Spring Awakening Cast Changes

Rumors have been flying and questions have been flooding in about future cast replacements. We are very happy to officially announce that most of our cast members will be staying with us in the second leg of the tour. We are also excited to announce the following cast replacements. As you know, we have conducted exhaustive national searches for the best and brightest talent out there and hope you will join us in welcoming our new cast members into the Spring Awakening family. They began rehearsals this week in DC. Drum roll please....

MORITZ --Taylor Trensch

Bio: Taylor is psyched to be a part of this extraordinary production and stellar cast. Regional credits include The Rocky Horror
Show (Frank 'N' Furter), Little Shop of Horrors (Seymour) and Rabbit Hole (Jason). He loves his Elon University family and his real family very much.

Taylor has begun to chronicle his journey on his blog: http://carouselofprogress.blogspot.com/

Taylor will officially begin performances in Milwaukee on October 6th. Blake Bashoff's last performance will be in Chicago on Aug 16th.

ERNST--Ben Fankhauser



Bio: Professional debut. Ben is thrilled to be joining the company! He is currently pursuing his B.F.A from Ithaca College. Many thanks to teachers, family, and friends for the undying love and support.

Ben's first official performance will be in Milwaukee on October 6th. Ben Moss' last performance will be in Chicago on Aug 16th.

ADULT MEN--John Wojda




Bio: Broadway: PRESENT LAUGHTER, MERCHANT OF VENICE, TWO SHAKESPEAREAN ACTORS, MACBETH, HOLIDAY. Off-Broadway: New Group (ensemble Obie for ECSTASY and recently in MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA), NYSF/Public Theater, Theater For A New Audience, Primary Stages, WPA Theatre, Women’s Project, Classic Stage Company, Ensemble Studio Theater, SoHo Playhouse, WestBank Downstairs. Resident Theater: Dozens of leading roles including four seasons at Canada’s Stratford Festival. Television: LAW & ORDER, LAW & ORDER CRIMINAL INTENT, LAW & ORDER SVU, THIRD WATCH, THE HIGH LIFE, all NY-based soap operas. Film: Amir Naderi’s MANHATTAN BY NUMBERS and with Anthony Quinn in SEVEN SERVANTS and most recently in VISITING FRIENDS.

John's first official performance will be in Milwaukee on October 6th. Henry Stram's last performance will be in Chicago on Aug 16th.

THEA--Claire Sparks



Bio: Claire is excited to be a member of the first national tour of Spring Awakening. Professional acting debut. She thanks her family and friends for all their continuous support.

Our original tour ensemble member has agreed to return and step into the role of Thea while Kimiko Glenn recovers from her foot injury. Claire can currently be seen as Thea in DC. Kimiko will return to the role of Thea in Milwaukee on October 6th.

ENSEMBLE U/S WENDLA, ILSE--Kayla Foster



Bio: Ecstatic to be joining the Spring Awakening cast! Currently studying Musical Theatre at Emerson College. Love to Nash, Hendricks, friends, and family. To Mom and Dad: Thank you for never needing a Plan B.

Kayla's first official performance will be in Milwaukee on October 6th. Julie Benko's last performance will be in Chicago on Aug 16th.

ENSEMBLE U/S MELCHOIR--Justin Scott Brown



Bio: Credits: Meet Me in St. Louis (Warren) at The MUNY, How to Succeed... (Finch), Passion (Giorgio) at CCM (2009 Graduate). Love to Mom, Dad, J&J!

Justin's first rehearsal will be in Milwaukee on Oct 5th (this date is an edit from when the blog was first posted). Perry Sherman's last performance will be in DC on Aug 2nd.

Baltimore Bar Crawl Scavenger Hunt Contest

We have Spring Awakening coasters in 50 bars throughout Baltimore.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it: Name as many of the 50 bars as possible. The person who gets the most number of bars correct wins four tickets to Spring Awakening at the Hippodrome. There is also a grand prize to the first person to submit the correct names of ALL 50 bars!

How to submit: Email your name and phone number with the names of the bars you found to: baltimoreguiltyones@gmail.com.

Deadline: midnight, Friday June 5th, 2009.

Have fun...but don't die of alcohol poisoning, ummm kay?

What Would You Do? BOSTON

It's time for you to tell the cast what you would do in Boston.

Since the cast has very limited time to enjoy all that each city has to offer when they are only there for one week, the "What Would You Do?" feature will only include tour stops that last more than a week. That doesn't mean there won't be videos from each city, but that those videos won't be fan-generated.

So. If you are from Boston or know Boston, give the cast some great ideas to vlog about. Unique places, food, and activities that can't be found anywhere else.

These submissions are due by the end of the week: Friday, April 24th.

Our fans have given us some great suggestions already and they are much appreciated!

Toronto Press Update

DVR Alert! Our Entertainment Tonight (ET) Canada segment which was announced earlier last week was pushed back and will instead air TONIGHT, Wednesday, April 1st, at 8 pm on TVTropolis and GlobalTV.

DVR Alert! The backstage interviews with Steffi D on E-Talk with hosts Ben Mulroney and Heather Lin will air TONIGHT, Wednesday, April 1st, at 7 pm on CTV. Thanks to Alison, a fan, who posted a comment about this yesterday.

UPDATED: Here it is, thanks to J Wo:



DVR Alert! Shawn Ayers checks out Spring Awakening at the Canon Theatre on Toronto Living . This aired last night and will re-air this Sunday, April April 5th at 10:30 pm on Rogers TV, cable 10 in Toronto, cable 63 in Scarborough.

Lastly, one of our Toronto based fans, Jacqui Sirois (who, I've learned, was on Toronto Living as well, after winning a walk on role on "We Will Rock You"), posted our performances on Breakfast Television last Thursday. Thank God! Many of you have posted comments specifically asking to see this paired down duet of "Touch Me" with Matt Doyle and Christy Altomare. It's beautiful...behold the riffing awesomeness! Thanks to fan HeavenCanWait who alerted me to these vids.



And the girls rocked out a rendition of Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise). God, I never get bored of hearing this.



Hope some of the new DVR alerts show up on Youtube too...

Leave a comment below!

Cleveland Rocks Part II: New Videos!

We return to Cleveland, Ohio where we have an insider look at the official Opening Night party, including interviews with some of our awesome musicians, a Guilty One who traveled to see Perry Sherman as Melchoir, and Perry himself (who got some awesome critic's reviews too, when he opened in Cleveland).

Then wake up early in the am with the cast as they visit Jared Stein's high school (our music director) and sing out Mama Who Bore Me, Don't Do Sadness, and Purple Summer. A performer's life is never done. Enjoy!

VIDEO#1
Spring Awakening Tour: Opening Night in Cleveland



VIDEO #2
Spring Awakening Tour: Performing at Jared's High School

Project: East Lansing (Blog Post by Andy Mientus)

Hey Bloggers!

So we've just finished our East Lansing engagement of the tour, which was busy and rewarding. While in East Lansing, we had a major rehearsal with our Production Stage Manager, Eric, who had been away from us for a time working with Michael Mayer on the Vienna production of SPRING. He reunited with us in St. Louis and scheduled a big rehearsal for this stop to freshen a few scenes and implement some minor staging changes and new ideas Michael discovered while working on the London and Vienna productions. See if you can spot them next time you catch our show! Anyway, it was a fabulously productive rehearsal, and I've been so proud of everyone's work this week. It was a great experience to get back to basics and explore things we hadn't since Michael's last visit some time ago, or even since rehearsal in New York. For example, to rediscover the blend and ensemble unity in Touch Me, Eric had us all sit on the floor in a circle and just sing the song to each other and really listen. It was so beautiful! The icing on the cake was having such invested audiences to explore things with in East Lansing. They were so with us, and made all of our hard work in rehearsal worth it.

East Lansing was also a huge personal joy, because it is just 45 minutes away from Ann Arbor, where I go to school, and so my week was full of visits from friends and faculty. I was also able to order Pizza House whenever I wanted it- those who are in the know should know how amazing that is!

After our last performance, which my best friend from school attended, I actually got to go back to Ann Arbor for the night and see even more old friends. It was beyond trippy to see all of my old haunts peppered with new buildings that didn't exist when I lived there, but so nice at the same time. When you're on the road, familiarity is a rare luxury. I was so glad to enjoy that luxury while I played to the wonderful audiences of East Lansing. Thanks for coming along for the ride- maybe I'll see you again when I'm back at school!

Best,
Andy

[BlogMaster Note: Here are a couple of videos created by Andy and Gabby, now live on our Youtube channel. Perry's parents come to E. Lansing to give the tour cast a proper meal. And we held a concert to drum up excitement on MSU's campus]





[The Guilty Ones in E. Lansing came to the concert and we have one in particular to thank for taking this footage]:







The Guilty Ones also painted this awesome rock on MSU campus!



Thanks too for everyone who submitted suggestions for things the cast should do in E. Lansing. In the suggestions, one fan also warned Andy not to wear U of M wear while he was on MSU's campus (you can see from the audience's reaction in the Q&A above that that was a very wise and appropriate heads up LOL)! While they chose not to blog about them (most of the suggestions were for bars, etc), they were used as an insider's tour guide and helped make it an amazing week in E. Lansing!

Coming Home To Cleveland by Jared Stein

[Blogmaster Note: Our music director, Jared Stein, is a native of Cleveland. We asked Jared to share a little bit about how he came to be a music director, his experience on the tour thus far, what it was like to be on The Price is Right in Los Angeles, and how good it feels to come home. Here is what he shares with you.]

Hey Everyone!
It's very exciting to be returning to my home town of Cleveland with the Spring Awakening Tour. I was born and raised here, (in Orange Village) and it's where I first discovered my love of theater and music. So it's very nice to bring these gifts back here to share.
I first started playing piano somewhere around age 8. I was following in the footsteps of my older sister. Once we started taking lessons, we had to keep on playing until we left the house for college. At times I was not happy about that rule, but I'm obviously happy now that I'm making my living doing exactly that. I didn't set out to be a Musical Director. I actually went to NYU to study musical theater, but have a heavy vocal background and my piano skills, my career took a turn to the music side of things, and I would never look back.
I'm very honored to be working on Spring Awakening, and lucky to have been able to musical direct and conduct the National Tour of RENT prior to this. Both shows have broken a lot of ground in terms of the Broadway musical, and both truly have something to say. It's nice to be a part of something that has a real impact on its audiences. I can't pick a favorite between the two because I love them both, but I must say the SA touring schedule is a bit more luxurious than the RENT schedule. Not bad to sit down in cities like San Francisco and LA for 6 weeks!
The touring life is great because you get to see the country and meet some amazing people along the way. But its not all glitz and glamour. We make a lot of sacrifices to do what we love, but obviously would never trade it. Plus, we get to do cool things like be on The Price is Right.
That whole experience is a bit of a blur.....very surreal. Watch the videos online if you haven't. [Blogmaster Note: The videos are no longer on CBS.COM. They only feature two months worth of episodes. Does anyone happen to have it?]
I had a blast and I know have the Tail Gating gear to prove it!
As for my personal musical tastes, I listen to everything. Classic Rock, old school R & B, singer/songwriter, folk, gospell and jazz. Lately I've been listening to Ray LaMontagne, Sara Bareilles, Mark Brousard, Damien Rice, and always Ben Folds. For those who don't know, I continue to play with an amazing writer, Declan Bennett. If you don't know his music, check it out!
Getting ready to play the weekend shows in East Lansing, MI, then off to Cleveland. Look forward to playing to the home crowd. Enjoy the show....see you there!
peace
jared







[Blogmaster Note: More photos at our Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/springawakeninggallery

WE START PERFORMANCES IN CLEVELAND TONIGHT!! CLEVELAND, ARE YOU WITH US??!]

Fan Friday

Hello Spring Awakening Fans, welcome back to our second installment of “Fan Fridays.” Our featured fan, Jessica Wells, comes all the way from Vancouver, British Columbia. Jessica has created several Spring Awakening fan groups, including the most recent: "Christy Altomare is Better Than You." As evidenced by her Facebook profile she is a HUGE Broadway fan, and updates her status to countdown to the Spring Awakening performances she plans to attend in Seattle in several weeks. Oh, and she is a Sagittarius and we love her. She answered a few questions for us below.

SA: How long have you been a fan of Spring Awakening?
Jessica: I have been a fan of Spring Awakening since the Tony's! I randomly turned them on RIGHT when Zach Braff was introducing the show and I remember being so enthralled with the entire performance. I think everyone can agree with me when I say that was the most intense medley ever performed at Radio City Music Hall :) So a year and three months, to the day.

SA: Have you seen the show live yet? If so, where and how many times?
Jessica: I'm actually from Vancouver, BC, but I managed to travel down to NY on Spring Break specifically to see the show. I saw it Friday March 14 and I sat front row, center(!) and then I made my friend rush with me on Sunday the 16 and we got seats on stage, which was an experience in itself. I'm not even going to go into how much those performances affected me, I think I was still sobbing when I finally made it back to the hotel room.

SA: What's your favorite scene from the show?
Jessica: My favourite part of the show...Hmm..that's really tough. I have so many because this show really captures so many amazing moments that are all so different from each other. Agh, there are so many little things I could pick, like during the blaa, blaa, blaa's in Totally Fucked right before they start to jump around the stage and everyone's starting to move a little bit, or when Wendla first steps out onto the chair, or when they do that little soft, acappella bit before they start belting in Purple Summer. My Junk is fun amd hilarious, Touch Me and I Believe are arguably the most beautiful scenes in the show and Don't Do Sadness/Blue wind is incredibly heart breaking. There's so many parts of it that are just..completely moving to a point of paraliysis that I don't think I could pick any one part.

SA: What is your favorite song from the Soundtrack?
Jessica: Ah, another hard one. I guess it depends on when you ask me. Right now it's The Dark I Know Well, but I think all the songs have been my favourite at one point. I think My Junk, Touch Me and Blue Wind are all a close second. Honorable mention goes to Totally Fucked because you can't listen to that song and not have a good time and tap your feet and stuff, it's physically impossible.

SA: Any other music, shows or bands that you particularly love?
Jessica: I love Christy Altomare's music and Kyle Riabko's, especially Trevor Jackson, I bought both their CD's off iTunes and listen to them non-stop. Regina Spektor is, I think, my all-time favourite artist, I have like 100 of her songs. Arcade Fire is my favourite band. As for shows, one of my favourite shows (second to SA of course) is Next To Normal/Feeling Electric. And I started listening to a demo for a new musical Factory Girls which is fantastic.

Fan Fridays!

Welcome to Totally Trucked's first installment of Fan Fridays, where we will be featuring Spring Awakening fans we find through social networks like YouTube and Facebook.

Our first featured fan comes from San Diego, CA. You can connect with Justin on YouTube and through his blog. Justin caught our attention when he sent us a direct message on YouTube with an enthusiasm for the show that is truly inspiring. We asked Justin to answer a few questions for us, and you can read his responses below.

SA: How long have you been a fan of Spring Awakening?
Justin: Only a few weeks - generally new to Broadway shows but now I am avid fan.

SA: Have you seen the show live yet? If so, where and how many times?
Justin: I’ve seen it once, in San Diego.

SA: What's your favorite scene from the show?
Justin: I enjoy when the kids jump on the chairs in The Bitch of Living and when the girls take the stage in "Mama Who Bore Me Reprise."

SA: What is your favorite song from the Soundtrack?
Justin: I can’t decide on just one so... Mama Who Bore Me, Totally Fucked, Bitch of Living