Spring Awakening is a fitting show for the sprawling old building, which boasts decades of Toledo arts history beneath its chipped paint exterior.Theatergoers who venture into the Collingwood Arts Center will find it reverberating with the dulcet tones of 1800s period piece — and rock opera — Spring Awakening.

The show’s characters could have enjoyed parts of the original building back when it was still the quaint white painted-brick Gerber mansion — if only they weren’t living all the way over in Germany.

Using folk-infused alt rock to tell its age-old tale of teens discovering their sexuality and each other, the 2006 Broadway musical is based on the play of the same name by German playwright Frank Wedekind. Updated for the contemporary era, the musical version dares to remind viewers how transgressive the show really was upon release.

For some, Spring Awakening still is. Covering topics like puberty, sexual assault, child abuse, homosexuality, suicide, teenage pregnancy, and abortion — all the way back in 1891 — Wedekind’s original Spring Awakening has been frequently banned and censored for tackling taboo subjects, including the first night of its original run.

The musical’s main story “is very much 1891 Germany,” said director Jaymes Gregory Mull.

“So, that very sort of uptight, drab, colorless world. And then when they go into song world, it’s all the characters’ inner monologues coming to life. So, everything is going to be more colorful, more electric,” said Mull, who founded Stone Productions, the theater company staging the musical.

Mull used to perform regularly under the drag persona Amber Stone. About 10 years ago, he’d hoped to elevate his act by incorporating more theatrical elements into his performances, he said.

Before long, these drag shows-turned-concerts became something bigger, and Stone Productions’ formal beginnings came in 2015 with that classic of audience participation productions: The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

When CAC artistic director Lexi Hayman-Staples saw what Frank-N-Furter and the rest of his gender bent cast were doing, the Collingwood Arts Center had found the queer-friendly theater company they’d been looking for to fill its two beautiful historic theaters.

In 2016, the new company’s hit the ground running with their first CAC production — Spring Awakening.

Last time, they had instrumental tracks and a single keyboard player.

Their revival wields a two-tier set, a full orchestra, and an extra decade of experience to conquer what Hull called one of the most difficult musicals in contemporary theater.

“One thing I love about Stone is that they are not afraid to tackle big, raw material, big, vulnerable subject matter,” said Kelly Frailly, who’s pulling double duty as an actor and the show’s music director — or, with six different characters under her belt, is that sextupling?

“Some companies might prefer to stay family friendly, which is also a wonderful experience,” Frailly said, “but it’s been very different being able to just be real with each other.”

Frailly isn’t the only cast member filling another set of shoes. Riley Runnells, who plays Georg, serves as the show’s choreographer.

“It’s one thing to just come up with a dance that’s really fitting for the show, but it’s another thing entirely to take the messaging of the song that you’re choreographing and find ways to incorporate that to pay homage to source material” in a way that keeps it fun for cast and audience alike, Runnells said.

From group Goodwill costume runs to staying after hours to get a scene just right, the stress of donning multiple caps is worth it, Runnells and Frailly agreed.

And no matter how helter-skelter things get, the cast’s comfort and safety are always the priority. Runnells applauded the efforts of Hull, assistant director Courtney Celestino, and intimacy director Jai Long.

“There’s some pretty vulnerable and graphic scenes in this show, and they did a lot of really hard work to make not only the audience understand the emotion behind the scenes and why it's taking place, but also to make our actors extremely comfortable,” Runnells said.

Spring Awakening’s intimacy demands aren’t the show’s only obstacles. The show’s quick transitions from bleak 1890s reality to its colorful song world make it a challenging production to put on.

Mull believes the show’s message is worth the trials.

The most important reason to do another run at Spring Awakening, he said, is a recent upswing in purity culture, which tries to coerce people into the same 19th century social norms that the original Spring Awakening rebelled against.

“These kids in the show, they learn these horrible consequences of real-life situations because their parents and their adult figures were too prude to talk about it and didn’t want to tell them about sex or tell them where babies come from,” Mull said.

Due to the show’s subject matter, the cast and crew recommend researching the show before attending.

“Because of what the show’s about, it’s not my position to tell people if it’s suitable for ages. What I would say is, do your research, research the show, and you decide if it’s suitable,” Mull said.

Coming up:

• STOMP, Saturday-Sunday, at the Stranahan Theater, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd., Toledo.
• Godspell, Friday-April 6, by the Epiphany Players at Epiphany Lutheran Church, 915 N. Reynolds Rd, Toledo.
• The 39 Steps, Friday-April 6, at the Village Players Theatre, 2740 Upton Ave., Toledo. 
• Late Nite Catechism, March 29, by Entertainment Events at the Valentine Theatre, 410 Adams St., Toledo.

First Published March 22, 2025, 11:00 a.m.