“Blood Wedding”: A Type-A Success

By Yuriy Bash
If the Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca’s “Blood Wedding” could be summed up in one word, it would be “surreal.” The script is compelling, provocative and original—a suitable choice for this year’s Winter Drama. Held in the Murray Kahn Theatre on Friday, December 15 and Saturday, December 16, “Blood Wedding” achieved its dreamlike, ethereal quality whilst in the hands of junior and student director Christina Martin and faculty director and Spanish teacher Milton Diaz. Read More

From Editor to Educator to Entertainer: Henderson Takes the Stage

By Victor Zapana
English teacher and the Stuyvesant Theater Community’s new faculty advisor Mark Henderson gives some insight to The Spectator about high school, Moby Dick and Clifford. Read More

“Spring Awakening” Breaks Broadway’s Slumber

By Julia Leffler
As the company of “Spring Awakening” walks calmly onto the curtain-less stage at the beginning of the show, a pattern can be seen among them—they are young! With the exception of Christine Estabrook and Tony Award winner Stephen Spinella, the two adult actors who portray every adult character in the play, everyone in the cast is in their late teens or early twenties. This is not the only oddity in the musical, which opened at the Eugene O’Neil theater on December 10. The show’s risque subject matter and lyrics, as well as its somewhat anachronistic score, make for a refreshing and satisfying experience. Based on Frank Wedekind’s provocative play of the same title, “Spring Awakening” takes place in provincial Germany in the 1890s. The story centers around teenager Melchior Gabor (Jonathan Groff) and his dissatisfaction with the shame-based social system and the repressive adult community. Melchior and his adolescent friends are also forced to deal with their hormones and urges in this suppressive, late 19th century society. The show addresses touchy subjects such as masturbation, teenage pregnancy, homosexuality and suicide, and includes some brief nudity. However, Remy Zaken, who makes her Broadway debut as Thea, a schoolgirl, said, “The only people who do have a problem with [the nudity] are the people who haven’t seen it and they’ve only heard that there’s a sex scene, but everything is very tastefully done, even the nudity.” The subject matter deals directly with teenagers, and Zaken encourages students to see the musical. Read More