Courtesy RadicalMedia
Nearly a decade before Lin-Manuel Miranda convinced the world he was the king of the anachronistic stage musical with 2015′s Hamilton, a slew of relatively unknown actors, producers, directors and writers joined rock songwriter Duncan Sheik to premier 2006′s Spring Awakening, a dark and powerful piece about German school kids in the late 1800s who find no meaningful adult relationships and are forced to navigate their own comings-of-age through pretty sick rock songs. Now, some 15-ish years later, the HBO Max streaming service presents a documentary about the 2006 Steven Sater show as both an historical record and the account of a 2021 one night re-mounting of a stripped down version of the show that benefitted the nonprofit Actors Fund during COVID-19.
Whether or not you know the multi-Tony Award-winning Spring Awakening, there’s no denying much of its cast and crew are now household names. From John Gallagher Jr. and Skylar Astin to Hamilton alum Jonathan Groff and Glee star Lea Michele, the show was one of those cultural powerhouse underdogs that swept Broadway, won all the things and catapulted many of its people to super-stardrom. Groff, of course, kept doing musicals and entered the worlds of television and film; Gallagher Jr., too. Michele, despite having faced numerous accusations of abusive behavior from her Glee costars, has enjoyed success as well. But the HBO doc focuses more on a hardscrabble gang of youths who had no idea what they’d signed on for, and who would impact youths worldwide forever—plus how totally pumped everyone was to meet up again for that benefit show.
Those You’ve Known makes a great case for how American theater can transform, uplift and connect, but it’s another example of a documentary that shines a light on subjects who also produced the film (in this case, Groff and Michele, who eat up the lion’s share of the interviews) while glossing over things that deserved better. Intimacy coaching, for example, was not much of a thing back in 2006, but when cast members like Gallagher Jr., Lili Cooper or Lauren Pritchard discuss how hard it was to dive into material like suicide, sexual abuse, intimacy and so on, one can’t help but feel they’re still affected. We also never learn how much money the benefit raised.
Full songs are also in short supply, which particularly disappoints given the film’s short runtime. We all know “Bitch of the Living” is the jam, but more Cooper or Pritchard would have been nice when, instead, we get a full rehearsal version of Michele’s “Mama Who Bore Me.” Groff’s a treasure, though, and every bit as adorable as he is talented. Gallagher Jr. might be the one to steal your heart, however, as he seem all tough and aloof, but also full of heart. Astin, who presumably is way too cool after the Pitch Perfect movies isn’t much involved; ditto many others.
Too bad Those You’ve Known doesn’t go longer or deeper. We get the importance and we’re told repeatedly that it was important with “We thought it wouldn’t work, and then it did,” interviews.
In the end it just feels suface-scratchy.
7
+ The songs; Groff and Gallagher Jr.
- Short and Unthorough
Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known
Directed by Michael John Warren
With Groff, Michele, Gallgher JR., Cooper, Pritchard, Sater and Sheik
HBO Max, NR, 90 min.
