In the US, this audacious 2006 musical by Steven Slater & Duncan Sheik, based on Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play, was both a critical and commercial success, running for two years on Broadway. The West End run was as much of a critical success but not a commercial one. It ran for just two months, though it launched the careers of Aneurin Bernard, Charlotte Wakefield, Iwan Rheon, Natasha J Barnes & Lucy May Barker and won four Olivier awards including Beat New Musical and gongs for Bernard and Rheon. It made tens of millions in New York and lost a wardrobe full of shirts in the West End. One of them was mine.
Though a late 19th Century story and rock music shouldn’t really go together, it somehow works, though quite where they got the idea from is beyond me. It’s a story of sexual awakening by repressed teenagers in a strict school with strict parents. It features onstage sex, masturbation and gay kissing (all tastefully done!) and themes including teenage pregnancy, suicide, homosexuality and abortion. While events are staged, feelings are sung, as they take microphones from pockets to belt out a tune. It’s a great score.
LAMDA have been faithful to the original production and the creative inputs are excellent – staging, design and especially choreography and lighting, though I felt the band was underpowered (you need a rock band for a rock musical); this lost it a bit of edge. It’s an excellent ensemble, with a fine Wendla from Katharine Orchard and passionate performances by Colson Dorafshar and Isaiah Ellis as Moritz and Melchior respectively.
Good to remind myself how good it is and good to see such talent ready to launch their careers like the original cast.
Gareth's Culture and Travel Blog 
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