By Noah Carey, ‘26

The theater buzzed with commotion and chatter. All around, actors conversed while wearing dated waistcoats and dresses that draped across the floor. In the hour before rehearsal started, the cast and crew prepared for their performances with excitement and anticipation. I couldn’t help but notice the comradery the cast had with each other. It was like a beehive. Every role no matter how small was crucial and no one stood on the sidelines.

The Main Stages production of Spring Awakening has arrived. Spring Awakening is a riotous and contemporary coming-of-age-musical set in 1981 Germany. In this article we chat with director Lauren Reinhard and cast members Gray Rhode and Millie Polzin.

Pre-rehearsal activities began with a warm-up led by student dance captain Emmariah Weiss, ‘26. Next was the Tap In. Phoenix writers were kindly invited onstage to participate in this ritual. Faculty Director Lauren Reinhard led the entire cast, gathered in a circle and with closed eyes, in deep breaths. Reinhard begins each day of rehearsal with phrases of affirmation and inclusivity. The themes of Spring Awakening are undoubtedly dark, so before rehearsal the cast and crew consented to entering the emotional and physical space of the rehearsal. Then the real preparations began. Cast gathered around and repeated phrases like "MEOW" and "MINE" to warm up the vocal cords, among other pre-run-through protocols.

Reinhard sat down with The Phoenix to discuss her experience directing the show. Their subtle reinvention of the iconic musical makes this production of Spring Awakening unmissable. While Reinhard remains committed to focusing on the central characters Venla, Melchior, Ilse and Moritz, she decided to widen the show's narrative to showcase more secondary characters.

What has your experience been directing this show?

Reinhard: I'm really lucky I have got a super great group. Everybody was interested in what we were doing differently with this number, with this production. The show usually has a small cast. It's not small, small, but it’s often no more than 12 or 13. The ensemble is relatively tiny; they served to comment on the action of the play, and they were really backup singers more than anything else. These are experiences that all the characters are having. It makes it feel more like a story about the adolescence they were all going through at that time. So we leaned into a much bigger ensemble, and the [secondary characters] are much more folded into the action of the play.

So, it's become a very inclusive space for all students. You've made room for all actors in a typically smaller show.

Reinhard: Yeah, it required a lot of changes because the score is not written for 29 voices. There's no soprano and alto line. It's like specific characters in each line, so it required a lot of the actors to learn things differently than anybody else would have to. They were willing to come in and trust the process, me and each other. Everybody's been really supportive of one another.

With a show that deals with such heavy subject matter, how did you keep the energy light on set?

Reinhard: My perspective as the director is that our characters' journeys can be difficult, but our journey as actors can be one of joy. Like, how lucky is it that we get to wrestle this story to the ground, the room can be supportive, and we don't have to suffer to tell the story of suffering people. We can thrive while telling the story, which was really important to me. It was important to me to cultivate that sort of space, and I didn't ever really have to fight for that. They're all on board, and it's been a supportive, positive environment. There’s a lot of laughter, and we’ve had a lot of fun.

Amidst the delightful chaos of preparation, The Phoenix spoke with cast members Gray Rhode and Millie Polzin. Both had never participated in musical theater at SLC.

How would you describe your experience being on this cast? Is it what you expected it to be?

Rhode: Nothing but smiles, laughs, tears and screaming.

Polzin: I would agree with that. It’s Gray’s and my first time here, and we were a little bit nervous, but we infiltrated [the community] and feel pretty good about it. Everyone has just been really nice.

Could you describe an average day of rehearsal for us?

Rhode: It starts with a vocal and physical warm-up.

Polzin: Normally, we have a list of things we need to work on in the show, and we’ll tackle those; that’s called our worklist. We run the whole show when that's done.

Rhode: We also do Fight Call [to practice fight scenes]. We have a fight coordinator, and it's basically like we're fighting, but in a way that's not fighting. And so we practice that every time before we have to do it.

Polzin: We have an intimacy coordinator for all the intimacy on the show, and everything is very choreographed.

What are you hoping the audience takes away from this show? Is there a message that we can walk away with?

Polzin: Don't suppress your children. Teach your children. Teach your children about sex education, sexual expression, mental health, resources, all of that.

Do you have any lasting words?

Polzin: Come see Spring Awakening. I love you.

Rhode: Same here.

Spring Awakening runs February 29th-March 2nd at the Wright Theatre. You can reserve (free) tickets here or join the waitlist at the door.

Behind the Scenes of Spring Awakening