Review: SPRING AWAKENING – AN EXPLOSIVE AND EMOTIONAL PIECE OF MUSICAL THEATRE at DeLaMar Theater ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

May 13rd 2023. On the first warm and beautiful day of spring, what a perfect day for the premiere of the touring production of Spring Awakening with a partly new cast. In a direction by Koen Van Dijk, the show has further matured and sucker punches you in the heart. The musical arrangements are in the skillful hands of Ezra van Nassauw. Story and lyrics by Sater.

The production opened originally on June 25th 2021 in DeLaMar West. Read the Dutch review here, a piece I wrote for a Dutch online theatre magazine:

The show only seems to have gotten even better. It's a masterpiece. The vibrant rock score by Duncan Sheik, the young and talented cast, it's has aged well. The choreography by Roy Jonathans is edgy, full of energy, with a rebellious vibe. A perfect match to the story and music.

The golden trio, Dave Rijnders as Melchior, Sterre Verschoor as Wendla and Juul van de Laar as Moritz, part of the original cast, have grown in their roles and it shows. The emotional depth, the love for the material, it's an absolute pleasure to watch them tell the tragic tale. Shay Lachmann as Georg makes you want to watch him constantly, standing out in the group.

Ad Knippels and Wieneke Remmers play all adult roles and do so flawlessly. During the heartbreaking song Left Behind, Ad as Moritz' father is bone chilling to watch.

New in the cast are Silvana Rocha, Josy Gruijter, Arnout Bultje, Menno Dekker, Tom Di Scala and Valeria Lai. The latter (Valeria) as Ilse is spectacular. She gives Ilse more of an edge and with her deep voice choses to do extra riffs in the brilliant score. Never too much, well-thought of and dosed.

Finally, I must mention the brilliant translation by Daniël Cohen (yet again). The Dutch translation is not only very good, but it also goes above and beyond. Rarely does the Dutch translation add an extra emotional depth, but hearing some of the lyrics in Dutch, it hits the emotional core more than the original.

For more info and tickets: https://opusone.nl/spring-awakening/

To post a comment, you must register and login.