A new ‘Spring Awakening’ has a diverse cast. It’s more transgressive than ever

This past weekend, I attended the wedding of a wonderful arts journalist who, along with his playwright groom, delivered the most beautifully written vows I’ll probably ever hear. And when she recently asked about the topic, the actor’s 84-year-old mother responded repeatedly: “I cannot talk about it.” That conversation turned out to be a resource; it took place in front of the cast of East West Players’ new staging of Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s sexually charged Broadway phenomenon “Spring Awakening.” Said Tomita of the exchange, “It was a real experiential moment for these kids to see a parent who, to this day, is still living with that shame, that embarrassment, that need to just block it out or sweep it under the rug.” Based on Frank Wedekind’s oft-banned 1891 drama, the groundbreaking eight-time Tony-winning musical highlights the sexual discoveries that arrive with adolescence. “It’s the pervasive frankness and earnest empathy with which the show treats issues — sexual initiation, same-sex desires, domestic abuse, suicidal frustration — more often addressed titteringly or sheepishly, if at all, by entertainers and educators.” That the nation’s longest-running Asian American theater is putting on “Spring Awakening” — which begins performances Thursday at Little Tokyo’s David Henry Hwang Theater and runs through Nov. 19 — is an equally bold endeavor; topics like abortion, assault and mental health remain taboo among most Asian communities. “Theater opens up conversations, and we want to be a part of that dialogue, particularly in Asian communities and in communities of color, that are really quiet about some of this subject matter.” Tamlyn Tomita and Daniel Blinkoff, members of the cast of East West Players’ “Spring Awakening.” Such conversations begin with the cast, the majority of whom are actors of color playing their roles for specific, subtextual reasons. — Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum is no longer distributing a limited-edition Pokémon trading card, as the promotion has spurred an “undesirable situation” of swarmed gift shops and inflated resales.