The multi-award-winning coming-of-age rock musical, presented by PopUp Productions NZ, will be staged at The Playhouse from November 1 to 11.
Morgan was thrilled when PopUp Productions founders Arlie McCormick and Bridget Telfer-Milne secured the rights to Spring Awakening, her "favourite musical ever", for its combination of great music, laughter, tears and intense story lines.
Adapted from Wedekind’s controversial 1891 play, the show deals with teenage sexuality, abuse, suicide, profanity and other adult themes, so is restricted to audiences aged 13 and over (with parental guidance).
"Although it tackles strong subjects, this musical is laugh-out-loud funny and ultimately [about] joy and hope — and the music is just brilliant," Morgan said.
"Spring Awakening is just so clever the way it walks the line between historical period piece and the modern world."
A 14-strong ensemble cast of young performers, led by Max Beal, Will Larkins and Lexi Tomlinson, with McCormick and Darryl Reid playing several adult roles each, are working on the show under Morgan’s direction, with musical director Telfer-Milne and choreographer Olivia Larkins.
"It really is the total package — a once-in-a-generation show."
As one of the "wyrd sisters"(producers) behind Dunedin Summer Shakespeare, alongside Jessica Sullivan-Latton, and Lara Macgregor, Morgan is also looking forward to the upcoming fifth anniversary season in February 2024.
"This is a true milestone for our company, that wrapped our debut season just before the first Covid lockdown and has weathered the dearth in arts support since then to continue offering free Shakespeare in the park each summer," she said.
The season will feature fast-paced comic piece The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), directed by Lara Macgregor, with three actors covering all 37 plays in 97 minutes.
"We are returning to Chingford Park for the show, which is a hilarious and approachable romp through all of Shakespeare — it’s going to be a great way to celebrate our fifth birthday," Morgan said.
In addition to these projects, Morgan and her award-winning designer husband Matthew Morgan have funded a new Dunedin-based theatre company Hic Sunt Dracones — the Latin phrase meaning "here be dragons", often found at the border of historic maps.
Rather than waiting for the issue of theatre venues in Dunedin to be resolved, Hic Sunt Dracones will go "off the map" and find "exciting and unusual" performance spaces that can be adapted to suit particular stories.
"It takes more effort to make theatre in other spaces, but we are confident that we have the skills to do it," Morgan said.
The company’s inaugural season will be a production of Nic Payne’s Constellations in the Beautiful Science gallery next to the Planetarium at Tūhura Otago Museum, in May-June 2024.
