The Sandbox Collective is set to launch its 2026 season with a bold and timely choice: the Tony Award-winning rock musical Spring Awakening. The production, which will run beginning February 2026 at the newly opened Black Box at the Proscenium Theater in Rockwell Center, Makati City, marks the company’s first offering under the leadership of new artistic director Sab Jose-Gregorio.
Based on Frank Wedekind’s groundbreaking 19th-century play, Spring Awakening pairs Steven Sater’s book and lyrics with a pulsating alternative rock score by Duncan Sheik. Since its Broadway debut in 2006, the show has been celebrated for its unflinching look at the challenges of adolescence, exploring themes of sexuality, repression, and self-discovery in a society bound by silence and strict tradition.
Winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, the work continues to resonate with audiences around the world for its fusion of raw emotion, provocative subject matter, and youthful energy. As its characters struggle to make sense of their changing bodies and burgeoning desires, the story channels their frustrations into an electrifying musical journey that speaks as urgently today as it did more than a century ago.
Leading Sandbox’s staging is director Andrei Nikolai Pamintuan, a Gawad Buhay nominee known for Lungs, Sa Wakas, and Fringe Manila. He is joined by award-winning musical director Ejay Yatco (Side Show, Next to Normal, Little Shop of Horrors). The creative team also includes choreographer Nunoy Revlon, intimacy director Missy Maramara, set designer Wika Nadera, costume designer Raven Ong, assistant director Gabbi Campomanes, and lighting designer D Cortezano.
For Jose-Gregorio, who officially steps into the role of artistic director with this production, Spring Awakening represents both continuity and renewal for the company.
“Spring Awakening marks the beginning of a new chapter here at Sandbox,” she shares. “While it honors the journey we’ve had in the last decade, the coming of age and constant rediscovery, it also marks a deliberate choice to continue producing shows that are radical, brave, and advocacy-driven. This show isn’t just about adolescence and sexuality. It’s about reclaiming one’s body, voice, and destiny, and most of all, educating and empowering young audiences.”
Open Call Auditions
The Sandbox Collective will hold open auditions for Spring Awakening on August 31 and September 1, 2025. Details, including the audition guide and registration link, are available at www.thesandboxco.com/spring-2026
