A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

MY JUNK IS YOU: A topic we hit on from time to time here is the current disjoint between Broadway and current pop music. I'm pleased to report that there's now a rickety bridge at least at one point on that river in the form of the much-acclaimed Spring Awakening. No, you won't be hearing any of the songs shooting up the pop charts anytime soon, I expect, but most of the songs in the show wouldn't be out of place as album cuts from folks like John Mayer, Ben Folds, Dashboard Confessional, or Sufjan Stevens. Indeed, one could argue that Spring Awakening is the first emo musical, given its themes of adolescents wanting to find relationships and feeling guilty about finding relationships. And "Totally F**ked!" may be one of the best show-stoppers on Broadway right now--too bad that for obvious reasons, it won't be performed on TV or elsewhere anytime soon. It's a crowded year at the Tonys in the top acting categories (Raul Esparza is a virtual cinch for lead actor at this point, and lead actress features the battle of Tony-beloved divas Donna Murphy, Audra McDonald, and Kristin Chenoweth), but I hope John Gallagher, Jr. is recognized as a Featured Actor for his fine work. The show's not perfect--the last 15 minutes are rather rushed, as though the creative team said "well, we've got two hours of show now, let's wrap it up quick!," and chopped a book scene or two that would have given us a fuller understanding and resolution of a few dangling subplots, but this is still well worth your time if you care about musical theatre and can handle the "edgy" content (on-stage nudity from both genders, a number of sex acts depicted on stage, and some salty language).