The past few years have ushered in many film versions of musicals. From remakes of old classics to first-time transitions from stage to screen to originals made for viewers at home, the world is loving musicals they can watch from their couch. Even so, no matter what the musical is, bringing something written for the stage to the screen always presents its fair share of challenges. While Spring Awakening was a very popular musical in its time, it never made the jump to the screen. HBO’s documentary, Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known, just premiered, and it’s debuting a fresh new way to bring a musical from the ever-inaccessible Broadway stage to folks at home. This documentary has created a bold new avenue for translating stage shows to film. But, why is it that this format works so well?
Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known follows Spring Awakening’s original cast’s preparation for the 15-year anniversary concert that took place in 2021. It intersperses footage from the show’s original boom on Broadway with the cast’s return to their old material. It includes talking heads from the cast and the writing/directing team. Narratively, Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known won’t guide viewers through the story in the way Spring Awakening would on its own.
Still, the documentary makes every necessary alteration to ensure that there aren’t any confusing gaps missing in the delivery of the plot (while myriad subplots and details, of course, get lost in translation.) The documentary’s pace and structure doesn’t move with the chronology of the story. Rather, it pops in and out, weaving the narrative of Spring Awakening with the tale of what happened with the original production, as well as the 15th anniversary concert. Despite the departure from the original story, the point comes across in ways that sometimes seem even more poignant.
Still, it feels like a documentary isn’t likely to speak to the average audience the way a movie does. So, why should anyone choose this format over one that seems more accessible to audiences as a whole? We all know that Hamilton proved that a filmed version of a stage musical can be just as impactful as a movie musical. Even more so, Disney+’s Hamilton gave folks lacking the monetary and/or geographic access to the show the magic in almost its purest form. Disney+’s filmed version of Hamilton certainly eliminated the dissonance between any stage show and its film adaptation. Sure, viewers may have been missing electricity, uniqueness, and uncertainty embedded in a live performance, but Disney+’s Hamilton still eliminated any major differences, cuts, or altered elements that are typically innate in the stage to screen transition.
When Hamilton effectively broke the mainstream mold of the stage to screen musical move, much of the dissonance between any stage show and its film adaptation was cut away. In the same breath, it made its film slightly less appealing to the average moviegoer. As popular as Spring Awakening is, few musicals gained the traction of Hamilton while on Broadway, and Spring Awakening is included in that. Because there was never a way to view Spring Awakening outside of the stage, those who have developed a love for or knowledge of it have either had the opportunity to see it on stage or become acquainted with it from the soundtrack. Spring Awakening, of course, has a soundtrack that sets it apart from the typical musical: the music written by singer/songwriter, Duncan Sheik, is fresh, poignant rock music. The connection between story and music has a unique way of resonating with people. It can do things that just story or just music, alone, cannot. In this way, Spring Awakening’s music was able to transcend that of theatre lovers and seep more easily into the mainstream.
Even so, those who are fans of Spring Awakening are often young theatre fans. And, this documentary has a way in for theatre fans, even those who didn’t know about Spring Awakening before. It captures not only the magic of being in the presence of theatre, but it also uniquely captures the feeling of being involved with theatre. Encompassed in this is all the magic intrinsic to the stage, and this is familiar for theatre fans and fresh and exciting for those who may not be. No matter the musical theatre-related background a viewer comes from, Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known offers viewers tastes of so many pieces of the process, as a whole. There are snippets of the soundtrack through the anniversary concert, the story's narrative, exciting retellings of the underdog story that brought Spring Awakening its success at the start, and how the whole process has affected the players today.
A Spring Awakening movie version would've been welcome in whatever way it was made: whether it was a live version of the stage show, like Hamilton or a fresh, anticipated film version, like Tick, Tick... Boom! Yet, Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known offered a rare opportunity to hear from and experience a disbanded and reunited original cast. This documentary preserved an important part of Spring Awakening's life by getting the band back together and taking the opportunity to allow audiences to hear about their unique journey. At the same time, it teased Spring Awakening to those who don't know about it and old lovers of the show, alike.
Whether you were a Spring Awakening fan before seeing the documentary or were a convert over the course of experiencing it, Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known allows an easier and, in some ways, more poignant, way of translating a stage musical to the big screen. The documentary not only allows audiences who may not have experienced this musical before to see it performed as it was originally written to be performed, but it allows older fans to enjoy the nostalgia as well as letting the world see the original cast performing the music. The footage that is included of the 15th anniversary can't help but beg the question: "if this incredible concert was recorded, when can the public see the footage?" If Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known was presented as a piece in and of itself, it did a wonderful job representing its source material. If it was presented as a teaser for either the release of professional footage of the anniversary concert or a TBA movie version, it's even better. Other musicals who would like to set the stage (so to speak) for their jump to the screen should certainly take note: Spring Awakening knows how to build hype.