THE SHOW:  

Frank Wedekind’s controversial play explicitly portraying adolescents dealing with their new sexual desires, as well as violence and abortion, has awoken cries for censorship since its inception. But its musical version by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater, opening on Broadway one hundred years after the first production of Wedekind’s play debuted in Germany, went on to become a huge hit and earned the 2007 Tony Award for Best Musical.  

Of course, more outcries followed the story as it became available to regional theatres, including youth theatres. The show is, indeed, about youth – teenagers living in a repressive society where they are still told of baby-toting storks. Where physical and sexual abuse of children is kept hushed. Where adolescents wanting to understand the changes they’re undergoing and the hormones flooding their bodies, feeling unable to seek advice from those who might best help, are instead forced to rely on whispered rumors and myths. Or on uninformed experimentation. All resulting in confusion, shame, and tragedy. A setting reflecting a small German town in the early 1890s, or perhaps a modern-day suburb near you.  

THE PRODUCTION:  

Directors Graham Jackson and Erica Robson keep their production at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts edgy, daring, and true to the spirit of the show. A few frames hang above the stage through which we see projected paintings, photos, and other images that unobtrusively set the scenes. Nick van Houten’s careful lighting effects set the moods well, and Kathie Bretches-Urban’s nineteenth-century costumes are aesthetically pleasing and complement the characters.  

Those characters are played by LACHSA’s immensely talented performers led by Liam Starzyk as the smart, confident, and comparatively worldly high school student Melchior Gabor. Through Liam’s performance we see his easygoing confidence crack as biological theory collides with the real-world impact of breaking with societal norms, and the human impact on the sheltered Wendla. Kelsey Smith is terrific as the happy, curious Wendla whose world gets shaken by the ugliness of abuse faced by her friend Martha, and whose nervousness and vulnerability help drive the power of the show as events unfold. She also delivers great vocals whether belting out the rock numbers or her more haunting moments like her solo Whispering. Kelsey and Liam work very well together throughout as their relationship builds.  

Dylan La Rocque is Moritz Stiefel, becoming obsessed with the secret of sex while failing in school. As the pressures drive him to the edge, we feel his growing helplessness. Georgia Mendes is Ilse, former childhood friend who was abused and ran off to live a life with a free-spirited but dangerous sort. Her powerful duet with fellow abuse victim Martha (Katie Powers-Faulk) is one of this production’s great moments, as is her last meeting with Moritz in Don’t Do Sadness/Blue Wind.  

Each member of the relatively small cast is superb including the forbidden tension between the assertive but tender Hanschen (Quinn Martin) and the shy Ernst (Joseph Ottavi-Perez), the outrageous and highly expressionable schoolmasters (Vilem Lehmann-Boddicker and Aidan McCollough) or the amusing piano teacher of fantasy (Jennnifer Kaplan), and the very different mothers in the intelligent, gentle, and progressive Frau Gabor (Molly Billman) and the conservative, uneasy Frau Bergman (Jennifer Kaplan). The cast as a whole excels with their dancing, acting, and singing in several well-staged and choreographed numbers, from letting out teenage frustration with adults with rock numbers, dealing with puberty in My Junk and Touch Me, and trying to overcome tragedy in their beautifully poignant final scenes.

Performed December 13 - 15, 2013

Rob Hopper
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Executive Director
National Youth Arts

~ Cast ~ 

Hanschen Rilow: