In town for the sales and looking for someplace new and different to eat, shop or visit? Let the TDN help! Following up on our popular Best Bets on the Jersey Shore series during Breeders' Cup week, TDN subscribers now regularly recommend dining and shopping options to our out-of-town readers.

Spring Awakening (New York City, NY - Entertainment)

Eugene O'Neill Theatre, 230 W. 49th St., New York, NY
Web: www.springawakening.com
Type: Unforgettable story of the uncontrolled emotions of adolescence, first loves and everlasting regrets
This play is produced by horse owner Jerry Frankel, and I have had the pleasure of being his producing partner on some productions. Call Vicki Forbes at 732-747-8060 for reservations.

A major Tony Award winner from last season, this high energy “punk-rockish” musical has received a five-star billing from my 22 year olds. Spring Awakening is a musical that is based on the infamous 1891 Frank Wedekind play which was so up-front and honest about the period of teenage self-discovery that it was kept offstage in its full English format for almost 100 years. Based in Germany, it addresses the issues and questions of adolescence and is a story of uncontrolled emotions, first loves and everlasting regrets. In the words of The Newark Star-Leger, it is the “most explosive new musical since RENT.”

-- Barry Weisbord

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