<DIV><p>&ldquo;This brave new musical, haunting and electrifying by turns, restores the mystery, the thrill to that shattering transformation that stirs in all our souls.&rdquo;&mdash;Charles Isherwood, <I>The New York Times</I></p><p>&ldquo;The staggering purity of this show will touch all open hearts&hellip;In its refined, imaginative simplicity, it daringly reverses all the conventional rules by returning the American musical to an original state of innocence.&rdquo;&mdash;John Heilpern, <I>The New York Observer</I></p><p>&ldquo;An unexpected jolt of sudden genius, edgy in its brutally honest, unromanticized depiction of human sexuality.&rdquo;&mdash;<I>New York Post</I></p><p> <I>Spring Awakening</I> is an extraordinary new rock musical with book and lyrics by Steven Sater and music by Grammy Award-nominated recording artist Duncan Sheik. Inspired by Frank Wedekind&rsquo;s controversial 1891 play about teenage sexuality and society&rsquo;s efforts to control it, the piece seamlessly merges past and present, underscoring the timelessness of adolescent angst and the universality of human passion.</p><p> <b>Steven Sater</b>&rsquo;s plays include the long-running <I>Carbondale Dreams</I>, <I>Perfect for You, Doll</I> (Rosenthal Prize/Cincinnati Playhouse), <I>Umbrage</I> (Steppenwolf New Play Prize), and a reconceived version of Shakespeare&rsquo;s <I>Tempest</I>, which played in London.</p><p> <b>Duncan Sheik</b> is a singer/songwriter who also collaborated with Sater on the musical <I>The Nightingale</I>. He has composed original music for <I>The Gold Rooms of Nero</I> and for The Public Theater&rsquo;s <I>Twelfth Night</I> in Central Park.</p></DIV>