Spring Awakening Misses Out on TMA Award

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Musical edged out in ceremony at Lyric

Spring Awakening, the acclaimed musical which made its British debut at the Lyric Hammersmith, has missed out on a prize in the TMA Awards, which were held on Sunday November 1 at the Lyric.

The annual Theatrical Management Association Theatre Awards recognise the best in theatre across the country, Though Spring Awakening was nominated in the category of best musical, the award went instead to Spend Spend Spend, performed at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury.

Spring Awakening received rave reviews when it came to the Lyric in January after winning a string of awards in America, including a Tony Award for Oustanding New Broadway Musical and a Grammy Award for its score.

Spring Awakening's creators, Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik turned Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play about repressed emotion and adolescent passion into an explosive musical about three teenagers' journey into adulthood.

The show proved a sell-out and its original run was extended by two weeks to March 14, and it also inspired a project for young people in Hammersmith and Fulham called Sex, Lies and DVDs which explored some of the issues raised in Spring Awakening.

The musical then transferred to the Novello Theatre in the West End, but closed early at the end of May. However, it still has many fans who are following the careers of its young stars, Aneurin Barnard, Charlotte Wakefield and Iwan Rheon, and a touring production of the show in America is still a huge success.

 

November 3, 2009