More Little Things You Notice When You’ve Seen Deaf West Spring Awakening Too Many Times

More little things you notice when you’ve seen Deaf West Spring Awakening too many times

(Part 1)

- Wendla looks at her ‘voice’ for guidance during the hayloft scene, but her voice turns away as if powerless, leaving Wendla to fend for herself. @notresponsibleforlostitems

-Wendla’s voice acts very anxious during the hayloft scene, at one point sitting in a fetal position and jumping up in shock when Melchior tries to unbutton Wendla’s top.

- In the classroom scene, Otto and Ernst (both played by deaf actors) have no idea what their assignment is because the teacher only says it aloud. Otto looks at Melchior expectantly until he translates to ASL, while Ernst has to get Georg to write the instructions down for him. @theta-knight

-Also in the classroom scene, Melchior signs as he speaks behind the teacher’s back so that his deaf classmates can understand. He stops abruptly whenever  the teacher turns around (the teacher punishes the students who use ASL, as deaf education at the time strictly enforced oralism).

- Sometimes Ernst’s “I know” after Hanschen comments on the bells in the vineyard scene sounds like a question because, you know, he probably didn’t hear them. @theta-knight

- The drummer is ‘Gregor the chimney sweep’ and he looks really disappointed that he doesn’t get to explain where babies come from to Wendla. @stepliana

- During ‘The Dark I Know Well’ it always gets me when Ernst runs to the stairs behind the girls and starts signing with them instead of with the boys who approach them ominously. Ernst also hugs the teddy bear before putting it in the trunk during ‘And Then There Were None’ @cocodowntherabbithole

- Only in the Broadway staging, Melchior interacts directly with Wendla’s voice during the beating scene. She stops him from leaving the circle and sternly pleads for him to return to Wendla. (I’m still trying to unpack what this is supposed to mean tbh). In this scene Wendla also stands directly parallel to her voice, occasionally looking over and following her example to gain some boldness  @notresponsibleforlostitems

- At the very end after the bow Austin and Sandra (Melchior and Wendla) always cross the stage towards each other and grab hands and it’s adorable (and one time they kissed?!?) @now-later-soon​

-In the Broadway staging, when Melchior starts singing All That’s Known, the rest of the students lean all the way back in their seats in slow-motion while chanting in Latin. This is a very cool effect, but it is also likely the choreographer Spencer Liff’s deliberate signal to deaf audience members that a song has begun. He said in a recent interview that he watched the show with earplugs to gain the deaf viewers’ perspective, and made changes so that they are able differentiate between the scenes with and without music.

- During The Dark I Know Well, if you look in the background during Ilse’s scene you see Melchior, Moritz, and Otto cracking their fingers almost preparing to go after her @cocodowntherabbithole

During the Desdemona part of My Junk, Marlee Matlin (I think playing Hanschen’s mother?) is painting a picture of him as a child up on the balcony @now-later-soon 

Ernst gives his voice a hug and a kiss before walking off alone with Hanschen @cocodowntherabbithole