The 15th anniversary of the original London production of Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s multi-award-winning Spring Awakening will be celebrated with a special concert production this summer.
Actress Evelyn Hoskins (Gypsy, Mill at Sonning, 42 Balloons, Vaudeville Theatre/The Lowry) will make her producing debut alongside seasoned producer Jack Maple ( how Boat, New London Theatre, The Witches of Eastwick in Concert, Sondheim Theatre), Spring Awakening will play London’s Victoria Palace on 2 June 2023.
Commenting on the concert, Sheik said: “Spring Awakening is the first musical I worked on that managed to get to Broadway and then the West End. Being in London in 2009 for opening night at the Novello with that young and amazing cast was one of the highlights of my life. It is more than exciting that 15 years on, London gets to experience this anniversary concert and I’m honoured that I can be some small part of that.”
Sater added: “My youthful dream was to be a part of the theatre in London. So for me, our brilliant original production of Spring Awakening at the Lyric, and then at the Novello, was an answered prayer. Fifteen years later, to bring back that production for a one-night-only anniversary concert, is like having that prayer answered all over again.”
The anniversary concert will also be raising funds on behalf of Imogen Kinchin, one of the original producers of Spring Awakening in 2009. Imogen was the senior producer at the Lyric Hammersmith for 10 years before joining Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures as executive director in 2018. In 2022, Imogen was diagnosed with Stage IV Bowel Cancer.
Described as ‘one of the most outstanding, creative, inspirational and respected producers in showbusiness… a cherished wife, family member and friend’, Imogen’s extraordinary resilience as she battles the aggressive cancer has inspired friends and family to set up a fund to support bespoke treatment and her family’s needs as they journey through this cruel disease. The fund has raised over £80,000 to date.
The company of Spring Awakening have kindly chosen to donate the proceeds from the concert to Imogen’s Fund.
The concert will be directed by Jamie Armitage (Six The Musical) with musical direction by Nigel Lilley (Newsies, Next To Normal).
Spring Awakening boasts a book and lyrics by playwright and lyricist Sater and music composed by singer/songwriter Sheik. Based on German playwright Frank Wedekind’s controversial 19th century play, the original 2006 Broadway production won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical. The show’s first West End production at the Novello Theatre in 2009, following a debut season at the Lyric Hammersmith, won four Olivier Awards including Best Musical. Spring Awakening was revived on Broadway in 2015 and in London in 2021. In 2022, the Almeida Theatre staged the first London revival directed by the venue’s artistic director Rupert Goold.
Angela Thomas
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