SSU - Spring Awakening

Art is continuously changing. transitioning from different medium to different medium as a new generation comes and goes. The performing arts are no exception. All throughout the twentieth century the performing arts have evolved through different mediums, whether as straight plays or musicals. Different styles, different interpretations, and different genres yet still presented with the familiar conventions. Before the new millennium, these were only few and far between. But by the turn of the century, the shows with these conventions began to change entirely and in greater numbers. Taking already existing plays from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century and putting a more modern, revolutionary, even Bohemian spin on them. One of the most revolutionary and most well-known of these plays is this article's subject, Spring Awakening.

Salem State University has just opened their new musical for the 2015 spring semester, the 2006 rock musical by Duncan Sheik and Steven Stater. Spring Awakening, is a rock musical adaptation of the German play under the same title by Frank Wedekind. It tells the story about a group of adolescent boys and girls in late-nineteenth century Germany discovering the peeks of their own sexual maturity.  It expresses different topics and issues that are continuously brought up, even to this day; teenage angst, sexual awareness, puberty, homosexuality, teenage pregnancy, breaking traditional conventions, and so on. This production of Spring Awakening is performed by SSU students; Krystal Hernandez, Courtney Plati, Lia Parisi, Brittani Napoli, Caitlyn Jones, Mat Stanley, Scott Jacobs, Nikos Koutsogiannis, David Meredith, Bobby Brennan, Jimmy McCormick, Andy LeBlanc, and Elizabeth Jelinek, and directed by William Cunningham.
Each cast member performed their character greatly, the central characters and side characters both. The ensemble is lead by the three central characters Wendla (Hernandez), Melchior (Stanley), and Moritz (Jacobs), facing a number of the issues I mentioned earlier. Each of them are as enjoyable to watch and as emotionally moving as one another. However, the two performances that stood out to me the most was, first, Mat Stanley. Last summer I had the privilege of working with this young man backstage at North Shore Music Theater. He was on the run crew and I was a spotlight operator. I can honestly say that it was a treat to work with him then, but it was an absolute joy to see him perform in a show such as this, almost a year later. Stanley portrayed the free thinking rebel, Melchior, spot on. Every scene he was in, you would either laugh, cry, or become inspired. Or all of the above. The same can easily be said about Andy LeBlanc as the figurative roles of the male grown ups. Ranging from the boys latin professor to the father of all the young characters. One scene in particular stood out the most displaying LeBlanc's ability to make us laugh and cry, all within an instant. I have seen this man perform in four shows now, at SSU. Each one he has played a combination of different characters, all with different personalities. And in each show, his performance as these characters has been extraordinary. I have enjoyed watching him perform in the past, and I look forward to watching him perform in the future.
This goes without saying, but Salem State University's production of Spring Awakening comes highly recommended. Speaking as a student who is planning on becoming a grade school teacher, I really enjoyed seeing a show that glorifies the creativity that younger generations can produce, and can be held up today as a parallel to what issues are transpiring in the educational system. Spring Awakening continues this Thursday until Sunday, April 26. If you would like to see this coming of age story be told by a group of coming of age students, come and see for yourself.                         

SSU-Student Theater Ensemble-circle mirror transformation

Theater, as well as the art of performing, has always held the power to entertain audiences around the world since the very beginning. Tragedies have made us cry, Comedies have made us laugh, Histories have educated us, and Musicals have inspired us. Time and time before, I have said that theater can be performed anywhere and by anyone. I append this by saying that theater can be performed in any sort of way. This is most prominent, when it comes to performance classes, whether at a school/university or community center such as YMCA, boys and girls club, etc. These classes, mostly, consist of a series of exercises focusing on the actors body rather than working on an actual show.
This week, from thursday April 9th to sunday April 12th, the Student Theater Ensemble of Salem State University opens their new show Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker. The play consists of performances by Kellie Moon, Olivia Duamine, Jodi Buoncuore, James Wechsler, and Ryan Hull, and directed by Alex Portenko. Circle Mirror Transformation is about a class of five individuals of different ages; Marty (Moon) the teacher of the class, James (Wechsler) Marty's husband, Theresa (Dumaine) an energetic woman from the city, Shultz (Hull) a carpenter, and Lauren (Buoncuore) a high school theater student, and their six week long journey through different performance exercises.
Both the direction from director Portenko and performances by the ensemble are equally masterful. The play, itself, is written with a lot of unfinished sentences, long pauses, and awkward chemistry between characters. Making this play all the more realistic. All performed perfectly by each cast member. Portenko's main direction for this play, was to take something ordinary and transform it into something extraordinary. Pun intended.
This play comes highly recommended. It shows what exercises may be performed in performance classes, as well as what kind of effect these sort of classes can do. They not only can help you discover and practice different exercises to help warm up when performing, but they can also assist in self realization, togetherness among strangers, and opening yourself up to what lies ahead before all of us in life as well as what questions to ask ourselves and consider along the way.