The Lost Flamingo Company has some big shoes to fill when it performs
Spring Awakening
this weekend. The Broadway musical starred breakouts Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff, won eight Tony Awards and often ranks among musical fans’ favorites.
The rock musical by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater is about German adolescents in the late 19th century who struggle with their sexual desires, for they have no knowledge of how to handle them.
But the show’s director, Lincoln Sklar, said the company has worked hard to make it their own production and take a different approach than the Broadway version. Most notably, the choreography is essentially all the company’s own and the ensemble is used more frequently in dance numbers and solos.
Fans of the show should still enjoy the LFC production, even with the changes from the original production, said Tess Plona, who plays Wendla, the female lead. Plona said
Spring Awakening
has been her favorite show since she was a freshman in high school.
“We’ve taken pieces from the original show, but the newer stuff adds to it,” said Plona, a sophomore studying integrated language arts. “It never takes away in my opinion.”
The only stark difference is that the nudity in a key scene has been cut because Sklar said it didn’t fit with LFC’s production.
For both of the leads in the show, it’s their first time performing with LFC, at Ohio University and, for Michael Mayberry, since he was in kindergarten.
Mayberry, who plays the male lead Melchior, said it was Sklar who persisted he audition for the show until it started to seriously appeal to him.
“It’s a big learning curve,” said Mayberry, a freshman studying English in the Honors Tutorial College. “But everyone is there to help. … It’s all been about rekindling that teenage angst.”
LFC is not a group for just theater majors; it is open to anyone, thus everyone involved is at different points of expertise.
Plona said she encourages everyone to see the show because of the powerful messages it packs with all of the issues it addresses.
Spring Awakening
tackles underage sex, suicide, child abuse and homosexuality, among others.
“It touches on so many real issues that many are too afraid to face,” Plona said. “I believe in facing these realities. I think (
Spring Awakening
) is so bold, and the music is phenomenal. It touches me every single time I listen.”
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If You Go:
What: The Lost Flamingo Company presents
Spring Awakening
When: 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday
Where: Baker University Center Theater
Admission: $5
