Spring Awakening sneak peek.

Thanks to Atlantis, I got invited to a bloggers' conference of their upcoming production of Spring Awakening yesterday.


Lawyn offered that we meet up at the Atlantis office first so we can go to the rehearsal venue together. Thank goodness she did, as I had forgotten how to get to the venue. Left the office an hour before the scheduled event, lugging a box of gift bags as well as a bag of prop mics.

I was kind of shy (??!?) to follow Lawyn straight inside the rehearsal room as I only knew half the people there, so I set the box of gift bags on a bench in the outer room, then shyly stuck my head in the door. Hogi moment: when a bunch of voices said hello to me, I turned to look and bumped my head on the glass door frame. Hahaha.

Anyway, I took those hellos as an invite, so I went inside and took a seat next to Via (who was there in full support for JC) while the cast rehearsed the songs that they were to perform for the bloggers. After a while, I went back downstairs and picked up Lara (one of my blogger recruits) at Mini Stop, then we went back upstairs and hung out in the outer room to wait with Lorna and the other bloggers. Dingdong (my other recruit) arrived several minutes later so we camwhored for a while before we were all finally called inside.

The cast performed 4 songs--"Bitch of Living", "The Dark I Know Well", "I Believe", and "The Song of Purple Summer." Afterwards, we were then welcome to ask/interview the cast. Thanks to Lorna, we asked the cast to just remain in the acting area so we could first have a sort of open forum before most or some of the bloggers could conduct individual interviews.

So introducing the cast of Spring Awakening...



(Sorry, just had to post 2 photos, as the 2 guys seated on the floor couldn't be seen in the 2nd photo)
Seated on the floor: Nar Cabico as Ernst, JC Santos as Hanschen
Standing: Jett Pangan as Adult Male Figure, Nicco Manalo as Mortiz, Inno Martin as Otto, Miguel Mendoza as Georg
Seated on chairs: Ava Santos as Anna, Yanah Laurel as Thea, Bea Garcia as Ilse, Cheska Inigo as Adult Female Figure, Kelly Lati as Wendla, Joaquin Valdes as Melchior
Not in photo: Sitti Navarro as Martha (as she was already taken aside by one blogger for an individual interview)
(All photos courtesy of Dingdong Novenario.)

I'm kind of having a hard time deciphering everything that I scribbled on my notebook, so I'll just play this by ear.

So first things off, Spring Awakening is basically about teenagers in the 1890's that are going through typical physical and emotional changes, as they explore their sexuality and still barrell through everyday school life.

Cheska, who plays the Adult Female Figure (a variety of mothers and teachers), had started off by telling us that back in 1891, when the play is set, parents couldn't really talk about things like sex right up front with their children. Considering that we now have television shows such as Gossip Girl and similar shows, Spring Awakening would be pretty tame compared to those shows. But the musical is actually a good opportunity for parents to go and see with their children, and talk about the play's issues, as some people aren't comfortable about those issues. As Joaqui had also added, "It's telling the parents [today], your kids have questions [about sex/sexuality]." And even if the story was set in 1891, the issues are still the same as today as far as the kids are concerned.

So yes, there is a certain age limit for audiences. For pre-teens, it's strongly recommended to have adults/their parents with them, but all in all, it's up to the parent's discretion. This play has some sexual content concerns that are also possibly offensive (such as nudity, swearing, etc.), yet they're tastefully done. Hey, at least they're up front with all that.

Please watch Atlantis Productions' Spring Awakening. Directed by Chari Arespacochaga, featuring Costume Design by Rajo Laurel, Set Design by Tuxqs Rutaquio, Choreography by Dexter Santos, Lighting Design by Voltaire de Jesus, Vocal Direction by ManMan Angsico and Musical Direction by Jojo Malferari. It will run from September 25 to October 18, 2009 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditiorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati. For tickets and other inquiries, please call Atlantis Productions at 8927078 or 8401187, or you can check out their website at www.atlantisproductionsinc.com.