Innocence Interrupted — SPRING AWAKENING at Manoa Valley Theatre

A little teenage angst—what’s the worst that can happen? In the case of Spring Awakening, the worst is bad, and it all happens. A rebellious rock musical set in a provincial nineteenth-century German town, this is a story of a clash between the generations: the old, stifling, order and their offspring: repressed children bursting and thirsting. The crux is knowledge versus shame, innocence versus experience. The result: the Manoa Valley Theatre (MVT) production of Spring Awakening—in the care of Director Paul T. Mitri—is a profound experience, highly sensual and intellectual.

Levin and Ho'okano [courtesy of MVT]

The “awakening” begins with Wendla, a sheltered adolescent played with near-paroxysmal nervous energy by Elise Levin. Singing the opening musical number, “Mama Who Bore Me,” she faces the audience and explores her own physical landscape. Levin, like most of the cast, has a powerful voice. The ethereal music played by the band just above her and the dreamlike atmosphere of the scene help to create a seductive initial moment, eventually interrupted by the entrance of Wendla’s mother.

The role of the adult men and women—all played by Craig Howes and Liz Stone—is to interrupt, check, and disturb the youth. Which in turn inspires them to rebel, explore, implode.

Based on a play of the same name, filled with abuse and death, the musical, through songs, dance, and the production’s elemental synergy, achieves a disquieting beauty. The scenes—short and potent—represent the external, while the musical numbers express the young characters’ internal conflicts and desires. The musical direction of Kenji Higashihama is outstanding.

The movement, choreographed by Cindy Hartigan, is both stylized and organic feeling—even orgiastic, at times—with synchronized rock-star dance moves here and a throbbing mass of touching bodies there. The set is also used to reflect internal revelations, starting off whitewashed and becoming a canvas, literally painted on during many of the songs.

The performances bear the mark of Mitri’s direction—he has a gift for empowering actors to make something out of every word and thought. Often, multiple things happen at once. While the action unfolds on stage, the rest of the cast hover in the “rafters” above watching, heightening the sense of impending drama, until the music starts again.

Jonah Ho‘okano, who plays the intellectual dissident Melchior, has that rare stellar combination: the voice, the presence, and the moves. In his moment alone on stage at the end of the penultimate number—“Those You’ve Known”—Ho‘okano delivers a breathtaking emotional climax.

Other noteworthy performances: Leiney Rigg as Ilse manages without much stage time to portray an unforgettable “lost girl”; Garett Taketa’s Moritz has a constant burning intensity; and Joel Libed as Hanschen provides some of the most shocking humor.

By the final number, you won’t want it to end. It’s an experience like no other. Spring Awakening, let’s just say, is not your average musical. The MVT production of Spring Awakening raises the bar for musical theatre in Hawai‘i. 

An edited version of this review was originally published in the March 21 issue of The Honolulu Weekly.