Spring Awakening Original Cast Reunion Documentary to Premiere in May
(courtesy of HBO)
The date has been set for the release of the HBO documentary Spring Awakening: Those You've Known, chronicling the 2021 reunion concert of Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's Tony-winning Broadway musical. The film will debut May 3 at 9pm ET on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.
The Spring Awakening reunion concert, benefiting the Actors Fund, was held on November 15, 2021, at the Imperial Theatre. The event assembled original cast members from the 2006 production, as well as the show's original director Michael Mayer. Performers included Skylar Astin, Gerard Canonico, Lilli Cooper, Jennifer Damiano, Christine Estabrook, John Gallagher, Jr., Gideon Glick, Jonathan Groff, Robert Hager, Brian Johnson, Lea Michele, Lauren Pritchard, Krysta Rodriguez, Stephen Spinella, Phoebe Strole, Jonny B. Wright, and Remy Zaken.
In addition to clips from the performance, the HBO documentary will show the cast and creative team at rehearsals, in their homes, and backstage, with filmed interviews, candid archival video and photographs, as well as performance footage from the original 2006 show. Company members will discuss the show's underdog origins, its path to sweeping the 2007 Tony Awards, the musical's universal themes of teenage repression and angst, and the relationship between Spring Awakening's original co-stars, Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele.
Based on the 1891 Frank Wedekind play and set against the backdrop of a repressive and provincial late-19th-century Germany, Spring Awakening tells the timeless story of teenage self-discovery and budding sexuality as seen through the eyes of three teenagers. The musical was originally produced by the Atlantic Theater Company, before transferring to Broadway in the winter of 2006.
