Tonight, Sat night June 9, marked my tenth time seeing SPRING AWAKENING, the fifth time on Broadway, after seeing it five times Off-Broadway. Oddly enough, the night before, Fri the 8th, I went back to the Atlantic Theater Company to review TEN MILLION MILES, the new musical co-produced by SPRING's Tom Hulce and Ira Pittleman. And to think that exactly one year ago, I had gone to the Atlantic to see SPRING for the very first time.
Anyhow, tonight was a big night of understudies - not a surprise since tomorrow is the Tonys and the cast will need its energy. Phoebe Strole, who regularly plays Anna, was on for Lea Michele as Wendla. Jennifer Damiano in turn filled in as Anna. And Gerard Canonico was on for Skyler Austin as Georg.
I don't know how often Phoebe has gone on as Wendla, and it was be inappropriate for me to "review" her performance. She was more or less alright, maybe too laid back and lacking in energy. If anything, it really made me appreciate the incredible and brilliant nuance that Lea Michele brings to the character. She soooo deserved to be nominated over Debra Monk or Laura Bell Bundy. Bundy is totally devoid of charm, and Debra Monk is giving a performance that deserves a Tony nomination - BUT FOR BEST FEATURED ACTRESS. She would not have won, but she deserved a nomination nevertheless.
After Act One, intermission unexpectedly took almost a half hour. By its end, an announcement was made that Remy Zaken would not return for Act Two, and that Krysta Rodriguez, who is traditionally in the on-stage seating ensemble, would play Thea. As it happens, Thea has literally no lines in Act Two. In any case, I really hope Remy is alright and that she will be there tomorrow for the Tonys.
Also, tonight marked the first time I've seen the show from the mezzanine? Why is that? Because I paid for my tix tonight, so I opted for the $86.25 seats in Mezz row F rather than paying $111.25 for orchestra. As such, this marked the first time I've noticed so much of the show's spectacular lighting design. I never even noticed the oak tree image on the show's center platform, which is not viewable from the orchestra.
And though I'm not making any generic observations about behavior in the mezzanine, there does seem to be some kind of belief that it is okay to make noise in the mezz, as though you're further away from the performers. Seriously, I was on the verge of smacking some pre-teen girl in back of me who faked snoring during the "Whispering" solo.
But what I think that I found most fascinating about this performance, which was quite easily the "worst" or "weakest" of the ten I've seen, was the realization that it was still quite good, still quite powerful. And those around me who had never seen it before were still powerfully moved, as was I still. It's what I call the RENT EFFECT, for those who've seen RENT one too many times, and see its cast nowadays, as half-filled with leads and half-filled with understudies. Even if this becomes the fate of a long-running SPRING AWAKENING, it will still retain its emotional power, just as RENT does.