Deaf West to Take Broadway's SPRING AWAKENING on Tour in 2017!

BroadwayWorld is excited to report that Deaf West Theatre's acclaimed Broadway production of SPRING AWAKENING has just announced plans for a national tour, to begin in 2017. The musical will return to Los Angeles, where the production originated, with further stops in Tempe, AZ, Seattle, WA and more to be announced.

Producer Ken Davenport said, "This beautiful production has broken new ground on Broadway and has given people a new way to experience an already-stellar piece of musical theatre. We are thrilled to be able to bring it to a wider audience in cities across the country."

The tour is already generating excitement from presenters around the country.

Douglas C. Baker, Producing Director of Center Theatre Group, said: "Los Angeles-based Deaf West Theatre Company is a regional and national treasure. Deaf West and Center Theatre Group have collaborated on a number of previous projects including the ground breaking revival of Big River.SPRING AWAKENING represents a continuation of the exceptional creativity and artistry Deaf West infuses into all of its productions. We are thrilled that this extraordinary production is going to make its way around the country and we look forward to having it back in Los Angeles, where it began."

Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, Executive Director for ASU Gammage, said: "This SPRING AWAKENING by Deaf West Theatre is an important and moving work. The night I saw it, the audience was electric and so deeply engaged. It is a work that the Road should embrace."

Josh LaBelle, Executive Director of the Seattle Theater Group, said: "Deaf West's production of SPRING AWAKENING on Broadway delivered an incredibly inspirational theatre experience. The cast, direction and breathtaking incorporation of American Sign Language (ASL) was something to behold. Our staff would be honored & excited to present Deaf West's SPRING AWAKENING in Seattle."

This history-making production is performed simultaneously in American Sign Language and spoken English by a cast of 28. It began previews on September 8and opened on September 27; the limited engagement will end on Broadway January 24.

SPRING AWAKENING celebrates diversity on Broadway: Cast member Ali Stroker is the first person on Broadway in a wheelchair; it is the first Broadway show to conduct its ticket lottery in American Sign Language; and the production performed at The White House as part of an event titled "Americans with Disabilities and the Arts: A Celebration of Diversity and Inclusion." Plus, the producers were honored by the New York City Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities with the Champions of Change Award.

The production also recently received six LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards, including Best Musical. SPRING AWAKENING came to Broadway following an extended, critically-acclaimed engagement at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles where the show was expanded from its original, sold-out run at the Rosenthal Theatre in downtown L.A.

Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's SPRING AWAKENING, directed by Michael Arden and choreographed by Spencer Liff, plays at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 West 47th Street). Deaf West Theatre was last represented on Broadway with the triumphant production of Big River in 2003.

The 28-member Broadway cast of SPRING AWAKENING is Robert Ariza, Miles Barbee, Katie Boeck, Alex Boniello, Joshua Castille, Lizzy Cuesta, Daniel N. Durant, Treshelle Edmond, Sandra Mae Frank, Kathryn Gallagher, Sean Grandillo, Elizabeth Greene, Russell Harvard, Amelia Hensley, Van Hughes, Lauren Luiz, Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Camryn Manheim, Daniel Marmion, Academy and Golden Globe Award winner and Emmy Award nominee Marlee Matlin, Austin McKenzie, Andy Mientus, Patrick Page, Ren, Krysta Rodriguez, Daniel David Stewart, Ali Stroker, Alexandra Winter, and Alex Wyse.

SPRING AWAKENING's creative team is Dane Laffrey (scenic and costume design), Ben Stanton (lighting design), Gareth Owen (sound design), and Lucy Mackinnon (projection design). New York casting is by Telsey + Company/Craig Burns, CSA. Original casting was by Beth Lipari and Bruce Newberg.

Based on Frank Wedekind's controversial 1891 expressionist play of the same name and featuring an electrifying pop/rock score, SPRING AWAKENING follows the lives of a group of adolescents as they navigate their journey from adolescence to adulthood in a fusion of morality, sexuality and rock & roll. An extraordinary creative team including Michael Arden and Spencer Liff has reinvented the groundbreaking musical about lost innocence and the struggles of youth in true Deaf West style.

Following its transfer from Atlantic Theatre Company to Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre, the original production of SPRING AWAKENING was the recipient of eight 2007 Tony Awards including Best Musical; four Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical; three Outer Critics Circle Awards including Outstanding New Broadway Musical; two Lucille Lortel Awards including Outstanding Musical; the Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical; and the 2007 Drama League Award for Distinguished Production of a Musical. Amidst critical reception for Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's rock score, including the Tony Award for Best Score and Drama Desk Awards for Best Music and Best Lyrics, SPRING AWAKENING launched the careers of its young actors now known for their film, television and theater work.

SPRING AWAKENING is produced by Ken Davenport, Cody Lassen, Hunter Arnold, David J. Kurs, and Deaf West Theatre, with Carl Daikeler, Sandi Moran, Chockstone Pictures, Caiola Productions, Marguerite Hoffman, H. Richard Hopper, LearyTodd Productions, MarKolTop Productions, R&D Theatricals, Brian Cromwell Smith, Invisible Wall Productions, Monica Horan Rosenthal, and Associate Producer Kayla Greenspan.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus