Multimedia Email this Article Printer-friendly RELATED ARTICLES: 19 Jan 2009 -- PHOTO CALL: Spring Awakening Closes on Broadway 19 Jan 2009 -- Sheik, Sater, Hulce and Pittelman Speak Following Spring Awakening Final Performance 11 Dec 2008 -- PHOTO CALL: Broadway's Spring Awakening Celebrates Second Anniversary 10 Dec 2008 -- Spring Awakening Celebrates Second Broadway Anniversary Dec. 10 14 Nov 2008 -- PHOTO CALL: "On Stage with Spring Awakening" at 92YTribeca All Related Articles RELATED MEDIA: PHOTO GALLERIES Spring Awakening Closing Night "Spring Awakening: In the Flesh" Book Signing All Related Galleries AUDIO Spring Awakening stars Parrish and Canonico All Related Audio Subscribe to Podcasts

By Andrew Gans
20 Aug 2008

A high school production of the Tony-winning musical Spring Awakening will be among the story lines featured in the new television series "90210," the upcoming spinoff of the successful "Beverly Hills, 90210" program.

Zap2it.com reports that Shannen Doherty, who starred as Brenda Walsh on the original "Beverly Hills, 90210" series, will portray a successful theatre actress-turned-director, who returns to her alma mater to direct a student production of Spring Awakening.

Executive producer Jeff Judah told Zap2it.com, "We're doing Spring Awakening. It's a great play, a great musical. We thought it would be a really cool thing to do a contemporary musical instead of doing Annie Get Your Gun or something that a lot of high schools do. So if we could do a contemporary musical and put that in the show, it's sort of also talking about how the show has changed in the last 20 years."

"90210" will make its series premiere Sept. 2 at 8 PM ET on the CW network. The new take on the iconic TV drama, according to press notes, "looks at life through the eyes of Annie Wilson (Shenae Grimes, 'Degrassi: The Next Generation') and her brother Dixon (Tristan Wilds, 'The Wire'), whose first day at West Beverly Hills High School leaves no doubt they're not in Kansas anymore. The Wilson family, including dad Harry (Rob Estes, 'Melrose Place') and mom Debbie (Lori Loughlin, 'Summerland'), has relocated to Beverly Hills to keep an eye on Harry's mother Tabitha (Jessica Walter, 'Arrested Development'), a feisty-but-faded former television star and a charter member of the Betty Ford Clinic."

Based on the 1891 play by Frank Wedekind, Spring Awakening won eight 2007 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Spring Awakening features direction by Michael Mayer, choreography by Bill T. Jones, book and lyrics by Steven Sater and a score by Duncan Sheik.

On Broadway Spring Awakening continues to play the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.

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