Moritz Stiefel is the secondary protagonist in the play and musical of Spring Awakening. John Gallagher, Jr. played Moritz in the Original Broadway Cast, Daniel N Durant in the 2015 Deaf West Broadway revival, with guitar and voice by Alex Boniello and Stuart Thompson in the 2021 London revival at the Almeida Theatre.
Background[]
Moritz Stiefel is a fifteen-year-old boy, living in Germany in the 1890s. Moritz is terrified of failure and his new and confusing sexual feelings, and he is awkward around his peers. In the musical and play his best friend is Melchior Gabor (who is a year younger than Moritz, but far more knowledgeable on many subjects).
Much of Moritz's character inspiration from the musical came from the Punk and Post Punk movements of the 80s. His songs use characteristics common to punk music much more than any other character, and his costume design was inspired by Robert Smith from The Cure.
Plot[]
When introduced to Moritz, it becomes clear that he is in tight competition with Ernst Röbel to be promoted at school. Both of them were originally given conditions to work off in order to keep their spot.
Moritz became very stressed over the time between his first promotion and his flunking out, to the point where he isn't sleeping. He is also challenged by phantasms of a woman in his dreams. These sexual feelings he begins to have makes it difficult for him to sleep and it affects his studies. He eventually flunks out of school.
In the musical, he actually passes his tests but due to the fact that not everyone can pass, they failed Moritz. His dad hit him and kicked him out the house.
He then goes into the woods, where he runs into Ilse, an old childhood friend and playmate. She recalls a time when they would play Pirates together with their peers, Melchior Gabor and Wendla Bergmann. She asks Moritz if he’d like to play with her once more, for old times sake, to which he replies no. Ilse leaves, and as Moritz starts to regret his decision, he turns to call her back, but she is gone. Moritz pulls out a gun, and shoots himself in the mouth.
Personality[]
Moritz is introverted, intense, and nervous. He strives to do well but is easily distracted and feels he will not become anything of worth unless he succeeds in school. He is confused about the woman in his dreams as well as sex as a whole and gets easily flustered. In the play, Moritz is far more introspective than his musical adaptation.
Fun Facts[]
- Moritz's vocal type is tenor.
- John Gallagher Jr. won a Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Moritz in 2007.
- Profoundly deaf in the Deaf West version of the musical and fails because of a bias against deaf students.
- Moritz is severely discriminated against for being Deaf and the teacher enacts a brutal oral method on him that is shown to be destructive (the same is done to Otto Lammermeier and Ernst Robel, but Otto responds better than the other boys).
- In the Deaf West production, a teacher makes fun of Moritz's voice.
- Due to lines in the play about Moritz wanting to experience how a woman feels in sex, and due to his admiration and connection to the Headless Queen, there is scholarly speculation that Moritz is queer and/or transgender.
- There are, in general, lots of arguments over his sexuality; Alex Boniello says he (Voice of Moritz in the Deaf West revival) portrayed him as straight, but many believe he is bisexual or gay.
- Stiefel is a Jewish surname.
- Moritz has an aversion to Hanschen in the musical, as is shown during the scene where finds out he has passed his final. He hugs each boy, except for Hanschen.
- In the 1NT of Spring Awakening, a box was mounted on the wall. During Left Behind, lights would light up on the inside and reveal Moritz's headless body. It's basically a representation of his coffin.
- He is the only character to not be in "I Believe" and "The Guilty Ones" showing he is not only literally isolated from all of the other characters in this moment, but also metaphorically due to his exclusion from these numbers with the rest of the cast.
- In the 2009 original West End cast, Moritz is played by Welsh actor Iwan Rheon.
- Moritz is shipped with Melchior