As for Spring Awakening...
I have met a few people who also did not like it. Myself, I liked it.
As for the repression aspect... The convention of having them take a microphone out of their costume and start singing their "inner monologues" worked for me. And having those thoughts told in a modern language - both through the language and the music - worked for me too. I liked the juxtaposition.
-And I have wondered if a different composer had been brought on board and tried to create a more period feeling for the music. I have a sense that that approach would require a very skilled composer and lyricist in order to avoid the obviously melodramatic and treacly aspects of the plot. But an opera, maybe?
And as far as today's teens not having the same problems as their Old Europe counterparts... Today's teens still have problems, and, in my opinion, with all the information available to them, the problems are amplified. Then once you add the internet hook-ups, STDs, AIDS, and the still not declining rate of teen pregnancies, well... I think today's teens still have problems. Unfortunately, instead of being "repressed", they are either ignorant, oblivious and/or have a very false sense of invincibility.
...And that's my soapbox moment for the decade.
