Free `Spring Awakening’ event

Members of the Spring Awakening creative team will take part in a free “In Conversation” onstage event from 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7 at the Curran Theatre, 445 Geary St., San Francisco. The team will discuss the development of this Tony Award-winning show.

The event, moderated by Jesse McKinley of the New York Times, is in conjunction with opening night of the launch of the Spring Awakening national tour as part of the SHN/Best of Broadway season.

Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Visit www.shnsf.com for information.

In other Spring Awakening news, iTunes released yesterday a live, six-song album of songs from the show performed at the Apple Store in New York. Performers include composer Duncan Sheik, new Broadway cast member Hunter Parrish, and original cast members John Gallagher Jr. (a Tony winner) and Lauren Pritchard.

Read my breakdown of the Spring Awakening number “The Bitch of Living,” which originally appeared in the Aug. 31 Pink Section of the San Francisco Chronicle: www.sfgate.com.

Hunter Parrish awakens on Broadway

If you’re a fan of Showtime’s “Weeds,” as I have been since the series debuted four seasons ago, you’re probably quite aware of the emergence of Hunter Parrish (right, photo by Joan Marcus), who plays elder son Silas Botwin, as one of the show’s more intriguing characters.

This season Silas a) discovered the gym b) discovered a disdain for shirts c) began an affair with a much older woman and d) became a man in more ways than just the physical. In short, Silas has had a fantastic season (as has the show itself). And Parrish, a 19-year-old Virginia native, isn’t having such a bad year either. Last week he joined the cast of Broadway’s Spring Awakening in the leading role of Melchior Gabor.

He was supposed to join the cast next week, but he was ready to go, so he made his Broadway debut a week early. I had a phone interview with Spring Awakening producer Tom Hulce last week, and he mentioned just how amazing he thought Parrish was. “Hunter is going to surprise a lot of people, especially with that voice,” Hulce said.

Parrish talks about his theater geekness with New York magazine here

Broadway.com has a good video of Parrish in rehearsal here. Parrish’s voice is a nice surprise.

And now here’s a video of Parrish discussing his Spring Awakening experience.

Visit the official Spring Awakening site here.
For tickets to the launch of Spring Awakening’s national tour in San Francisco, click here.

`Spring Awakening’ tour news

The national tour of the Tony Award-winning Duncan Sheik-Steven Sater musical Spring Awakening is growing ever closer. Performances begin Sept. 4 at San Francisco’s Curran Theatre as part of the SHN/Best of Broadway season, and though that will be here before we know it, here’s a little casting news to fill the void.

Current Broadway SA cast members Kyle Riabko (Melchior Gabor), far right, and Blake Bashoff (Moritz Steiffel) will depart the New York cast to reprise their roles on tour.

Stepping into the role of Melchior on Broadway will be Hunter Parrish, right, who’s best known as Silas on Showtime’s “Weeds.”

For information about the San Francisco stop of the tour, visit www.shnsf.com or visit the official Spring Awakening site: www.springawakening.com

Here’s a little video action from the Spring Awakening kids.