ingeniously wrought mix of the old and new...seductive, poetic score...a thoughtful, intense Jake Epstein...the impressive Steffi D, with a captivating voice and German Expressionist aura..."
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/weiss/1702881,CST-FTR-Weiss06.article

GAPER'S BLOCK (popular Chicago based blog) "A lot of teen drama performances come off as whiny reruns. Spring Awakening, however, makes you feel for these teens. Never mind that sometimes it feels a little like 'American Idol.' These kids are pissed and they ought to be."
http://gapersblock.com/ac/2009/08/09/an-awakening-for-any-season/

BROADWAYWORLD.COM "Spring Awakening is a rockin' journey of passion & neon...offers the best all-around crafted tour to hit Chicago since JERSEY BOYS...the angelically voiced Christy Altomare shines as the important, yet underwritten, Wendla...if you want to chalk up major Coolest Parent of the Summer points, bring your teenagers to see this show!
http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/SPRING_AWAKENING_Is_a_Rockin_Journey_of_Passion_Neon_20090805

ONCHICAGOTHEATRE.COM "The entire cast gives confident, powerful performances--they sing with great passion and skill and they make the characters believable and sympathetic. I found Bashoff, as the bizarre, tortured Moritz, particularly fascinating. I was also terribly amused by Andy Mientus (looking a bit like Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter movies)--who also has what may be the funniest and creepiest masturbation scene of the contemporary stage."
http://onchicagotheatre.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-exclusive-review-spring-awakening.html

UNPROFESSIONAL CRITIC: This was not a review so much as a response and analytical conversation between two or three people who had just seen the show. While I disagree with some of their analysis, I found it an interesting read:
http://unprofessionalcritic.blogspot.com/2009/08/when-angst-meets-analysis-conversation.html

TIME OUT CHICAGO "The terrific young touring cast gets it just right: For teenagers, whether in 1891 or 2009, all that yearning and churning does feel like life and death. Perhaps never before on stage has that feeling of roiling teen turmoil been better expressed than in the explosive second-act showstopper “Totally Fucked,” with Bill T. Jones’s jittery choreography perfectly capturing agitation and angst, while Kevin Adams’s lighting design rivals the MCA’s Olafur Eliasson show for the city’s best use of fluorescents. Simply put: It rocks."
http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/theater/77465/spring-awakening-theater-review




FEATURES:

CHICAGO TRIBUNE: "Something Different in Awakening." Includes interview with Michael Mayer: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/stage/chi-0731-spring-awakening-previejul31,0,2475709.column?obref=obnetwork

CHICAGO SUN TIMES: "Spring Awakening Rocks As Classic Play Meets Modern Music." Includes interview with Steven Sater. http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/weiss/1693634,WKP-News-Stage31.article

CHICAGOIST.COM: "A musical you can believe in" http://chicagoist.com/2009/08/04/a_musical_you_can_believe_in.php

CHICAGO 3 MEDIA: VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH JAKE EPSTEIN:
http://www.chicago3media.com/video-categories.html?task=viewvideo&video_id=167