DON’T HARMONIZE ANGRY. Premiering at the Oxford Theatre on May 10, Spring Awakening is a rock musical covering topics such as sexuality, abuse, and suicide.

The controversial musical Spring Awakening is set to premiere in Eau Claire May 10, and the cast hopes it will spark a conversation in the community. 

Spring Awakening, based on the 1892 play by Frank Wedekind, is an honest look at teenagers growing into adults. Set in late 19^th century Germany, the rock musical adaptation explores difficult themes including sexuality, abuse, and suicide.

The Eau Claire Children’s Theatre’s production of Spring Awakening will be the first in the region, as it is still a relatively new musical. 

“We’re always looking for some new shows to put in the season instead of always doing the old classics,” said ECCT director Wayne Marek. “With the success of ‘Rent’ a couple years ago, we wanted to jump on something else that was edgy.” 

The “edgy” show discusses real issues, said Lauren Anderson, a UW-Eau Claire student who plays Ilse in the show. 

“I hope it opens up the eyes of the community that these issues need to be thought about more, because sometimes it’s easy to forget about them,” Anderson said. 

Molly Wilson, a UWEC student who plays Wendla, said its difficult content sets Spring Awakening apart from
other shows. 

“This kind of digs into the nooks and crannies that get glossed over in normal musicals,” Wilson said, noting sex as one of the issues heavily touched on in the show. 

Wilson’s character Wendla asks her mother where babies come from and a false response leaves Wendla with more questions than it does answers. “I hope that (this show) has kids in the community asking questions more,” Wilson said. 

Sebastian Armendariz, a university student who plays Moritz, wants patrons of the show to look past its controversial nature on the surface and appreciate its frank portrayal of issues modern teenagers face. 

“It’s more than a show that has nudity in it. It’s more than a show that has cursing in it, it’s more than these little parts of it,” Armendariz said, “It’s about teenagers becoming adults. That’s the real issue at hand.”

The cast, composed primarily of university students, found that playing young teens was the greatest challenge. “We have not experienced these things that happen in the show … for a long time,” said Adam Accola, a university student who plays Ernst. “It’s really challenging to put yourself in the mindset of a 13, 14-year-old student going through puberty,” Accola said. 

The realistic challenges and issues portrayed as well as the show being a regional premiere make the Eau Claire Children’s Theatre’s production of Spring Awakening one not to miss. It will be performed at 7:30 p.m. May 10 through 12 at The Oxford. Visit www.ecct.org for tickets.