Hunter Parrish Joins ‘Spring Awakening’ On Broadway
Hunter Parrish, of Showtime’s hit series Weeds fame, has officially begun his stint on Broadway as Melchior Gabor in the wildly successful show Spring Awakening. Here are a few pics of Hunter in his turn-of-the-century Melchior duds doin’ his thing:
Hunter Parrish, who was raised in the conservative Texas town of Plano, has played a pot dealer on TV and now has sex on stage. Well, not quite: It’s simulated. But the scene is one of the most talked about in the Tony Award-winning rock musical “Spring Awakening.” “It’s weird to, like, fake sex and put your parts up against someone else’s,” the 21-year-old actor says. “But I figured, ‘You know what? I’m going to be naked every night in New York, I might as well get used to it.’” His role in “Spring Awakening” certainly isn’t the first time Parrish has bared his bottom. In the acclaimed Showtime series “Weeds,” Parrish not only deals drugs and smokes, but also steals and drops trou as Mary-Louise Parker’s oldest son. In real life, though, he’s never inhaled. “I know that if I ever smoked pot I would probably become, like, a total pothead because I think I would like that,” he says. “I have, like, a chill personality, so that’s why I’m never going to start, because I don’t like to be dependent on anything. I don’t even drink coffee.” Never say never — to coffee, at least. Taking the stage eight days a week might wear him down. He could find himself addicted to a good French roast, like any other sleep-deprived Broadway actor in need of a caffeine fix. Parrish stifles a yawn during an interview with The Associated Press at a tapas restaurant in downtown Manhattan. It comes out of nowhere, though, since the rest of the time he’s a verbal dynamo, leaping animatedly into such eclectic topics as his celebrity crush (actress Amanda Seyfried), aversion to organized religion (he says it’s too hypocritical) and decision to wear a black rocker T-shirt instead of a “pretty-boy sweater” to lunch. The night before, he had officially stepped into his role as rebellious schoolboy Melchior Gabor in “Spring Awakening,” an adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s classic German drama about sexually repressed teens. It’s a career-defining move for Parrish, a loving son and liberal Christian, who has a surprisingly potent set of pipes. Again, he’s playing against his wholesome upbringing … Parrish possesses undeniable stage presence, and his angelic features — turquoise-colored eyes, high cheekbones, shaggy blond hair, choirboy smile — pop under bright lights. His singing voice is a rich tenor, gliding easily into falsetto in the ballad “Left Behind.” Producers sneaked him on stage — unofficially — several days ahead of his debut, however, and Parrish was more than a little nervous. “I was petrified! It was petrifying,” he says, but by the second performance, he adds, “I was like, ‘All right man, I’m ready!’ I was eager. That was great, because I just sort of was fueled, you know?” Parrish says Parker, his TV mom, sat in the audience Aug. 18 and ended up in tears. “She came up to my dressing room and she was crying and she was like, ‘I’m so proud of you. I can’t believe that you’re doing this. This is Broadway. You belong here,’” he recalls.
You know, I wasn’t too keen on Spring Awakening when I saw it with the original cast still intact, before it won all of those Tony Awards. For some reason, the show just didn’t grab me … but I can deffo see how Hunter Parrish would fit in perfectly with the cast for this show. Now, I have no idea what his singing sounds like but he deffo has the look to pull off the character. I might be amenable to seeing the show again to give it another go. I must confess, my wanting to see the show again might have more to do with that “butt” scene than anything else but … hey, whatever works, right? Hahahaha!
Tags: 'Spring Awakening', Hunter Parrish
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August 29th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
formerly of t.v weeds? when did he quit?
August 29th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
ERM…He’s still in weeds, last time I looked.
Trent honey, do your homework.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
you should sit on stage… stage left if u want a good view of that butt. hahaha. ;D
August 29th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
That butt comment was…. creepy
and anyways the show is amazing, one of the best ever, if you don’t like it you can go watch you simplistic Xanadu again ;)
August 29th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
It didn’t grab me, either. I liked some of the music and the performances were energetic, but the show struck me as incredibly pretentious. I don’t go to B’way t see people humping; I want to be entertained.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Trent, Hunter’s singing is FLAWLESS. His falsetto is absolutely breathtaking. On Broadway world somewhere there’s a rehearsal clip that has him singing part of ‘Left Behind’ (the song at Moritz’s funeral) and he sounds amazing. I suggest you check it out.
And Hunter is getting amazing reviews from all of the fans of the show. Many are saying that he’s their favorite Melchior to date.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:39 am
Hunter is excellent in Spring Awakening. I really don’t think he and Jon Groff can be compared, but I will say I enjoyed his version of Melchior very much. His voice is quite impressive and he acts with his whole body.