Do I Get my Equity Card for Sitting on Stage?

    I’m the type of person who can’t listen to the soundtrack of a musical until I’ve seen the show – and can therefore sing along to the music – so I didn’t know much about Spring Awakening before I saw it tonight.
    The only thing I’d been told was “don’t go see it with your parents.” And what did I do? I saw it with my mother. It was my Mother’s Day present to her.
    My mom didn’t end up being too much of a fan by the curtain call, but I think she still had fun. I know she at least partially enjoyed it, because she told me that I “need Kyle Riabko (who plays Melchior Gabor in the tour) as [my[ boyfriend.” I think she spent most of the show ogling over the boys (most of which who are unfortunately, probably gay). We had a good view of them, after all.
    No, we didn’t bring binoculars. Yes, we sat in the front row – of the stage! For Spring Awakening, there’s a group of seats actually on the stage. The actors sit in a few of the seats at various points throughout the show, and they can sing right to you. I even made eye contact with a few of the boys! Not Melchior though, unfortunately…
    Even if I didn’t leave with any of the actors’ phone numbers, watching the show on stage was a ton of fun. But sitting on stage gave me an extra good view of all the actors. Usually, sitting in the audience, I have to find the actors’ headshots to see what they actually look like. But this time, I could see them up close and personal – their faces, their costumes, and especially, their hair.
    I don’t know if the hair for the characters in Spring Awakening is explicitly stated in the script, or if it just depends on the actors, but I was a bit confused about the hair styles in the show. I’m not from 19th century Germany, so I wouldn’t know if that’s how people there and then wore their hair, but I’m going to assume it’s not historically accurate. One of the boys had an extremely-gelled mohawk, one wore greased-down bleach-blonde hair, one had a sort of double-mohawk, and Melchior got to have plain ol’ boy hair (maybe that’s why mom thought he was the cutest?). The girls all had pretty normal hair, either down or in braids.
    Another part of the show that got a bit confusing at times was having two actors play all of the generic adult roles (parents, piano teachers, school teachers) in the play. It took me a little while to realize that the kid characters weren’t having incestuous relationships, because their parents were all played by the same two people. I guess it’s a unique idea, and a great idea to be obligated to pay less actors in this economy, but it was still a little confusing.
    When mom and I first sat down in our onstage seats, we filled our time by eavesdropping on the girls sitting behind us. They seemed to be obsessed with Spring Awakening – they were talking about the last time they saw the show, their favorite actors, everything – they were so enthusiastic! They mentioned something – I didn’t quite catch it – about a “surprise singer” – they were wondering if she/he would sit next to them. I didn’t really know what they were talking about; I just rolled my eyes at their extreme excitement and went back to examining the set.
    My eyes widened with surprise when the girl behind me (sitting next to the other girls) stood up and started singing in the middle of the show. The woman who showed us to our seats had strictly instructed us not to sing along, so, for a second, I was worried. I then realized she had a microphone in her hand, and she was definitely supposed to be singing. Up until this point in the show, I thought she was just a regular person like me and my mom; she had come and sit down like the rest of us, watched the show, I couldn’t believe that she was one of the performers! Then I just got jealous…
    I was actually jealous the entire show. The actors were all around my age – some in college, some recent college grads, and the actress playing Martha had just finished high school! Jeesh, they make me feel so unaccomplished! But it was very cool to see people my age actually working, having real jobs, doing the things they love to do.
    So, all in all, I had a great time seeing Spring Awakening, even if it wasn’t my mom’s favorite. But, hey, there is a parents’ guide on the Spring Awakening website, so she can check that out if she’s really desperate.

Photo Credit of AP Images