Spring Awakening is a rock ‘n’ roll rebellion on stage through Nov 15

Acoustic ballads. Garage-rock anthems. Historical costumes with pops of color. Willamette University’s production of Spring Awakening brings together a world of strict rules and the urge to break them.

Set in 19th-century Germany, the Tony Award-winning musical follows “a group of students as they navigate the trials of adolescence and the mysteries of self-discovery within a world of repressive adult authority.” 

“We are leaning into the play’s hard edges, its brutal speed, and its dizzying highs and lows,” said director Jonathan Cole. “Being 15 can mean experiencing everything with extraordinary intensity, without the perspective or support to make sense of it. I want the production to offer the audience a way into that experience.”

That experience comes in part from the show’s score, which music director Makenna Green describes as “a striking string and acoustic-folk landscape that violently collides with 1990s/Y2K alternative rock.”

“Traditional musical theater tells actors to be polished and controlled,” Makenna said. “For this show, I’ve had to give the cast permission to do the opposite: let their voices crack, lean into breathiness, and prioritize raw instinct over a pretty sound.”

“The microphones pull the audience directly into the teenagers’ inner worlds, and those worlds are underscored by explosive contemporary rock,” she added.

Scenic designer Alex Meyer gives those characters somewhere to escape.

“The set is based in the contrast between the rigidity of 19th-century German society and the wild freedom of escaping it,” Alex said. “Texturally, we’re playing with a square, planked stage surrounded by encroaching nature, evoking a sense of uninhibitedness and ease when the characters step away from the harsh structures of society.”

While the scenery and lighting take a more impressionistic approach, costume designer Madison Booth keeps the clothing rooted in history. 

“I played with the idea of color, turning up the vibrancy on otherwise historical garments and adding a few pops of neon to incorporate a little bit of a punk-y feel,” Madison said.

Sound designer Sharath Patel brings a connection to Spring Awakening that reaches back to its beginnings.

“I was lucky enough to have been involved with the development of Spring Awakening as an uncredited contributor in the early 2000’s,” Sharath said. “It brought such a joy to my heart to see how the students reacted to the material, music, and story of the production. We even got to investigate some sound design ideas abandoned during the initial reading and workshop process.”

That collaboration began before rehearsals, with Sharath and the students exploring equipment, sound engineering, and conceptual sound design together.

“Watching the students dig into this heartfelt and heartbreaking material with such vigor was truly an experience I will cherish,” he said.

For audiences, Spring Awakening offers a chance to share in that intensity, with the volume turned up.

“The music gives us access to these kids’ inner lives: their joy, lust, rage, and anguish erupt through the rigid order of the adult world,” Jonathan said.

“You are going to experience a sonic whiplash spanning from haunting, melancholic acoustic ballads to driving garage-rock anthems,” Makenna said. “The rock elements act as a visceral, cathartic release.”

Rock music and a cathartic release? Sounds like something we could use right now.

Willamette University Theatre presents Spring Awakening

When: 7:30 p.m. Nov 4-7, 11-14, and 2 p.m. Nov 1, 7-8, 14-15
Where: Pelton Theatre at Willamette University
Click here for tickets.

Note: Spring Awakening includes references to suicide and assault, sexual themes, and explicit and derogatory language.

Author: Carlee Wright

Carlee Wright is a community instigator with a grand love for Salem and notably fashionable shoes (Hello, John Fluevog!) who turns waste into wearable art in her "spare" time.