The Playhouse – San Antonio Experiences Opposition to SPRING AWAKENING; Starts MoveOn Petition

The Playhouse - San Antonio's current production of Spring Awakening may be delighting critics and the vast majority of audience members, but a few close-minded and fearful audience members are creating quite a commotion.

According to Shannon Ivey, the production's director and the founder of Theatre For Change (www.theatreforchange.org), an audience member who attended a performance of Spring Awakening on Saturday, May 18th spent time before, during, and after the show copying the adult content warning signs displayed throughout the lobby and restrooms. The same audience member stated during a post-show talkback with the cast that "The gay community's suicide rate is due to the emptiness of their promiscuous lifestyle." While Ivey declined to name the audience member, she has stated that he has a history of defunding other arts organizations and "was acting as though he had every intention of filing a grievance with the city of San Antonio."

In response to these events, Ivey and Theatre for Change have created a petition on MoveOn to allow fans and supporters of The Playhouse - San Antonio to stand in solidarity with the theater company.

To view and sign the petition, please click here.

SPRING AWAKENING is an innovative, fearless, hard rock look at teenage sexual awakening in the spring of their lives, and the disastrous consequences brought about by the ultra-conservative, repressive society in which they live. Set in 1891 Germany, Spring Awakening by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater is as current as Roe v. Wade, and as American as apple pie.

Directed by Shannon Jarrell-Ivey and choreographed by Wendy Ellis, with music direction by Andrew Hendley, the musical runs at The Playhouse - Russell Hill Rogers Theater tonight, May 17, through June 9, 2013.

This talented cast includes: Wendla - Mariela Flor Olivo as Wendla, Travis Treviño as Melchior and Trevor Chauvin as Moritz.

The production will play Fridays and Saturday at 8:00 PM & Sundays at 2:30 PM at The Playhouse -Russell Hill Rogers Theater, 800 West Ashby Place, San Antonio, TX. Tickets: Adults -$25, Seniors (60 plus), Emergency Services, and Military w/ ID - $20, Students w/ ID - $15, Children (12 and under) - $10. An additional $1 processing fee per ticket will apply. Call 210-733-7258 or visit www.ThePlayhouseSA.org for tickets.

The Playhouse produces high quality live theatre that inspires, educates, and entertains audiences of all ages. Our passion is to connect our community to the world by telling stories that reveal the truth of the human experience.

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