More than 15 years after they stormed Broadway as an angsty set of adolescents, the original cast of the musical “Spring Awakening” reunited Sunday night at the Tonys and offered a special rendition of one of the musical’s most enduring songs.
One of the show’s stars, Lea Michele, introduced the cast alongside Zach Braff who, not coincidently, introduced the show to Tony audiences in 2007 when it won the award for best musical. Led by Skylar Astin, the cast sang a soulful edition of “Touch Me.”
The 2006 Steven Sater musical, an adaptation of the Frank Wedekind play from the turn of the 20th century, is about German teenagers grappling with sexual desires, secret pain and parental pressure. It vaulted several of its stars — such as Michele, Jonathan Groff, John Gallagher Jr. — to wider fame, won eight Tony Awards, and played more than 850 performances.
The Tony performance on Sunday appeared to book end a reunion that has played out over the last several months. In November, the original cast reunited for one night at the Imperial Theater for a 15th anniversary concert benefiting the Entertainment Community Fund (previously The Actors Fund). The performance was recorded by HBO and released earlier this year as a film: ‘Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known.’
Source: Theater - nytimes.com
