Infusion of rock gives a fresh spin on old story

By Maggie Beidelman

The recent success with the adaptation of the 1891 play "Spring Awakening" as a rock and roll musical has left plenty of breathing room for Duncan Sheik, the Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter of the 1996 hit single, "Barely Breathing."

On Friday, Sheik played some acoustic songs and answered questions from a small audience in Fess Parker Studio Theatre. The event was the first of a series hosted by the on-campus performing arts club Alpha Psi Omega.

Sheik, who has released five alternative rock music albums for which he sang, played and wrote lyrics, has been working on this adaptation for about seven years. His role is to write the music for the show.

"I've started to embrace some aspects of (theater)," he said, although Sheik's primary interest in the project is the rock music.

Frank Wedekind's "Spring Awakening," a play about adolescent sexuality, originally opened in 1906 in Germany, where it was considered too obscene for the current society.

The Santa Clara theater department performed a version of it last spring.

Now, Sheik's music, along with Steven Sater's lyrics and Michael Mayer's directing, has transformed this formerly banned production into a popular musical at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City, and the show is currently making its way to Broadway.

Sheik, who confessed a bad cold while sipping a venti Starbucks beverage at the beginning of the session, apologized for only being able to play acoustic, "edelviess" versions of the songs from "Spring Awakening," as his band was not present.

One member of the crowd admiringly contradicted him, saying that Sheik's performance was "less Edelviess, more 'MTV Unplugged.'"

Sheik spoke of the rift between rock 'n' roll and theater that occurred in the 1950s and '60s.

"It was always our project to try to bring these worlds together again," he said.

"Spring Awakening" does just that, as the setting of the show is still in 1891, but, "when the kids sing, they become modern" with the addition of rock music.

Bringing the two worlds of theater and rock together was no easy task. Many of the actors, 15- to 22-year-olds, and many of whom were discovered via MySpace, had difficulty singing modern music for such a historically set play.

"You're not Cosette (from Les Miserables), you're Fiona Apple," Sheik said, explaining how he would tell the actors how to sing.

The musical showed in several venues before becoming successful at the Atlantic, including the Sundance Theatre Program and the Roundabout Theatre in New York.

Sheik explained that writing music for this show was far more difficult for him than making a music album.

"When I go in the studio (to make an album), I have great people around me who have great ideas, but ultimately, it's my record. With theater, you have to be political and negotiate things all the time."

Despite the difficulties, the end result was a rewarding one.

"In the end," said Sheik, "it is kind of a hybrid (of theater and rock and roll)."

After years of adapting the show to a musical, Sheik said that to see the show on the Atlantic stage is "the most satisfying feeling I've had -- ever."

Admitting that the show has been "kind of controversial" because of its sexual content, Sheik looked directly into the audience with his hands on his knees and said, "But it's not something you wouldn't see on The OC."

The show opens on Broadway in November.

This version will be a bit bigger, with more musicians and 15 voices, compared to the 11 singers of the performances at the Atlantic.

The eclectic sound will be provided by "a weird string quartet plus a rock band," said Sheik.

What could possibly follow this success?

"We want to do a movie of it, for sure," said Sheik. "We just need to find the right team of people so that it doesn't get too Hollywood and too stupid."

For more information on the rock adaptation of "Spring Awakening," visit the Web site at www.broadway.com.

Contact Maggie Beidelman at (408) 551-1918 or mbeidelman@scu.edu.