Alexandra Socha & Emma Hunton: “SPRING AWAKENING is incredibly revolutionary”

SPRING AWAKENING, with music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Stephen Sater, was premiered in December 2006 at the Broadway’s Eugene O’Neil Theatre. The show was the success of the season and won 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical. Based on the homonymous Frank Wedekind’s novel, the musical is about a group of kids that make their way along the moving, complicated, confusing and mysterious moment of their sexual awakening in Germany at the end of the XIX Century.

SPRING AWAKENING’s cast is composed almost entirely of 16 to 25 years old performers. They are so famous in New York that they have starred in some publicity campaigns about social issues like “Operation Backpack”, in order to collect goods for homeless children, or “Rock the Vote”, to convince youngsters they should vote in the next USA presidential election.

Since it was premiered, the original cast has changed. Two young actresses that have joined the SPRING AWAKENING’s Broadway production are Alexandra Socha and Emma Hunton.

Alexandra Socha is 18 years old and joined the SPRING AWAKENING production as an ensamble member. Later on, she was given the chance to replace Lea Michele (an original cast member) playing Wendla, the female starring role of the musical.

Emma Hunton is 17 years old and joined the Duncan Sheik and Stephen Sater’s show in February in order to play Ilse, a role that was previously played by actress Lauren Pritchard.

For both of them, SPRING AWAKENING is their Broadway debut, surely the first step of a long career. Alexandra and Emma talked to us about her contribution to this “revolutionary” musical.

ALEXANDRA, YOU’VE BEEN IN ‘SPRING AWAKENING’ MORE THAN A YEAR. FIRST, YOU WERE AN ENSEMBLE MEMBER AND THE UNDERSTUDY OF LEA MICHELE. AND, EMMA, YOU MADE YOUR BROADWAY DEBUT LAST FEBRUARY WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TAKING PART OF THIS SHOW?
Alexandra: It´s been a complete honor to be in the company of SPRING AWAKENING in both roles.

Emma: It meant and still continues to mean a lot to me. Having the ability to fulfill my dreams and simultaneously reach out to people and tell them this incredible story every night is truly a blessing.

ALEXANDRA, HOW DID YOU REACT WHEN YOU WERE CHOSEN TO TAKE THE ROLE OF WENDLA AFTER LEA LEFT THE SHOW?
Alexandra: I was completely shocked. I was so overwhelmed that I couldn´t decide how to act about it so I just tried to stay as calm as possible!

YOU’VE PERFORMED WENDLA WITH THREE DIFFERENT ‘MELCHIORS’. WHAT A DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE TO PLAY YOUR ROLE WITH DIFFERENT ACTORS?
Alexandra: With every Melchior, my version of Wendla changes and that´s exciting as an actor to be able to interpret the same character in multiple ways that all make sense for you.

HOW IS IT NOW PERFORMING WENDLA NEXT TO HUNTER PARRISH?
Alexandra: It´s awesome! Our goal together is to try to have as much fun as possible in our scenes every night while still relaying our story and journey to the audience. We work very well together because we have very similar ideas about acting and work in the same style.

EMMA, YOU ARE THE YOUNGEST MEMBER OF THE CAST. HOW DO YOU FEEL WITH THE REST OF THE COMPANY?
Emma: Well, I’m actually not the youngest anymore! But I am the second youngest. I´m still the baby in a lot of ways. Fortunately, everyone else isn´t THAT much older than me. But because of my age and the things I´m experiencing it´s nice to know there are people who I can look up to and who can help me if there´s something I´m going through and they can help me through it.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE ILSE, THE CHARACTER YOU PERFORM?
Emma: She´s scared because she´s a little lost. However, she has a lot of very brave qualities and is a strong individual, but she´s breakable in a lot of ways at the same time.

IS THERE ANY SCENE SPECIALLY DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO PERFORM?
Alexandra: The hardest scene in the show to perform is definitely the beating scene in which Wendla asks Melchior, out of complete curiousity and innocence to beat her with a stick. It is the most unrelatable of all the scenes and it´s always easier to do a scene if you can find something to relate it to.

Emma: I´d say the scene where Ilse stumbles upon Moritz in the woods is always hard to perform. Physically because we can´t see each other at all. So there’s a limit performing different reactions to different things. You´re partner REALLY has to know you and know where you´re coming from. Fortunately, I´ve been blessed with great scene partners my entire time here. It´s also a challenge mentally to go to a place every night where you feel as if the person you´re talking to is your only hope, and you truly think the world will just eat you alive without them.

EMMA, ILSE TRIES TO HELP MORITZ, BUT HE DOESN´T ALLOW HER TO DO IT. IT´S ONE OF THE MORE EMOTIVE SCENES OF THE SHOW... DOES IT HAVE A SPECIAL MEANING TO YOU?
Emma: That scene definitely holds a special place in my heart. I feel like to be able to perform any scene effectively you really have to dig deeper than what the text is saying and you really have to allow yourself to trust the other person in the scene with you. For my scene with Moritz, Ilse is very lost and is looking to this childhood friend of hers and in so many words is saying "We can save each other!!" She´s trying to mask all these terrible things that she´s experiencing with enthusiasm and glamour. And the reality is, is that she´s being thrown around and passed from one guy to the next and she just wants to go back to a simpler time before she messed everything up and she when she sees Moritz she feels she can get that back. I love performing this scene because everyone can relate to feeling like they might break into a million pieces at any moment.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SCENE FROM THE SHOW? AND YOUR FAVORITE SONG?
Alexandra: My favorite scene is the one between Moritz and Ilse. And my favorite song is definitely the “Mama Who Bore Me Reprise”. It´s so full of girl power!

Emma: My favorite scene/song change very frequently. At the moment, my favorite scenes to watch every night are the reformatory, and I also really enjoy watching Glenn and Christine during "Whispering." There are a lot of great moments I see them have every night because of where I sit onstage. Favorite song to perform at the moment is "Touch Me".

Caitlin Kinnunen, Emily Kinney, Alexandra Socha, Amanda Castaños and Emma Hunton

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF ‘SPRING AWAKENING’ BEFORE TAKING PART OF IT?
Alexandra: I loved it! I used to listen to the music all the time while doing my homework!

Emma: I always thought it was a beautiful piece of art, that anyone would be lucky enough to see, let alone perform. I remember thinking the first time I saw the show that it was such a relief to see teens playing teens, and that nothing was sugar-coated. It was and continues to be the reality´s teens face every day.

‘SPRING AWAKENING’ IS MADE BY A VERY YOUNG COMPANY, PLENTY OF ENERGY. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE BACKSTAGE OF THE SHOW? IT SHOULD BE SO SPECIAL…
Alexandra: The backstage isn´t that different from other shows. Granted we are probably a bit more laid back due to our age but we´re still professionals and try to act that way as much as possible while still having lots of fun.

Emma: It should be so special... It´s very special and a little hard to explain. I don´t think I´ve had a more open group of friends. When you find yourself being so honest and vulnerable onstage there isn´t much you CAN hide when you´re all together offstage. Everything backstage is always crazy. It´s like a dorm. There´s constant singing, and laughing. There´s clothes all other the dressing rooms, and iPods playing and candy. It´s always loud, and we´re constantly given notes to try and keep the backstage area quiet during and immediately following the show.

IT SEEMS THAT EACH GENERATION HAS HIS OWN MUSICAL: AT 60’S ‘WEST SIDE STORY’, AT 70’S ‘HAIR’, AT 90’S ‘RENT’… DO YOU CONSIDER THAT ‘SPRING AWAKENING’ IS THE MUSICAL OF THIS GENERATION?
Alexandra: I would like to think so. Even if it doesn’t become the one and only musical of this generation it was still incredibly revolutionary and no one can deny that fact.

Emma: I think in a way it is. It´s so hard to think of it as something that defines your generation of musical theater when you´re a part of it at the time. Right now I know we all love what we do, and we love being a part of it together. It´s crazy to think that we, along with the people before us (and surely the people after us) are helping define a generation of musical theater.

DO YOU THINK THAT THE STORY THAT TELLS THE MUSICAL COULD HAPPEN NOWADAYS?
Alexandra: It does happen nowadays. What our show is trying to tell is that even though we can´t avoid these problems, there are better ways to deal with them than what is shown in our story.

Emma: The great thing about SPRING AWAKENING is that it´s always relevant. People have, and do, and will relate to it because everyone has something in the show they can relate to.