"This brave new musical, haunting and electrifying by turns, restores
the mystery, the thrill to that shattering transformation that stirs in
all our souls."--Charles Isherwood, The New York Times
"The staggering purity of this show will touch all open hearts...In its
refined, imaginative simplicity, it daringly reverses all the
conventional rules by returning the American musical to an original
state of innocence."--John Heilpern, The New York Observer
"An unexpected jolt of sudden genius, edgy in its brutally honest,
unromanticized depiction of human sexuality."--New York Post
Spring Awakening is an extraordinary new rock musical with book and
lyrics by Steven Sater and music by Grammy Award-nominated recording
artist Duncan Sheik. Inspired by Frank Wedekind's controversial 1891
play about teenage sexuality and society's efforts to control it, the
piece seamlessly merges past and present, underscoring the timelessness
of adolescent angst and the universality of human passion.
Steven Sater's plays include the long-running Carbondale Dreams,
Perfect for You, Doll (Rosenthal Prize/Cincinnati Playhouse),
Umbrage (Steppenwolf New Play Prize), and a reconceived version of
Shakespeare's Tempest, which played in London.
Duncan Sheik is a singer/songwriter who also collaborated with Sater
on the musical The Nightingale. He has composed original music for
The Gold Rooms of Nero and for The Public Theater's Twelfth Night in
Central Park.
