Spring Awakening

MAD Theatre of Tampa is bringing Spring Awakening to the Tropical Home Fine Art Gallery this weekend, with three performances running Friday, October 16, through Sunday, October 18. It's a musical set in 19th-century Germany, and the production is billed as a "MAD Theatre Experience."

If you're not familiar with the story, Spring Awakening pairs the raw energy of alternative rock with the suffocating struggles of adolescence. It follows a group of teenagers grappling with mental health, communication, and societal pressure, told with raw honesty through an award-winning score and book. The contrast is a big part of the show: the rock music pushes against the rigid, stifling world the characters are living in, which is exactly where the tension comes from. It's a story about the gap between how teenagers actually feel and what the adults around them are willing to acknowledge.

There are three chances to catch it over the weekend. Friday and Saturday both run from 7:30 to 9 PM, and Sunday is a matinee from 2 to 4 PM. Tickets are $33.64, and the show is at the Tropical Home Fine Art Gallery, 1705 N 16th Street, Tampa, FL 33605.