“Spring Awakening” was never Fort Lewis College theater professor Dennis Elkins’ favorite show. In fact, some years ago, he put the rock-infused soundtrack on in the car, listened to it, then put it back in the console where it stayed for the next four or five years.
He hadn’t read the original play (the lightyears-ahead-of-its-time German play written in 1891) and had never seen the racy and relevant modern musical production (which debuted on Broadway in 2006) so the soundtrack didn’t make sense to him.
Fast forward some years and Elkins is directing “Spring Awakening,” which will be performed at FLC’s Mainstage Theatre, with shows this Friday through Sunday and next.
The first thing to know about “Spring Awakening” is that it delves into some weighty and taboo not-for-all-ages topics, or Elkins characterized, “Sex, relationships, sex, abortion, sex, death, suicide, sex, homosexuality, sex.” It’s not your typical musical and had come highly recommended from students on a panel to select the next production. Elkins gave it another shot.
“I started listening to it, and I must admit, that’s the only soundtrack I’ve been listening to for the last three, four months,” he said. “And I can’t get it out of my head. I can honestly say I am a born-again believer and I absolutely love it.
“I found the music haunting and slightly irreverent, appealing, something to tackle, a challenge,” Elkins said. “And then you start delving into it deeper. And as you delve into it, you start to have a greater appreciation for the nuances that are there and you get more excited.”
The musical is set in Germany in the late 1800s with a group of teenagers exploring and navigating their sexual awakenings, curiosities and the suppression and expectations placed upon them by their parents, teachers and society at large.
Apparently, the pressures and issues faced by teenagers in 19th century Germany and those in modern America are not much different, making the musical as relevant as ever. If that weren’t enough, the catchy, rock-infused soundtrack makes “Spring Awakening” that much more appealing to younger audiences. Elkins also added a steampunk theme to the young adult characters’ costumes, a way to further blend the 1800s with a modern-day aesthetic.
One major theme running through “Spring Awakening” is that of youth finding their voices in an adult world. This, Elkins found, was a direct connection with his philosophy on teaching acting, to help students find their voices, sometimes quite literally. This endeared him even further.
“I find so many of my students don’t even know what their voice sounds like. They’ve never experienced a passion from they can get a gut reaction, a gut feeling, a gut sensation of ‘This is what I believe,’ or ‘this is what I question ...’ That’s what we teach in acting, but it transcends acting. It’s real life.”
dholub@durangoherald.com. David Holub is the Arts & Entertainment editor for The Durango Herald.
What’s the deal with all the singing?
You know those musicals where the story is moving along, where the characaters are speaking to one another like normal humans. And then ... they unexpectedly break out into song.
What’s the deal with that? In the world in which these characters inhabit, do they know they’re singing to one another? Dennis Elkins explains in the context of “Spring Awakening.”
“We deliver (the music) in a way that it’s not like Rodgers and Hammerstein where we’re singing to each other. When we sing, we are definitely not in the world of the play we just were in. We move beyond that to another level of consciousness, another world. And we sing and move and dance in that world. And then we come back to the world of the play again. So it’s not just carrying on a conversation and then singing to one another.
“When the character reaches a moment that whatever they’re expressing can no longer be just simply said, but it has to be sung, that’s why we have the musical. Because to sing is even more passionate.”
David Holub
If you go
“Spring Awakening, The Musical,” by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, based on the play by Frank Wedekind. Directed by Dennis Elkins. Friday, Saturday and Sunday and Nov. 12, 13 and 14. All shows start at 7:30 p.m. except for Sunday performances at 3 p.m. Tickets are $16 for adults; $12 for FLC faculty and staff, seniors 65 and over, non-FLC students w/ID (limit 2); free for FLC Students w/ID. Mature themes and language.
