Spring Yawning

Last night Mr. Love and I traveled to Wharton Center to sit through "Spring Awakening."

Can you tell already how much I enjoyed it?

Before we went, I knew very little about it. I heard that it was a racy story about teenagers who lusted after each other. I pictured it kind of like "Rent".... meaning a little saucy, Bohemian, sexy, with great music and a lot of fun.

OK, so it was teenagers in (I think) 1940's Germany. Already it's fascinating, right?

The boys all had odd hair styles yet wore stiff German school outfits. The girls were all homely and wore dresses that reminded me of Mary Ellen Walton.

The acting was somewhere between high school and college level, except they appeared to all take themselves very, very seriously. None were great actors, and although they could all carry a tune, I wouldn't exactly say they were ready for Broadway.

The band leader was a young lady who looked about 25, and as the music played, she would shake her head up and down so her hair went flying. I sometimes found this much more interesting to watch than the actual play.

The older lady next to us purchased gummy bears at intermission and proceeded to rattle the plastic bag through most of the second act. It only added to my intense pleasure of the evening.

Speaking of intermission, when it came, we stood up to discuss. I expressed how bored I was, and Mr. Love expressed his enjoyment. He loves artsy fartsy, and boy was this artsy fartsy. He went on to explain that he loved the struggle the young boy was having with shame and how interesting it was to see that exploration.

My response? "I didn't get that at all." Remember, I was watching the hair flying to beat of the music.

I don't do artsy fartsy. Remember "Atonement?" Oh, my goodness I thought THAT would never end. 10 minutes of a good story. 1 1/2 hours of 3 men walking across France during the war. Then it ends with 10 more minutes of a story I no longer care about because I just had to sit through 1 1/2 hours of 3 men walking through France! Randy loved it, and I seriously wondered who it was I had married.

Back to Spring Yawning.

Here's a sample of the lyrics of one of the songs:

O, you're gonna be wounded
O, you're gonna be my wound
O, you're gonna bruise too
O, I'm gonna be your bruise

HUH? They sang that song three times.

In the second act, they sang a song - I kid you not - called "I'm Fu&#ed." After repeating in verses one and two, the song writer must have run out of lyrics, and the kids just sang "Blah Blah Blah" all through the third verse.

Mesmerizing.

That's my opinion. Mr. Love thinks otherwise, and I'm sure he'd be happy to share his opinion with you if asked. Please just ask when I'm in the other room. :-)