My friends and I went to watch "Spring Awakening" last night at the RCBC Theater. It was Opening Night. We decided to buy tickets to this show quite late already, so only on-stage seats were available from the buyer I contacted. Our seat location was also a matter of great excitement since we will be very close to the action.
We onstage ticket holders were asked to be there 30 minutes before the start of the show for a short briefing and to get our cellphones to ensure no one forgot to turn it off, or got any unauthorized photos (I guess with the sensitive stuff this show is known for, they need this precaution.) Onstage seats were either on the left or right wings of the stage. Our group was assigned to the left wing. We were asked to wait in a holding area before the show and went in together as a group.
It turned out however that being onstage actually affected our proper appreciation of the play as a whole in a NEGATIVE way. The major issue with me was the sound quality. We could not understand most of the song lyrics being sung. This was especially when handheld mikes were used by the actor. We were just getting the story from the general action and spoken conversations. But the essence and angst of the supposedly sublime songs were lost on us who are not familiar with them before watching the show. I wish they had put speakers at the wings for the benefit of the onstage audience. Now I know why these seats were less expensive than the real seats in the theater.
This problem with the sound served to define and distinguish the true quality of the actors' singing voices. The best singers of the group were definitely Joaquin Valdes among the boys and Bea Garcia among the girls. Joaquin's stage experience was quite evident in his effective acting and strong singing, well required of the main male character, the mature and confident Melchior. Bea's portrayal of the Bohemian girl Ilsa was vibrant and memorable. Her singing voice and enunciation were very clear despite the poor sound we had where we were seated.
On the other hand, the voices of Sitti (Marta) and Miguel Mendoza (Georg) were very weak. What they were singing were barely intelligible. The low registers of their songs did not help. As the lead female character Wendla, I felt that Kelly Lati also had a weak vocal projection and stage presence throughout the show. She was wan and obviously nervous in her first song "Mother Who Bore Me", which gave the show a weak opening.
I also had a problem with the way Moritz was portrayed by the actor Nicco Manalo. In the first part, I felt he acted too effeminately during his scenes with Melchior in the first act, which seemed inappropriate for his character. Manalo was much better in the second act but his way of singing and speaking his lines sounded garbled where I was seated, diminishing my appreciation of his character's tragedy. It was too bad because I found the character of the problem boy Moritz the most interesting in the group.
Jett Pangan and Cheska Inigo were proficient in their portrayal of their multiple adult roles. However, apart from the professors who had on caps, there was nothing to distinguish one character from the other. They could have added an accessory to distinguish one parent from the other. Too bad that Jett Pangan did not have a featured song number. I was expecting to hear him sing something.
As for the much-publicized nude scenes, they actually could have been left out without affecting the story. But of course, they still had to be done as instructed in the script. It happens as the first act closes, and again, strangely, as the second act begins. I could not see Kelly (nor her bosom) very well from where I was seated. The girls beside me were commenting that Joaquin needs butt make-up to improve how he looked back there. I will not make further comment about that. Actually, the scene that elicited a louder scandalized gasp from the audience was actually the seduction scene between Hanschen (JC Santos) and Ernst (Nar Cabico), not really this Melchior-Wendla nude love scene.
The much acclaimed and award-winning Duncan Sheik soundtrack did not really grab me, sorry. I found it maudlin, monotonous and even boring in parts as it wallowed in low notes, as typified by songs like "The Dark I Knew Well". The best song is pretty much "Totally F*cked" as this was the only song that elicited a spontaneous applause because of its lively choreography, bravado and energetic staging. I also enjoyed the duet interaction of Moritz and Ilse on "Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind". Bea Garcia was positively glowing in that number. The finale song "Song of Purple Summer" was also very imaginatively and dramatically rendered by the whole company.
I feel bad because of my gripes. I so wanted to like this show, but ended up disappointed. But my perspective may not be typical because of where I was seated. Anyway, it only opening night. I hope that Director Chari Arespacochaga, along with the cast and crew of this show, can still make the necessary adjustments in order to improve their production for the rest of their run.
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