was it bad to love spring awakening for a while before deaf west?
i love spring awakening i’m completely obsessed with it and have been for years
mostly i feel like in the years since spring awakening’s heyday the discussion surrounding spring awakening seems to have centered quite a bit around its more problematic elements. there have been many good criticisms leveled against the show (particularly about melchior).
though the show is not perfect and deaf west is not perfect either, i just feel like they did a lot of great things to improve upon how some of the characters come off, AND they added a whole new level of social commentary and impact to it (through touching on issues that relate to Deaf people within the frame of the original musical).
if it felt like it wasn’t cool to like spring awakening anymore, or if liking spring awakening had to come with a shamefully big asterisk, it doesn’t have to. long after the broadway production closed it is still a growing, living show that is refined and renewed over and over as it passes through the lenses of different performers, creative teams, and communities. if you loved spring awakening then got caught up in the criticism it’s okay. it’s okay to love spring awakening again. let’s remember again how many things are great about spring awakening.
