Thu 1/9-Sat 1/11 @ 8PM
Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play Spring Awakening wasn’t likely source material for a hit musical, with its theme of the negative — even fatal — effects of sexual ignorance and repression, as teenagers cope with their incipient sexuality without guidelines or information. (A message here for Ohio state legislators who have resisted comprehensive sex education?) There’s no happy ending for these kids.
Yet the work was turned into a Broadway sensation with music by pop musician Duncan Sheik. It debuted on Broadway in 2006, won eight Tony awards, had three touring iterations and was revived on Broadway in 2015.
The Akron-based Millennial Theatre Project will be staging the show at the Akron Civic Theatre in its intimate cabaret format with the audience onstage with the performers. University of Akron graduate student Tessa Gaffney plays the central role of young Wendla, whose lack of knowledge about how babies are made leads to the inevitable. Tickets are $20.
Akron, OH 44308