Deaf West Theatre's innovative hit revival of the musical "Spring Awakening" in Los Angeles will be coming to Broadway this fall for an 18-week limited run Sept 8 - Jan 9, with tickets on sale now. The production will bring its entire original cast of rebellious students to New York, amounting to 20 Broadway debuts (including 10 deaf actors).
The cast will also feature Broadway veterans and former Smash castmates Krysta Rodriguez (First Date, In the Heights) as Ilse and Andy Mientus (Les Misérables, "The Flash") as Hanschen— both of whom performed the show at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, prior to its Broadway transfer. Additional casting will be announced shortly.
Deaf West's production of Spring Awakening is performed simultaneously in American Sign Language and spoken and sung in English by a cast of 27, with deaf actors voiced by their hearing counterparts. Directed by Michael Arden, ASL is seamlessly incorporated into Spencer Liff's choreography and deafness is included as a vital part of the storyline.
Deaf West was last represented on Broadway with the triumphant Tony Award-winning production of Big River in 2003. Their revival of Spring Awakening recently completed an extended, critically-acclaimed engagement at The Wallis in Los Angeles where the production was expanded from its original, sold-out run at the 99-seat Rosenthal Theatre in downtown L.A.
The Los Angeles Times called Deaf West's Spring Awakening "an emotional triumph," and said that it "awakens us to the dormant possibilities of this musical, with all the goose-bumps and teardrops to prove it. This is a show for anyone who wants to see a contemporary American musical superbly done."
Spring Awakening opened on Broadway on December 10, 2006 and received eight Tony Awards including Best Musical. A re-imagining of Frank Wedekind's 1891 play with music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater, Spring Awakening depicts how young people navigate the thrilling, confusing and mysterious time of their sexual awakening. The story centers around a brilliant young student named Melchior, his troubled friend Moritz and Wendla, a beautiful young girl on the verge of womanhood.
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HALLELUJAH, PRAISE THE LORD!! I know I keptbegging for this show to come here to NY, but I didn't actually believe it could happen. This is fucking amazing. With Hamilton and now Deaf West's SA, this Broadway season is turning out flawless.
