‘Spring Awakening’ Documentary to Premiere on HBO

‘Spring Awakening’ Documentary to Premiere on HBO

Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known, the documentary about the Tony-winning musical, will premiere on HBO on May 3.

According to HBO, the film features excerpts from the reunion concert in November 2021, newly filmed interviews, candid archival video and photographs, as well as performance footage from the original 2006 show. The documentary also chronicles the cast’s journey back to the stage and shows how they reaffirm their love for the hit musical.

The reunion concert which was for the benefit The Actors Fund, featured the original cast of the show including Jonathan Groff, Lea Michele, John Gallagher Jr., Skylar Astin, Lauren Pritchard, Krysta Rodriguez, Gideon Glick, Lilli Cooper, Jennifer Damiano, Gerard Canonico, Christine Eastbrook, Robert Hager, Brian Johnson, Stephen Spinella, Phoebe Strole, Jonny B. Wright, and Remy Zaken.

Spring Awakening is a coming-of-age rock musical with music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater, based on the 1891 German play of the same name by Frank Wedekind. The show is set in 19th-century Germany and focuses on the lives of adolescents coming to terms with their burgeoning sexuality. Their ignorance and lack of experience in this lead to disastrous consequences. Darker themes like childhood sexual abuse, abortion, and social stigma are also tackled.

The musical opened on Broadway on December 10, 2006, at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre and won 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Director for Mayer, Best Original Score for Sheik, and Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for John Gallagher Jr. It also had a Broadway revival in 2015 by Deaf West Theatre and was nominated for 3 Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical and Best Director of a Musical for Michael Arden.

Local productions were staged by Atlantis Theatrical in 2009 starring Joaquin Valdes and Kelly Frances Lati and by Ateneo blueRepertory in 2019.