The outside man: once wary of musical theatre, recording artist Duncan Sheik is doing his part to expand the form.(Interview)

THE PLAYWRIGHT HAS JUST E-MAILED SOME NEW LINES OF VERSE TO THE MUSICIAN, AND THE MUSICIAN has e-mailed back to say he thinks this could become the most potent song in their show. It's March, about eight weeks before previews for Atlantic Theater Company of New York City's long-awaited Spring Awakening, a musical based on the notorious 1891 German play by Frank Wedekind about the agonies and ecstasies--but mostly the agonies--of adolescence.

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It may seem odd that key numbers are being written so close to the premiere of a production that's been six ...