PSU Theater Arts program to present 'Spring Awakening'

Portland State University's Theater Arts program presents the electrifying Tony Award-winning rock musicalSpring Awakening, with book and lyrics by Steven Sater and an explosive score by Duncan Sheik. A live seven-piece band will perform with the cast onstage. Spring Awakeningruns February 27 through March 7, 2026 (preview February 26) at Lincoln Performance Hall, 1620 SW Park Avenue, Portland. Tickets ($5 - $25) are available at https://portlandstate.universitytickets.com/?cid=172.

Based on the then-scandalous 1891 play by Frank Wedekind, this coming-of-age rock musical pulses with the urgency, defiance and yearning of adolescence. Spring Awakeningintroduces us to a group of young teens who are busy navigating the terrain of growing up in a repressive society - while desperately longing for guidance and reassurance from the adults in their lives. As their bodies mature and societal expectations increase, they find themselves confronting the mysteries of sex, pregnancy, love, and loss, while enduring the suffocating pressures of school and family. Juxtaposing the straight-laced, stifling social constraints of this world with a raw-edged, exuberant rock soundtrack, Spring Awakening offers a poignant, often-cathartic theatrical experience that resonates with audiences across generations.

"Spring Awakeningreminds us that even in our darkest moments, hope endures, and most powerfully through the voices of our young people," said Theresa Robbins Dudeck. "Our dynamic ensemble brings this story to life with passion, skill and raw honesty."

"This is the first musical produced by our School of Music & Theater in over a decade, and diving wholeheartedly into this challenging and deeply satisfying art form has been a joyous process for our cast and creative team," Dudeck continued. "Our audiences are in for a big treat."

Spring Awakeningpremiered at the Atlantic Theater Company off-Broadway in the summer of 2006, surprising audiences with the unusual pairing of its prim, old-fashioned setting and searing alt-rock score, belted out with passion. The cast, many of them in their teens and not much older than the characters they were playing, made their Broadway debut later that year when the production moved to the Eugene O'Neill Theater. With Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff in the lead roles as Wendla and Melchior, the musical won 8 Tony Awards at the 2007 ceremony.

Charles Isherwood, writing for the New York Times, called the play "a straight shot of eroticism," and a "brave new musical, haunting and electrifying by turns."

"Under their girlish frocks and constricting uniforms, the souls of incipient rock stars squirm and throb, bursting forth whenever a riff from a guitar signals the unquenchable force of their flourishing ids," he wrote.

The creative team for PSU's production of Spring Awakeningincludes Theresa Robbins Dudeck (director), Zach Galatis (music director), Franco Nieto (choreographer), Jonathan Cole (fight director), Caitlin Lushington (intimacy choreographer), Solomon Weisbard (producer/scenic and lighting designer), Rory Breshears (sound designer), Devon Wells (costume designer), and Luna Delvauz (dramaturg).

Evii Anderson (Wendla), Richie Olson (Melchior) and Callum Cassee (Moritz) head up a cast of talented young performers.

Theresa Robbins Dudeck, Assistant Professor of Theater in the School of Music & Theater at PSU, works internationally as a theatre practitioner with expertise in improvisation. She is a Fulbright Scholar (Brazil), author of the biography on impro pioneer Keith Johnstone, co-editor of two books on applied improvisation (Bloomsbury), and co-director of the docuseries "On Keith: Artists Speak on Johnstone & Impro." She is the co-founder of an international symposium focused on theatrical improvisation, the Global Improvisation Initiative (GII), that will be coming to PSU in July 2026. Before Portland, home was Los Angeles, where Theresa worked professionally (Actors' Equity, SAG) as a singer, dancer, actor, and as director of a youth musical theatre company.

Steven Saterwon Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score, as well as the Grammy Award, both the NY and UK Drama Critics' Circle, and the Olivier Award for Best New Musical for Spring Awakening. A revival of Spring Awakening, produced by Deaf West Theatre, was Tony-nominated for Best Musical Revival. The recent Almeida Theatre revival received the London Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Musical. In November 2021, the original Broadway cast reunited for a one-night benefit, which is now the subject of the HBO documentary, Spring Awakening: Those You've Known. Sater's other musicals include Alice by Heart(National Theatre of London, MCC Theater, novel version from Razorbill/Penguin Random House); The Nightingale(La Jolla Playhouse); Prometheus Bound(A.R.T.); Nero(Magic Theatre, NYSAF, forthcoming in London); and Some Lovers(music by Burt Bacharach, The Old Globe, Grammy-nominated album from Broadway Records). His pop songs have been recorded by artists such as Michael Bublé, Dionne Warwick, and Leslie Odom Jr.

Duncan Sheikis a Grammy and Tony Award-winning artist who launched his career in 1996 with his Grammy nominated self-titled debut album. Sheik is the composer for the critically acclaimed musical Spring Awakening, which went on to win eight Tony Awards in 2007, including awards for Best Orchestrations and Best Original Score. The album earned Sheik a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. In years since, Sheik has released multiple albums, most recently Claptrapin 2022 and American Psycho: Original London Cast Recording, with lyrics and music written by Sheik, premiered in the U.S. on Broadway in 2016 after a sold-out London run. His most recent theater projects include Alice By Heart, The Secret Life of Bees, Because of Winn Dixie, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Nero, and Noir. Sheik's theatre credits include; Spring Awakening(2006) Tony Awards for "Best Original Score" and "Best Orchestrations," 2008 Grammy Award for "Best Musical Show Album", The Secret Life of Bees(Almeida Theatre in London April 2023, Atlantic Theatre Company 2019), Noir(The Alley Theatre 2022), Nero(London 2023), Memoirs of An Amorous Gentleman(In Development), Alice by Heart(MCC Theater 2019), Because of Winn-Dixie(Goodspeed Opera House 2019, Alabama Shakespeare Festival 2017, Delaware Theatre Company 2015), Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice(The New Group 2020), Whisper House(London 2017, Old Globe Theater 2011), American Psycho(2016). Recordings include; Claptrap(2022) American PsychoOriginal London Cast Recording (2016), Legerdemain(2015) Covers 80s (Sneaky Records 2011), Whisper House(Sony 2009), Spring Awakening(Original Broadway Cast Recording) (2006), White Limousine(Rounder 2006), Daylight(Atlantic Records 2002), Phantom Moon(Nonesuch 2001), Humming(Atlantic Records 1998), Duncan Sheik(Atlantic Records 1996).

This production is licensed by Music Theatre International.

If You Go:

Runs February 26 - March 7 (opening February 27)
Lincoln Performance Hall (Lincoln Hall 175)
1620 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR

Tickets: $5 - $25
Purchase tickets here

Content Warning:
This production contains mature themes and material that may not be appropriate for some audience members. The story explores adolescent sexuality, repression, and self-discovery, and includes depictions and/or discussion of sexual content and intimacy, physical violence and abuse, sexual assault, suicide and self-harm, and strong language. These themes are integral to the narrative and are handled with care by the creative team. Audience discretion is advised.