News

One of the most pivotal Broadway shows of the last few decades will be revisited in a special package for its vinyl debut.

Spring Awakening, the striking rock musical by Steven Sater (book/lyrics) and Duncan Sheik (music), will have its original cast recording reissued for its 20th anniversary on August 14. In addition to the original songs – now newly mastered for vinyl by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound – this package will also include two previously unreleased recordings of songs cut from the final production. The high-quality gatefold package includes a 24-page booklet featuring new essays on the show and its impact, as well as a thorough oral history constructed from new interviews with the original cast and creative team.

Like the best success stories on Broadway, Spring Awakening was a story of unlikely elements yielding unbelievable results. Frank Wedekind’s play of the same name was a shock to audiences when it was first staged in 1906, more than a decade after it was first penned; it offered an unflinching criticism of contemporary society and the potential horrors inflicted upon the young in a culture of repression. And it told the story just as starkly, with depictions of sexual situations and abuse that continue to discomfort audiences to this day. Playwright Steven Sater felt Wedekind’s messages were just as relevant at the end of another century, and sought to tell the tale through song. His unlikely partner: singer/songwriter Duncan Sheik, best known for the Grammy-nominated Top 20 pop hit “Barely Breathing.” Though Sheik had never written any body of work other than a traditional studio album, Sater felt his approach had the bite necessary to further drive the story beats into the present (despite their musical retaining the period setting).

In addition to Spring Awakening‘s novel telling, its success lay in the cast that was eventually assembled, after rounds of workshops, for an off-Broadway run at the Atlantic Theatre Company in New York City. The fresh-faced cast (mostly in their teens or twenties) included Jonathan Groff, Lea Michele, John Gallagher Jr., Lilli Cooper and Skylar Astin, all of whom transferred over to the Broadway engagement later that year, which ran for just over two years at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre. (The album was recorded in between both New York runs in Sheik’s home studio, offering a performance that stands apart from what theatergoers saw onstage.) Spring Awakening was the darling of that year’s Broadway season, winning eight Tony Awards (including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score) and launching its leads into successful stage, film and television careers. (Groff recently picked up his first Tony Award for a stirring revival of Merrily We Roll Along, while Michele – known to TV audiences as the ambitious Rachel Berry on the hit musical sitcom Glee – gave lauded performances on Broadway in versions of Funny Girl and Chess.) The cast remain bonded by their experience, reuniting for a 2021 concert performance to benefit the Actors Fund – an endeavor chronicled in a 2022 documentary for HBO.

The bonus tracks offer a stunning glimpse into Spring Awakening‘s recording process and musical theater history. “All Begin to Call,” taken from a 2000 workshop performance, pairs a then-14-year-old Michele with a similarly little-known actor/singer named Gavin Creel. (Creel would win a Tony in 2017 for a revival of Hello, Dolly! and was mourned by the theater community after succumbing to a rare form of cancer in 2024.) “As Shadows Do” was written to open the musical’s second act but was cut from the show; cast member Lauren Pritchard prepared this vocal version in 2009.

The Spring Awakening vinyl will be available in standard black as well as black and red marbled variants. You can pre-order your copy below ahead of its August 14 release; as an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Spring Awakening (20th Anniversary Edition) (originally released as Decca Broadway B0008020-02, 2006 – reissued as Decca Broadway, 2026) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Official Web Store (red/black))

LP 1

Side A

1. Mama Who Bore Me
2. Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)
3. All That’s Known
4. The Bitch of Living
5. My Junk
6. Touch Me

Side B

1. The Word of Your Body
2. The Dark I Know Well
3. And Then There Were None
4. The Mirror-Blue Night
5. I Believe

LP 2

Side C

1. The Guilty Ones
2. Don’t Do Sadness/Blue Wind
3. Left Behind
4. Totally Fucked
5. The Word of Your Body (Reprise)

Side D

1. Whispering
2. Those You’ve Known
3. The Song of Purple Summer
4. All Begin to Call (2000 Workshop Recording) – Lea Michele & Gavin Creel (previously unreleased)
5. As Shadows Do (2009 Demo) – Lauren Pritchard (previously unreleased)