San Diego City College theatre arts major Carmen Freeman is playing five characters in the upcoming musical production of “Spring Awakening.” 

Each one requires a unique choreographed dance routine, live music performance and lines, giving Freeman a lot to memorize. 

“I’m going to sleep with my script,” Freeman said. “I’m waking up with it in the morning and if I’m getting driven to school, I’m reading it on my way. It’s basically like it’s my book of the month.”

“Spring Awakening” debuts Friday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets and showtimes are available on the City College Theatre website.

According to the director, Katie Neff Stone, “Spring Awakening” is a musical about a group of teenagers beginning to discover who they really are in 1890s Germany. 

“The teens kind of break out of their repressive provincial German town and break into these big rock songs throughout the performance,”  Stone said.

The energy of the stage is enhanced with the chorus of songs expressing true human emotion from the pains of experiencing growing up and learning the reality of life.

“The energetic rock music expresses what teens go through – from struggles with school, pressure to get good grades, to dealing with their parents,” said Richard Dueñez Morrison, the music director of “Spring Awakening”.

“The material is emotionally very complex, and the music is complex,” Morrison said. “Whether you’re an actual teen or older in your 20s, we all can relate to so much of what these characters are going through.” 

Freeman said she loves the energy that comes off the stage from bringing these characters to life and touching the emotions of the audience.

“It’s just a lot of energy from kids figuring out who they are and what they are despite what the world is telling them and using music to express their frustration,” Freeman said. “So it really connects with what I’m going through in my personal life as well.”

Student performer Rain Rius mentioned the original performance with Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff on Broadway as her favorite rendition of “Spring Awakening.”

Rius plays Wendla, the same character Lea Michele portrayed on Broadway. She said it was very difficult to separate her performance from Michele’s.

“I think the biggest challenge for me was trying to find my own personal voice as a character,” Rius said.

Rius noted that the show has adult themes and content, including depictions of suicide and a lot of sexual content.

The cast credits  Director Kate Stone and the rest of the crew for creating an environment where they can bring their characters to life.

“I’ve never had a director who believes in me so much,” Freeman said. “Not only the director, but the choreographer and the music director. They’re all very much in sync with each other, so I’ve never felt more safe in a place, especially when it comes to theater, than I do at City College.”

Edited by Danny Straus, Tresean Osgood.