Notes from Jessica López-Barkl, SUNY Sullivan Theater Program Director,
Founding Artistic Director of In Strange Company
Welcome, friends, to SUNY Sullivan’s Zoom Theater for this very special hybrid-live-concurrent performance of the musical SPRING AWAKENING, (from MTI's website) "an angsty rock musical adaptation of the seminal play about the trials and tribulations of growing up. The winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, told by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater through what Entertainment Weekly called, "the most gorgeous Broadway score this decade," Spring Awakening explores the journey from adolescence to adulthood with a poignancy and passion that is illuminating and unforgettable. The landmark musical is an electrifying fusion of morality, sexuality, and rock and roll that is exhilarating audiences across the nation like no other musical in years."
This abnormal time has forced us to be more creative in our ability to access performers and make theater accessible to our students. We believe that what we need right now in this strange time, is a "spring awakening". The version of SPRING AWAKENING that you will see tonight will be a combination of synchronous and asynchronous performances. We will have actors live in the theater and live in their home theater studios. Our production will reflect the original inception of this musical, where characters break out of their 19th-century confines and pull out hand-mics from their pockets, and rock out. In addition, our performers will break out of their confines utilizing the social media that has allowed all of us to stay connected during these strange times. You will see Wendla and Melchior frolicking in the Sullivan County and New Mexico sun, in addition to the Tik-Toks created by their frustrated and claustrophobic parents.
SUNY Sullivan is streaming from the tribal lands of the Munsee Lenape tribe of the Delaware Nation. This is SUNY Sullivan Theater Program's fourth production using the literal or figurative world war, our 2020-2021 Theater Season. We are examining plays where war occurs in the micro- or macrocosm. With this musical's concept with a hybrid-concurrent-live performance, we are, obviously, continuing to meditate on the world war we wage within ourselves and with time, as the world battles with its reasons for existence and its war on a virus that is not contained. And, yet, this isolation can give us time to explore, write, reflect, and create some levity for our addled brains.
This is a hybrid of asynchronous and synchronous performances with performers live in our Seelig Theatre and live in Zoom allows our students and community members more opportunities to perform. This is an experiment in our challenging times, combining the forms of live theater, live performance, film/television methods, and live Zoom performances streamed into the ether for all to experience. For best results, you should be watching this on a computer. For optimal viewing, please watch on a computer with a full screen. We recommend turning off any notifications and closing any applications on your computer, as they can slow down your computer and therefore slow down our performance. We have 17 performers from 2 countries, 4 different states, 5 cities, 2 time zones, and 7 different tribal lands.
