A Purple Summer Notes on the Lyrics of Spring Awakening

In February 1999, Steven Sater conceived the radical notion of creating a rock musical from Frank Wedekind's Symbolist drama, 'Frühlings Erwachen'. Ten years later, in the wake of the international success of the show, its original director, Michael Mayer, urged Sater to write notes explicating its evocative, poetic lyrics. Sater's notes address the literary sources and allusions of each lyric. He also writes feelingly of what prompted the songs over the course of the show's eight years of development.