i recently watched the documentary for spring awakening and the creator said this musical is different from the norm because the songs don’t further the plot. instead they interpret the feelings of the characters which cannot be said out loud. that’s why only listening to the music doesn’t help give you an idea of what’s going on. you’re basically just listening to all the emotions of these teens without knowing what has happened to them so i would highly recommend seeing the show or reading about it!
Ok so general plot summary: All the adults in the show refuse to teach or talk about sex, because it’s so “unpure” and “bad for children to know about”. Moritz has a wet dream and considers it “a nightmare” because he doesn’t understand it, he’s literally losing sleep over it. So Melchior, who has read a lot of more mature books, agrees to write an essay about sex the teach Moritz what it is and how it works, after reading it Moritz is just more upset because now that he knows the details his dreams are more frequent and vivid. Moritz is also bad in school, barely passing his classes, never getting sleep, etc etc. So after finals he sneaks into the principals office to check his scores and finds out he actually passed. However his teachers just like hate him so they fail him anyways, Moritz dad is upset and slaps him a bunch, leading to And Then There Were None. Because of all this continuing to build up and eat at him Mortz eventually k-lls himself (I Don’t Do Sadness) and his father mourns at the funeral (Left Behind) While Mortz’s stuff happens Melchior and Wendla get close, Wendla finds out her friend is being beaten by her father and asks Melchior to beat her so that she understands what it’s like, because in her words “I never feel”. Melchior gets… carried away? Calls her a bitch, beats her till she cries and run away, weird af. Anyways the next day they both apologize and then Melchior basically manipulates Wendla into having sex, Wendla doesn’t actually know what sex is or what’s happening or the possibility of becoming pregnant from it. She does become pregnant and obviously goes to the doctor because she’s constantly feeling sick, after finding out she had sex her mom is pissed. They plan to have an illegal abortion for her but she dies during the procedure. After having sex with Wendla Melchior gets caught about the essay he wrote for Moritz, his teachers saying that the essay must’ve ruined Mortz’s brain and was one of the factors of his death. They ask Melchior if he was the one who wrote it, leading to Totally Fucked. He admits to it and get’s in trouble and kicked out or smth I don’t rlly remember. Anyways he keeps sending letters to Wendla, and after she writes him about being pregnant he writes to her (dead by now) to meet her at the cemetery at midnight. While waiting for her Melchior stumbles upon Moritz grave, and right beside his, Wendla’s. He figures he should also die, leading to Those You’ve Known, Moritz and Wendla as ghosts convincing Melchior to stay alive (he does)
"Love may make you blind, but I wouldn't mind at all" is NOT about him wanting actual love. In thissong they mean "love" as in "self love" which causes blindness according to old wives tales. He's saying he's happy to, ahem, enjoy himself, and doesn't care if there are problems later. Pleasure over consequences, which is a completely teenage thing.
If you liked Spring Awakening, I HIGHLY recommend listening/reacting to Alice By Heart. It's made by the same people who wrote Spring Awakening. Basically, it's Alice in Wonderland set in WWII, and must like SA, the music is sad and sexy. It's amazing, honestly
I’ve always said that the original Spring Awakening is good, but the Deaf West performance is GREAT. I’m so glad you get the symbolism that elevates it. Personally, I don’t think the deaf west Touch Me performance has any spoilers, so if you want to see an amazing performance from that cast, that’s what I would recommend. The blend of sign and dance is beautiful in that song.
@@professorrock4698 I’ve definitely seen one, but I think I found it through a random link on tumblr, so I have no idea how to get back to it. I know one exists though, and that would be where I look!
This musical went to Broadway in 2006. It was the first to introduce so many taboos in such an in-your-face fashion. It was quite controversial to many but celebrated by progressives for how daring it was. Set the stage for many progressive musicals.
I saw this show last year after knowing the songs but very little about the plot, and you captures the deep feelings so much. The way that the show uses music to express the feelings of the characters that they could never say out loud is so genius!
One of the things that is so beautiful about this show is the way the music functions. I think you noticed that the songs don’t really tell you anything about the plot as they do in most musicals (post OKLAHOMA!). Instead, they serve to “deepen the emotional moment.” The show takes place in 19th century Germany, but when the singing starts the actors step out of the character and become 21st century teenagers expressing the feelings that the characters are experiencing but would never be able to put into words.
try watching the revival by Deaf West that ended up on broadway! half the cast is Deaf so the songs are also signed, plus the choreography and stage design are really cool!! the characters being Deaf even adds to the play’s theme of parents not communicating with their children
I saw this with the original cast and had onstage seats. Lilli Cooper sat next to me after The Dark I Know Well and it took everything I had not to hug her. I can not even put into words how amazing the show is and especially sitting onstage. I actually was forgetting to breathe. Not so much spoilers, but for the casting everyone was under 20 and there were 2 adults (one man one woman) that played all the adults.
The difference between bare and spring is that bare us an opera so a lot if the story is done through the use of the music. This is more of a traditional musical where you need the context of the dialogue to get the songs.
Spring Awakening was the extent of my angst phase in high school. I listened to it for a few months, sang it at my school’s cabaret, and around then stopped listening to it as much. But I still love the musical and the songs. The angst is real and I love it.
So you're absolutely on point with the symbolism around the deaf west performance but one more piece of context that really elevated it for me is how it ties into the actual history of deaf education in 1890s Germany. At the time the common educational belief was that sign language was holding them back and deaf kids must be forced (often voilently) to be verbal, and nonverbal deaf students was a failure on the part of the teachers and parents. it really adds a heartbreaking extra layer to Moritz' story. I am not an expert so I may not be remembering all the details but they had an insert about it in the playbill when I saw it and it was really a fascinating piece of context
I honestly appreciate Deaf West’s Spring Awakening far more than the original Broadway production. The Deaf West director Michael Arden is such a genius to add a lot more detail and layers in this story and to include hard of hearing/deaf actors. I wish more productions would offer more experience like that.
This musical is beautiful, while also completely destroying you. I love it soooo much. You should check out the original Act 2 opening, "There Once Was a Pirate". It's metaphorical and confusing, but absolutely lovely. (Btw, glad to see you back!)
I always wondered what happened to Lauren Pritchard (the singer of "Blue Wind"): according to Wikipedia, she's released her own music, and also been on songs by Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco. She has such a beautiful voice - and I think it might have actually been deeper when she did the show on Broadway, which is another reason I'm annoyed they never put out a Broadway cast recording.
I only discovered this show a few weeks ago, and the first thing I did after watching was google what other shows she had been in. Needless to say I was disappointed! Too bad, you don't hear that kind of voice too often on broadway.
There has recently been a reunion concert with the original cast, together with a documentary, about both the concert and the original production, which is very interesting and deep and moving. I can highly recommend it, even though it made me cry multiple times
Spring Awakening is one of my favorite shows, but I can only watch it when I'm in the right headspace since it's so heavy. It's very dark, but covers a lot of important topics in a very blunt manner, which is ironically part of why I love it so much. The Deaf West production is 100% my favorite and I totally recommend watching it, but please be careful and take care of yourself since the show is so heavy. :) (Also don't worry, I've been a fan of the show for years and I still don't get some of the lyrics lol) Love your reactions!
I loved your reactions as usual, and personally I think the music in Spring Awakening is some of the most beautiful I've heard, and as you said it's really genuine. I hope you'll do a video giving your thoughts after you watch the whole show, and how you feel after experiencing the context too!
I have been listening to Spring Awakening since I was definitely to young to understand what it was actually about. I clearly remember the first time I actually understood what The Dark I Know Well was referring to and my reaction was very similar to yours. It took me almost half a year to re-listen to Spring Awakening after the meaning hit. I still don't know why my parents ever really listen to Spring Awakening at such a young age but then again I don't think that they truly listened to the lyrics, I think they thought it was just another musical. Edit- I have never seen this live but I can tell you what I know about the plot. It takes place in 19th century Germany and is seen as a cautionary tail about the dangers of purity culture/ "just don't have sex" sex education by many people. But also about what happens when the adults hold all of the power and how the younger generation will act out in any way possible even if it is dangerous to themselves. (Keep in mind I have not seen any of it live and this is just based on what I have picked up on from the internet)
Parents let kids listen to all sorts of music with adult themes -- other songs in this musical are about masturbation and drug use and many pop songs are about sex. Sometimes parents don't think about the media they let their children consume at all and other times they think the artistic merit or cultural relevance of otherwise "objectionable" art is greater than possible negative consequences children may experience due to being exposed to such media. Sounds like you didn't understand what was going on in the song until you were already aware of what the lyrics were about, which is good: the song didn't introduce you to the topic or traumatize you by scaring you about what could happen to you as a defenseless child.
I played the cello part for this musical a few years back. We didn’t have a violinist, so my lines were much more pronounced, and I became something of an unseen soloist through it all. Damn the cello part slaps if you listen for it.
The last piece, Spng of Purple Summer, is fantastic. For reference, purple summer is a type of flower that only blooms during the spring. The song is a large analogy of “the new shall replace the old”
Ran sound for this and halfway through after repeatedly hearing the music, I discovered the peeling of church bells motif in songs driving home the church’s influence on the characters. Once you hear it, you can’t unhear it. It’s similar to the clockworks motif in Wicked running through both the music and art direction.
Saw the musicals 2 months ago. 😊 What I like about your channel is that I try to go and watch the musicals you react to and then come back to watch your videos (again)😊 So thank you👐👑
I 've been really enjoying watching your videos for a while now, however I love your breakdowns of shows in which the lyrics don't announce the story. I feel like I am reliving the power that was the experience of my first viewing/hearing of the soundtrack through you. You had me tearing up a couple times. Great stuff. (The opposite of this is Fun Home which won the Tony for Best Musical. The soundtrack has every word, even spoken dialogue. So the entire show explained. Hoping you do that one soon. It's beautiful).
I was so into this show when I was younger. I sang some of the songs at a music camp and one of the teachers gave me the cast album. I got to see it live twice when it was in my city, and then in college I volunteered with a group on campus and got free tickets to go several more times (i got to sit on stage twice!) I was even lucky enough to meet some of the crew and they invited me to an understudy dress rehearsal. It was so incredible! A good chunk of my youth is tied to this show, and I love seeing more and more people experience it
it's been a while since i listened to/watched spring awakening in full (edit: added some stuff, thanks wikipedia), so anyone please feel free to correct me or add on, but here's a bit more context: - it's based on a german play from i think the 19th century and is set around the same time - melchior is one of the few people who actually knows anything about sex, like you figured out when he talked to moritz about it, and he wrote an explanation down for moritz to read because moritz found talking about it too awkward - moritz had had problems in school for a while, which led to conflict with his parents, but he did actually earn a passing grade. the school didn't have enough room in the next grade though, so the teachers decided to fail him anyway. - i believe doesn't have much going on because it's the song that plays while wendla and melchior are having sex - you pretty much figured it out, but moritz does commit suicide after don't do sadness/blue wind, and left behind is his funeral song - totally fucked is when the adults find the explanation melchior wrote for moritz and call him in to talk to him. he's sent away to a facility(?) for delinquent boys - wendla's parents find out she had sex because of her pregnancy. they want the child to be aborted, but the abortion ends up killing wendla as well. melchior finds out when he sees her grave in those you've known, having returned once he learned about the child
Please, PLEASE watch the bootleg or read the synopsis! It really helps a lot and its such a beautiful show when the words and dialogue are combined with music and dancing❤
hi I dont usually comment on videos but I love your reviews so much, I watched your bare and next to normal ones several times in a row when they came out because those are two of my all time favorites along with this, the mad ones, and my FAVORITE favorite, Alice by heart and I squealed in excitement when I saw this one in my recommended. First, I definitely 1000% recommend Alice by heart, I saw a few other commenters share the same sentiment but its by the same people, a beautifully dark Alice in wonderland retelling, and in my opinion the music is even better than spring awakenings (a pretty high bar!). second, I really really love your ability to find such complex meanings in the lyrics and use of tone without even having a clear idea of the plot or characters. It's so impressive the amount of accurate and deliciously deep analysis you're able to pull from these soundtracks and I personally would listen to you talking about musicals after you've processed them and learned the plot/context for hours and hours!! Third, without spoiling the plot because a few other commenters already remarked on it, plus you seem excited to see it live, here's my take on the song of purple summer: when I first listened to the soundtrack as a little 14 year old who felt so much of that genuine teenage emotion you were talking about, I also thought those you've known would have worked as the finale and there didn't really need to be an extra song to tie things off. but after several listens and lots of time and thought, I realized this song acts as closure not for the characters (that was the previous song) but for the audience. it gives us the unity of the characters able to finally sing about something beautiful and not dark or scary or overwhelming and the audience leaves with the visualization of flowers blooming and cicadas buzzing and the uplifting rebirth that no matter how bad or hopeless it gets, there can always be rebirth. It's definitely not my favorite (that honor goes to dont do sadness/blue wind) but thinking about its meaning from a narrative point makes me really happy. If you read this, thank you, I adore you, and apologies for this essay long reaction to your reaction!!! :)
Sarah, your words and support mean so much to me! Thank you, thank you, thank you! ❤ I totally agree with your take on Purple Summer, it's much more for us than the characters. Even though now that I've listened to it a couple of times, I kinda like to believe that song happens a few years after Those You've Known, when the wounds have healed and Spring finally turned into the warmest of Summers, hence the purple :) I'm very glad you decided to leave a comment. Hope to see you more often!
@@Barbara2.0 Ahhh thank you so much for your kind reply!!! I really hope you're able to see the deaf west production because what they do for purple summer makes me go insane every time I watch it. I love the idea of them singing it in the future and it reminds me of right when quarantine hit, me and some of my online friends made a zoom production of spring awakening just for fun and for our purple summer, we had the characters dress in modern clothes and our idea that unfortunately wasn't implemented was to make protest signs that related to each specific character (wendla=abortion rights/sex ed, moritz=sucicide prevention with mental health resources, hanschen and Ernst=lgbt rights, Martha and ilse=me too movement, etc). we didn't get to post it online or anything but we had a lot of fun doing it :) I was Moritz!!!
"I cannot understand why musical theater needs to be so painful most of the time." lmao, we sing what we can't speak, and in current societies there's no place for pain to be spoken. Perhaps, in general, pain can only be sung or screamed, not spoken. p.s. please do Rent!!
I went to see this for the first time recently and with everything happening in America it really resonated. Also there's a moment after the first song the boy's school sing where one of the boy's asks another if he wants to study Homer together and "do a little Achilles and Patroclus" I love Greek mythology and I laughed so hard at the reference
🥰 one of my all time favorites, i hope you get to see it live! even though you missed most of the plot, you are still able to pick up on little details even i have never noticed even though ive watched/listened to this show a million times haha
I recommend You’re a good man Charlie Brown. It’s a classic and it has huge actors Broadway actors in it such as Anthony Rapp, Kristin chenoweth, and Roger Bart. It also wouldn’t hurt to go back to some Sondheim stuff. Some of the best underrated Sondheim is assassins.
okay "The Dark I Know Well" was too much for my computer, too--crashed my tab. Very love/hate song. One that I randomly remember sometimes and really want to sing except that... yeah, I also really don't want to. on a lighter note, after not hearing this soundtrack for a while it's clicking now that I don't connect to some of the songs so much (like "Word of Your Body") bc, hello, turns out I'm ace! lol
I was especially curious what you'd think about this show's official recording as it really doesn't give much of the story away; it's the most "stand alone" type album from a musical I think I've come across. My friends gave me a copy of this album when they came back from having seen the show in its first run on Broadway and gave me very little background on what the show's about so my first listen was very similar to your experience here, except you were able to pick up on many of the themes I missed. Even having listened to this particular recording many times and having seen the show multiple times since then, you helped me understand a lot of the seasonal imagery in "Those You've Known" -- your "thought vomit"was very insightful! Hope you've had a chance to see the show since you posted this video!
I'm so happy you've done this! I've been waiting a year! I'm so so happy (Also you listened slightly out of order. It goes guilty ones, don't do sadness, left behind)
@@Barbara2.0 yeah the RUclips order is off for some reason. It goes guilty ones, about how melchior and wendla had sex, and then moritz runs on stage yelling "enough enough enough" before he starts don't do sadness I've no idea why the order is off here but it drives me crazy when I listen But you don't know the show so it didn't affect your flow. But in the show it goes from moritz shooting himself straight to his funeral
Actually, it's not her fault. The Cast Recording is from the Off-Broadway production, where Guilty Ones was after Don't Do Sadness. They changed it when it went to Broadway Also, Song of Purple Summer has new lyrics and harmonies on the broadway version
@@LeeExe in off-Broadway it went there once was a pirate, guilty ones, don't do sadness. I'm not ruling it out, but it seems strange they would mix the songs around between off-Broadway, cast recording, and Broadway
Do you know any of Stephen Sondheim's musicals? He passed away last month, but he was one of the greatest broadway composers of all time, i think it'd be cool if you listened to one of his musicals. My personal favorite is Into The Woods, and it has a pro shot avaliable here on youtube
oh and to answer your question, bare came out in 2000 and wasn't very well known then spring awakening came out 2006 and immediately went over to broadway (and next to normal was 2008 off broadway 2010 broadway)
i think you should react to Daddy Long Legs - it has a gorgeous score and is super underrated, one of my ALL time favourites, just a lovely story all round (and i promise it's a nice change from bare and spring awakening!)
Also id just like to point out that the order of some songs in the cast recording are wrong haha. Its actually I Believe THEN The Guilty Ones then Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind :)
There is currently a very good production of this on at the almeida theatre in London, should definitely try and see it if you can. You really do miss a a lot. Also I believe a movie version is in pre production
I don't know if someone has already said this, there are too many comments to go through. Most of the songs in the score are not meant to further the plot. They are the inner voice of the characters. The songs are where they can express themselves honestly, even if they don't quite understand how they feel or how to articulate it. It is definitely a show that you need to read the book in tandem with listening to the soundtrack. So much going on in the scenes that you will miss with the songs alone.
Yeah I realised that very early on but it was still interesting to try and figure out what everything meant. Hopefully I'll be able to see the show next year
omg u should do Lizzie the Musical! The album is on youtube I'm sure, plus it's sung through so you'll probs know most of the plot! It's a rock musical with an all female cast based off Lizzie Borden!
@@Barbara2.0 I had the cast recording for a while before seeing it and not knowing the lyrics I loved this song. I knew I was seeing the show so I kinda went out of my way to not dig too deep into the lyrics to be familiar but not come to any conclusions. So seeing the context of the song was almost a literal slap. I appreciate the song, but it went from favorite to bottom of the list in a hot second
The first time I saw Spring Awakening was when my sister was in the show(I didn't know anything about the show btw) but I watched her sing about her sexually abusive father whilst sitting next to our actual dad😅
I have so much hate for this show because we did the original German drama (well, an abridged version of it) in middle school and why my teacher thought this was an appropriate play for our age to not just watch but play I will never understand. I played Moritz' suicide scene and I don’t wanna know why my teacher thought I was the perfect person to play a guy who kills himself because he didn’t pass the school year and has a monologue about why he regrets never having had sex. Maybe he just thought I could do it without making it ridiculous but I don’t wanna know.
Hey Joseph, thank you so much for your interest on the video. I am soon captioning all of my videos and will start with this one for you, so keep an eye out! :)
I want to watch this, but I honestly can’t watch or listen to the original anymore cause it feels flat compared to the Deaf West version. I hope you take a look at that one too.
I enjoy most of your videos! But you always pick the worst times in the show to give your speeches. I say speeches instead of commentary because they're soooooooooo long. :) But I still enjoy hearing the voluminous amounts of things you have to say.
i recently watched the documentary for spring awakening and the creator said this musical is different from the norm because the songs don’t further the plot. instead they interpret the feelings of the characters which cannot be said out loud. that’s why only listening to the music doesn’t help give you an idea of what’s going on. you’re basically just listening to all the emotions of these teens without knowing what has happened to them so i would highly recommend seeing the show or reading about it!
And yet you understand the whole point of the show by understanding their emotions only. It's amazing
“This show REEKS of ‘coming-of-age’ story”…Well it IS called Spring Awakening
“they didn’t really play with the word ‘junk’ maybe they do it on stage” oh if only you know
Ok so general plot summary:
All the adults in the show refuse to teach or talk about sex, because it’s so “unpure” and “bad for children to know about”.
Moritz has a wet dream and considers it “a nightmare” because he doesn’t understand it, he’s literally losing sleep over it. So Melchior, who has read a lot of more mature books, agrees to write an essay about sex the teach Moritz what it is and how it works, after reading it Moritz is just more upset because now that he knows the details his dreams are more frequent and vivid. Moritz is also bad in school, barely passing his classes, never getting sleep, etc etc. So after finals he sneaks into the principals office to check his scores and finds out he actually passed. However his teachers just like hate him so they fail him anyways, Moritz dad is upset and slaps him a bunch, leading to And Then There Were None. Because of all this continuing to build up and eat at him Mortz eventually k-lls himself (I Don’t Do Sadness) and his father mourns at the funeral (Left Behind)
While Mortz’s stuff happens Melchior and Wendla get close, Wendla finds out her friend is being beaten by her father and asks Melchior to beat her so that she understands what it’s like, because in her words “I never feel”. Melchior gets… carried away? Calls her a bitch, beats her till she cries and run away, weird af. Anyways the next day they both apologize and then Melchior basically manipulates Wendla into having sex, Wendla doesn’t actually know what sex is or what’s happening or the possibility of becoming pregnant from it. She does become pregnant and obviously goes to the doctor because she’s constantly feeling sick, after finding out she had sex her mom is pissed. They plan to have an illegal abortion for her but she dies during the procedure.
After having sex with Wendla Melchior gets caught about the essay he wrote for Moritz, his teachers saying that the essay must’ve ruined Mortz’s brain and was one of the factors of his death. They ask Melchior if he was the one who wrote it, leading to Totally Fucked. He admits to it and get’s in trouble and kicked out or smth I don’t rlly remember. Anyways he keeps sending letters to Wendla, and after she writes him about being pregnant he writes to her (dead by now) to meet her at the cemetery at midnight. While waiting for her Melchior stumbles upon Moritz grave, and right beside his, Wendla’s. He figures he should also die, leading to Those You’ve Known, Moritz and Wendla as ghosts convincing Melchior to stay alive (he does)
So much plot you’ll probably need to wiki! Essentially it’s about what happens when you don’t teach kids about sex etc.
Omg that’s what I did when I discovered this musical!!
@@xavierbastida790same!
"Love may make you blind, but I wouldn't mind at all" is NOT about him wanting actual love. In thissong they mean "love" as in "self love" which causes blindness according to old wives tales. He's saying he's happy to, ahem, enjoy himself, and doesn't care if there are problems later. Pleasure over consequences, which is a completely teenage thing.
The last song is to the audience to make them feel less dead inside after 2 main characters die and one has to deal with it.
It all gets better
Spring awakening BROKE me the first time I watched it, so I'm curious to see your reaction 😆
If you liked Spring Awakening, I HIGHLY recommend listening/reacting to Alice By Heart. It's made by the same people who wrote Spring Awakening. Basically, it's Alice in Wonderland set in WWII, and must like SA, the music is sad and sexy. It's amazing, honestly
It also has Grace McLean (Marya from Great Comet) in it!
Absolutely! I actually like Alice By Heart more than Spring Awakening.
man the Alice by Heart album is SO good
I’ve always said that the original Spring Awakening is good, but the Deaf West performance is GREAT. I’m so glad you get the symbolism that elevates it. Personally, I don’t think the deaf west Touch Me performance has any spoilers, so if you want to see an amazing performance from that cast, that’s what I would recommend. The blend of sign and dance is beautiful in that song.
Yes!
Do you know if there's any recording of the full Deaf West performance? I have seen their Touch Me and it is indeed fantastic
@@professorrock4698 I’ve definitely seen one, but I think I found it through a random link on tumblr, so I have no idea how to get back to it. I know one exists though, and that would be where I look!
Amazing, thanks! I'll check it out
I really don't like it.
Reminds me of watching a subbed anime
"I come to one and all" is also a sexual innuendo, like most of that song
This musical went to Broadway in 2006. It was the first to introduce so many taboos in such an in-your-face fashion. It was quite controversial to many but celebrated by progressives for how daring it was. Set the stage for many progressive musicals.
I saw this show last year after knowing the songs but very little about the plot, and you captures the deep feelings so much. The way that the show uses music to express the feelings of the characters that they could never say out loud is so genius!
One of the things that is so beautiful about this show is the way the music functions. I think you noticed that the songs don’t really tell you anything about the plot as they do in most musicals (post OKLAHOMA!). Instead, they serve to “deepen the emotional moment.” The show takes place in 19th century Germany, but when the singing starts the actors step out of the character and become 21st century teenagers expressing the feelings that the characters are experiencing but would never be able to put into words.
try watching the revival by Deaf West that ended up on broadway! half the cast is Deaf so the songs are also signed, plus the choreography and stage design are really cool!! the characters being Deaf even adds to the play’s theme of parents not communicating with their children
I saw Deaf West do Touch Me and just started bawling on the spot, it was gorgeous and amazing and just pure joy
This is one of the favorite things I have seen on stage ever! I wish there was a pro-shot available.
I saw this with the original cast and had onstage seats. Lilli Cooper sat next to me after The Dark I Know Well and it took everything I had not to hug her. I can not even put into words how amazing the show is and especially sitting onstage. I actually was forgetting to breathe.
Not so much spoilers, but for the casting everyone was under 20 and there were 2 adults (one man one woman) that played all the adults.
The song Totally F*cked has become my new favorite song to play when Life gives me lemons and I need to dance in the rain.🤟
The difference between bare and spring is that bare us an opera so a lot if the story is done through the use of the music. This is more of a traditional musical where you need the context of the dialogue to get the songs.
The dark I know well is soooooo amazing.
Spring Awakening was the extent of my angst phase in high school. I listened to it for a few months, sang it at my school’s cabaret, and around then stopped listening to it as much. But I still love the musical and the songs. The angst is real and I love it.
So you're absolutely on point with the symbolism around the deaf west performance but one more piece of context that really elevated it for me is how it ties into the actual history of deaf education in 1890s Germany. At the time the common educational belief was that sign language was holding them back and deaf kids must be forced (often voilently) to be verbal, and nonverbal deaf students was a failure on the part of the teachers and parents. it really adds a heartbreaking extra layer to Moritz' story. I am not an expert so I may not be remembering all the details but they had an insert about it in the playbill when I saw it and it was really a fascinating piece of context
That's amazing! Thank you so much for sharing that
I honestly appreciate Deaf West’s Spring Awakening far more than the original Broadway production. The Deaf West director Michael Arden is such a genius to add a lot more detail and layers in this story and to include hard of hearing/deaf actors. I wish more productions would offer more experience like that.
This musical is beautiful, while also completely destroying you. I love it soooo much. You should check out the original Act 2 opening, "There Once Was a Pirate". It's metaphorical and confusing, but absolutely lovely.
(Btw, glad to see you back!)
Thank you, Sabrina! Will check it out asap :)
I always wondered what happened to Lauren Pritchard (the singer of "Blue Wind"): according to Wikipedia, she's released her own music, and also been on songs by Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco. She has such a beautiful voice - and I think it might have actually been deeper when she did the show on Broadway, which is another reason I'm annoyed they never put out a Broadway cast recording.
I only discovered this show a few weeks ago, and the first thing I did after watching was google what other shows she had been in. Needless to say I was disappointed! Too bad, you don't hear that kind of voice too often on broadway.
I don't want to put the whole plot in the comments but PLEASE update us on your thoughts when you figure it out or watch a bootleg!!!
There has recently been a reunion concert with the original cast, together with a documentary, about both the concert and the original production, which is very interesting and deep and moving. I can highly recommend it, even though it made me cry multiple times
Spring Awakening is one of my favorite shows, but I can only watch it when I'm in the right headspace since it's so heavy. It's very dark, but covers a lot of important topics in a very blunt manner, which is ironically part of why I love it so much. The Deaf West production is 100% my favorite and I totally recommend watching it, but please be careful and take care of yourself since the show is so heavy. :) (Also don't worry, I've been a fan of the show for years and I still don't get some of the lyrics lol) Love your reactions!
when they sing “i believe” it’s the scene where wendla and melchior have a full on sex scene on stage so that’s why they kept that song simple
I loved your reactions as usual, and personally I think the music in Spring Awakening is some of the most beautiful I've heard, and as you said it's really genuine. I hope you'll do a video giving your thoughts after you watch the whole show, and how you feel after experiencing the context too!
Absolutely! Will review it once I see it
I have been listening to Spring Awakening since I was definitely to young to understand what it was actually about. I clearly remember the first time I actually understood what The Dark I Know Well was referring to and my reaction was very similar to yours. It took me almost half a year to re-listen to Spring Awakening after the meaning hit. I still don't know why my parents ever really listen to Spring Awakening at such a young age but then again I don't think that they truly listened to the lyrics, I think they thought it was just another musical.
Edit- I have never seen this live but I can tell you what I know about the plot. It takes place in 19th century Germany and is seen as a cautionary tail about the dangers of purity culture/ "just don't have sex" sex education by many people. But also about what happens when the adults hold all of the power and how the younger generation will act out in any way possible even if it is dangerous to themselves. (Keep in mind I have not seen any of it live and this is just based on what I have picked up on from the internet)
Oh I didn't know it was set in Germany! That explains the costumes
@@Barbara2.0 - see the show here:
ruclips.net/video/oMbiwOM5rbM/видео.html
Parents let kids listen to all sorts of music with adult themes -- other songs in this musical are about masturbation and drug use and many pop songs are about sex. Sometimes parents don't think about the media they let their children consume at all and other times they think the artistic merit or cultural relevance of otherwise "objectionable" art is greater than possible negative consequences children may experience due to being exposed to such media.
Sounds like you didn't understand what was going on in the song until you were already aware of what the lyrics were about, which is good: the song didn't introduce you to the topic or traumatize you by scaring you about what could happen to you as a defenseless child.
I played the cello part for this musical a few years back. We didn’t have a violinist, so my lines were much more pronounced, and I became something of an unseen soloist through it all. Damn the cello part slaps if you listen for it.
The last piece, Spng of Purple Summer, is fantastic. For reference, purple summer is a type of flower that only blooms during the spring. The song is a large analogy of “the new shall replace the old”
Ran sound for this and halfway through after repeatedly hearing the music, I discovered the peeling of church bells motif in songs driving home the church’s influence on the characters. Once you hear it, you can’t unhear it. It’s similar to the clockworks motif in Wicked running through both the music and art direction.
Saw the musicals 2 months ago. 😊
What I like about your channel is that I try to go and watch the musicals you react to and then come back to watch your videos (again)😊 So thank you👐👑
I 've been really enjoying watching your videos for a while now, however I love your breakdowns of shows in which the lyrics don't announce the story. I feel like I am reliving the power that was the experience of my first viewing/hearing of the soundtrack through you. You had me tearing up a couple times. Great stuff. (The opposite of this is Fun Home which won the Tony for Best Musical. The soundtrack has every word, even spoken dialogue. So the entire show explained. Hoping you do that one soon. It's beautiful).
That warms my heart, thank you so much for your kind words ❤ And glad to inform Fun Home is on the list ;)
I love your reaction to when the show goes dark.
We all felt it the first time
I was so into this show when I was younger. I sang some of the songs at a music camp and one of the teachers gave me the cast album. I got to see it live twice when it was in my city, and then in college I volunteered with a group on campus and got free tickets to go several more times (i got to sit on stage twice!) I was even lucky enough to meet some of the crew and they invited me to an understudy dress rehearsal. It was so incredible! A good chunk of my youth is tied to this show, and I love seeing more and more people experience it
it's been a while since i listened to/watched spring awakening in full (edit: added some stuff, thanks wikipedia), so anyone please feel free to correct me or add on, but here's a bit more context:
- it's based on a german play from i think the 19th century and is set around the same time
- melchior is one of the few people who actually knows anything about sex, like you figured out when he talked to moritz about it, and he wrote an explanation down for moritz to read because moritz found talking about it too awkward
- moritz had had problems in school for a while, which led to conflict with his parents, but he did actually earn a passing grade. the school didn't have enough room in the next grade though, so the teachers decided to fail him anyway.
- i believe doesn't have much going on because it's the song that plays while wendla and melchior are having sex
- you pretty much figured it out, but moritz does commit suicide after don't do sadness/blue wind, and left behind is his funeral song
- totally fucked is when the adults find the explanation melchior wrote for moritz and call him in to talk to him. he's sent away to a facility(?) for delinquent boys
- wendla's parents find out she had sex because of her pregnancy. they want the child to be aborted, but the abortion ends up killing wendla as well. melchior finds out when he sees her grave in those you've known, having returned once he learned about the child
Oh my God :( Thanks for this. The show is even darker than I suspected
Please, PLEASE watch the bootleg or read the synopsis! It really helps a lot and its such a beautiful show when the words and dialogue are combined with music and dancing❤
hi I dont usually comment on videos but I love your reviews so much, I watched your bare and next to normal ones several times in a row when they came out because those are two of my all time favorites along with this, the mad ones, and my FAVORITE favorite, Alice by heart and I squealed in excitement when I saw this one in my recommended. First, I definitely 1000% recommend Alice by heart, I saw a few other commenters share the same sentiment but its by the same people, a beautifully dark Alice in wonderland retelling, and in my opinion the music is even better than spring awakenings (a pretty high bar!). second, I really really love your ability to find such complex meanings in the lyrics and use of tone without even having a clear idea of the plot or characters. It's so impressive the amount of accurate and deliciously deep analysis you're able to pull from these soundtracks and I personally would listen to you talking about musicals after you've processed them and learned the plot/context for hours and hours!! Third, without spoiling the plot because a few other commenters already remarked on it, plus you seem excited to see it live, here's my take on the song of purple summer: when I first listened to the soundtrack as a little 14 year old who felt so much of that genuine teenage emotion you were talking about, I also thought those you've known would have worked as the finale and there didn't really need to be an extra song to tie things off. but after several listens and lots of time and thought, I realized this song acts as closure not for the characters (that was the previous song) but for the audience. it gives us the unity of the characters able to finally sing about something beautiful and not dark or scary or overwhelming and the audience leaves with the visualization of flowers blooming and cicadas buzzing and the uplifting rebirth that no matter how bad or hopeless it gets, there can always be rebirth. It's definitely not my favorite (that honor goes to dont do sadness/blue wind) but thinking about its meaning from a narrative point makes me really happy. If you read this, thank you, I adore you, and apologies for this essay long reaction to your reaction!!! :)
Sarah, your words and support mean so much to me! Thank you, thank you, thank you! ❤ I totally agree with your take on Purple Summer, it's much more for us than the characters. Even though now that I've listened to it a couple of times, I kinda like to believe that song happens a few years after Those You've Known, when the wounds have healed and Spring finally turned into the warmest of Summers, hence the purple :) I'm very glad you decided to leave a comment. Hope to see you more often!
@@Barbara2.0 Ahhh thank you so much for your kind reply!!! I really hope you're able to see the deaf west production because what they do for purple summer makes me go insane every time I watch it. I love the idea of them singing it in the future and it reminds me of right when quarantine hit, me and some of my online friends made a zoom production of spring awakening just for fun and for our purple summer, we had the characters dress in modern clothes and our idea that unfortunately wasn't implemented was to make protest signs that related to each specific character (wendla=abortion rights/sex ed, moritz=sucicide prevention with mental health resources, hanschen and Ernst=lgbt rights, Martha and ilse=me too movement, etc). we didn't get to post it online or anything but we had a lot of fun doing it :) I was Moritz!!!
@@fawnlowell6094 I love the modernized character idea for Purple Summer! And the 'a few years later' idea! You guys are both brilliant.
"I cannot understand why musical theater needs to be so painful most of the time." lmao, we sing what we can't speak, and in current societies there's no place for pain to be spoken. Perhaps, in general, pain can only be sung or screamed, not spoken. p.s. please do Rent!!
I went to see this for the first time recently and with everything happening in America it really resonated. Also there's a moment after the first song the boy's school sing where one of the boy's asks another if he wants to study Homer together and "do a little Achilles and Patroclus" I love Greek mythology and I laughed so hard at the reference
'I Believe' is solely a background song while Groff and Lea do the do. ;)
🥰 one of my all time favorites, i hope you get to see it live! even though you missed most of the plot, you are still able to pick up on little details even i have never noticed even though ive watched/listened to this show a million times haha
I recommend You’re a good man Charlie Brown. It’s a classic and it has huge actors Broadway actors in it such as Anthony Rapp, Kristin chenoweth, and Roger Bart. It also wouldn’t hurt to go back to some Sondheim stuff. Some of the best underrated Sondheim is assassins.
okay "The Dark I Know Well" was too much for my computer, too--crashed my tab. Very love/hate song. One that I randomly remember sometimes and really want to sing except that... yeah, I also really don't want to.
on a lighter note, after not hearing this soundtrack for a while it's clicking now that I don't connect to some of the songs so much (like "Word of Your Body") bc, hello, turns out I'm ace! lol
The first time listening to I believe and the first time watching i believe are very different experiences😂😂
Also THERES GONNA BE A REVIVAL???? I have to go to London now omg
Hmmmm very curious now
Yeah it's already running actually
I'm so glad you liked don't do sadness as its my favourite song of all time
(If you remember I spoke of this as a runner up of your pop giveaway)
I do! You have great taste, my friend
When you keep asking what happens on stage I can only think a lot😶🫣😅😂
There is video of Lea Michele singing Touch Me which she doesn't sing in the play. It is gorgeous.
I was especially curious what you'd think about this show's official recording as it really doesn't give much of the story away; it's the most "stand alone" type album from a musical I think I've come across. My friends gave me a copy of this album when they came back from having seen the show in its first run on Broadway and gave me very little background on what the show's about so my first listen was very similar to your experience here, except you were able to pick up on many of the themes I missed. Even having listened to this particular recording many times and having seen the show multiple times since then, you helped me understand a lot of the seasonal imagery in "Those You've Known" -- your "thought vomit"was very insightful!
Hope you've had a chance to see the show since you posted this video!
Thanks for the kind words ❤️ Haven't had a chance to see it yet but hope I will soon because this became one of my favourite shows
I'm so happy you've done this!
I've been waiting a year!
I'm so so happy
(Also you listened slightly out of order. It goes guilty ones, don't do sadness, left behind)
Oh really? I followed the OBC recording. Hopefully that wasn't disrupting :)
@@Barbara2.0 yeah the RUclips order is off for some reason.
It goes guilty ones, about how melchior and wendla had sex, and then moritz runs on stage yelling "enough enough enough" before he starts don't do sadness
I've no idea why the order is off here but it drives me crazy when I listen
But you don't know the show so it didn't affect your flow.
But in the show it goes from moritz shooting himself straight to his funeral
Actually, it's not her fault. The Cast Recording is from the Off-Broadway production, where Guilty Ones was after Don't Do Sadness. They changed it when it went to Broadway
Also, Song of Purple Summer has new lyrics and harmonies on the broadway version
@@LeeExe in off-Broadway it went there once was a pirate, guilty ones, don't do sadness.
I'm not ruling it out, but it seems strange they would mix the songs around between off-Broadway, cast recording, and Broadway
Do you know any of Stephen Sondheim's musicals? He passed away last month, but he was one of the greatest broadway composers of all time, i think it'd be cool if you listened to one of his musicals. My personal favorite is Into The Woods, and it has a pro shot avaliable here on youtube
Planning to do that very soon ;)
I have been WAITING for this day!!!!!!
oh and to answer your question, bare came out in 2000 and wasn't very well known then spring awakening came out 2006 and immediately went over to broadway (and next to normal was 2008 off broadway 2010 broadway)
i think you should react to Daddy Long Legs - it has a gorgeous score and is super underrated, one of my ALL time favourites, just a lovely story all round (and i promise it's a nice change from bare and spring awakening!)
Yeah you will probably just need to read the synopsis on Wikipedia. There is A LOT of plot that isn't shown much in the songs.
Also id just like to point out that the order of some songs in the cast recording are wrong haha. Its actually I Believe THEN The Guilty Ones then Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind :)
There is currently a very good production of this on at the almeida theatre in London, should definitely try and see it if you can. You really do miss a a lot. Also I believe a movie version is in pre production
Yes! Planning to see it in Jan
"I believe" really needs the visuals...
Hah, good timing, I just listened to this for the first time two night ago! I was similarly confused but enjoying the music
Your analysis of Those You've Known totally made sense and gave me chills!
That's so sweet. Thank you! Glad you connected with it 😊
It's a rough song, but The Dark I know Well is one of my favorite songs in the entire show.
My favourite musical!! If you liked this one i really recommend Alice By Heart
I don't know if someone has already said this, there are too many comments to go through. Most of the songs in the score are not meant to further the plot. They are the inner voice of the characters. The songs are where they can express themselves honestly, even if they don't quite understand how they feel or how to articulate it. It is definitely a show that you need to read the book in tandem with listening to the soundtrack. So much going on in the scenes that you will miss with the songs alone.
I just played Otto in a production of this in Scottdale PA
react to drowsy chaperone, i think you'll love it!
As we stumble along, I agree with this
I wish you would've watched the actual production video, the music totally takes on layers of meaning that just a listen through can't offer.
Yeah I realised that very early on but it was still interesting to try and figure out what everything meant. Hopefully I'll be able to see the show next year
omg u should do Lizzie the Musical! The album is on youtube I'm sure, plus it's sung through so you'll probs know most of the plot! It's a rock musical with an all female cast based off Lizzie Borden!
Sounds great! :)
Word of your body, talks about wounds because of cupids arrow
He shot you, you're wounded, you just got an arrow in your chest
So excited to watch this reaction!
oh my god I'm still in the middle of watching but I just realized that's art of our lord and savior Lauren Lopez behind you!! jkoadfglkj; Amazing.
Did you ever get a chance to see a production? What did you think of the actual plot?
i can never casually listen to the dark i know well - i usually just skip it
it's too hard for me to listen to my heart hurts everytime i listen to it
I know right? It's too much :(
@@Barbara2.0 I had the cast recording for a while before seeing it and not knowing the lyrics I loved this song. I knew I was seeing the show so I kinda went out of my way to not dig too deep into the lyrics to be familiar but not come to any conclusions. So seeing the context of the song was almost a literal slap. I appreciate the song, but it went from favorite to bottom of the list in a hot second
There were only two people in the og cast over the age of 24.
Bare: A Pop Opera came first! The first cast recording for Bare came out in 2000 and Spring Awakening premiered off broadway in 2006.
Jonathan Groff is amazing lol. I'm actually singing All That's Known for my musical theater competition solo.
Good luck!!!
Please give a review if u catch the London version!!
Absolutely :)
There’s a couple of vids of the whole production on RUclips, not the best quality but….
I don't remember anything between the two versions of Mama Who Bore Me in either of the versions.
You should react to Alice by Heart next!!!! It was written by the same pair who wrote Spring Awakening and it is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love the Lauren poster! Is it homemade?
Yes yes 😁
The first time I saw Spring Awakening was when my sister was in the show(I didn't know anything about the show btw) but I watched her sing about her sexually abusive father whilst sitting next to our actual dad😅
Btw during my junk, on stage a guy is uhh.. ye
Oooooh I knew they wouldn't have just chosen that term for no reason
I have so much hate for this show because we did the original German drama (well, an abridged version of it) in middle school and why my teacher thought this was an appropriate play for our age to not just watch but play I will never understand. I played Moritz' suicide scene and I don’t wanna know why my teacher thought I was the perfect person to play a guy who kills himself because he didn’t pass the school year and has a monologue about why he regrets never having had sex. Maybe he just thought I could do it without making it ridiculous but I don’t wanna know.
It is the saddest story ever you have to watch it
I'm only 10 minutes in and I'm just 'Yeah, it's about sex. It's sexual. Not really that deep yet.' lol
I believe the sex scene
Those youve know: dead wendla and moritz reminding melchior why he should live
Please react to Bat out of Hell
Can somebody please caption this video? I am deaf and I want to know her take on this wonderful musical!
Hey Joseph, thank you so much for your interest on the video. I am soon captioning all of my videos and will start with this one for you, so keep an eye out! :)
@@Barbara2.0 thank you!! I really appreciate this!
@@Barbara2.0 can’t wait!!
...ao when are you reacting to tick tick boom
I want to watch this, but I honestly can’t watch or listen to the original anymore cause it feels flat compared to the Deaf West version. I hope you take a look at that one too.
You have to be confident you are doing something special when you have 200 views thus far and almost 50 comments. :)
❤🥰❤
Watch the bootleg of spring awakening please I will live on that video
As far as I’m concerned this show is a work of genius but the songs really don’t make sense on their own
The old days! how dare you! I would love to be a fly on the wall when you guys get older and see how you spin age then. Love your videos but tut tut.
I enjoy most of your videos! But you always pick the worst times in the show to give your speeches. I say speeches instead of commentary because they're soooooooooo long. :) But I still enjoy hearing the voluminous amounts of things you have to say.