Guest director stages ‘Spring Awakening’ at UW-Stevens Point
An alumna of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is the guest director of “Spring Awakening,” a rock musical staged by the Department of Theatre & Dance April 13-15 and 18-21.
Jessica Lanius, a 1996 graduate and artistic director of Theatre Lila in New York City, calls the play a nontraditional, gritty musical that gives voice to the challenges of adolescence and the loss of innocence as children cross into adulthood. The 2007 Tony Award-winning musical was first performed on Broadway starring Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele, who both later joined the cast of the television series, “Glee.”
Performances of “Spring Awakening” will be held in the Noel Fine Arts Center Studio Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, April 13 and 14, and Wednesday thru Saturday, April 18-21. A 2 p.m. matinee will be performed Sunday, April 15.
Tickets are $17 for adults, $16 for senior citizens and $12 for students (or free with a UWSP student ID if tickets are available the day of the show) and available at the Information and Tickets Office in the Dreyfus University Center, online or by calling 715-346-4100 or 800-838-3378. The show is not appropriate for young audiences due to adult themes and scenes as well as brief nudity.
“Spring Awakening” tells the story of a group of young people growing up in Germany in the late 1800s who are dealing with the angst, hormones and emotions brought on by adolescence. Surrounded by adults that won’t discuss sex, they use song to express themselves and release their trapped feelings, said Lanius.
“This is a timeless look at the fine line between childhood and adulthood,” she said. “It’s a children’s tragedy in that when they try to figure things out for themselves, there are negative consequences.”
The play mixes elements such as contemporary “garage band” rock music and a Victorian setting. In addition, the young characters in the play are costumed in a mix of period and contemporary clothing while the adults wear full Victorian attire. Using the Studio Theatre lends to a stylized set and simple props, with the audience set on two sides of the stage like a runway. Lanius, who uses a choreographic style in her own theatre company, has encouraged the ensemble of actors to experiment with carving the theatre space with their bodies as they perform.
Lanius, a Sauk Prairie native who now lives in Madison, earned a master’s degree in theatre at Rutgers University. She hopes to bring Theatre Lila to community members in the Madison area while continuing the program in New York City.
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