Show Synopsis:
The teenagers of a nineteenth-century German village are ignorant in matters of love and sex, and while the girls are curious about pregnancy and babies, the boys are frustrated with their wet dreams and new sexual desires. All the girls have crushes on the older and more experienced Melchior, who is starting to wonder what it would be like to have sex with his childhood friend Wendla. Melchior's friend Moritz passes all his school examinations but fails anyway, as he is not well-liked by the teacher, and begins to think about suicide when his father throws him out of the house. Wendla tells Melchior that her friend Wanda has confessed that she is sexually abused by her father, and asks him to hit her with a switch so as to understand that kind of pain. Melchior beats Wendla to the ground, and when she rises, she finds Melchior's journal. She finds him in a hayloft to return it and they have sex. Moritz wanders around town at night and finds Ilse, a girl who used to be a conventional village teenager but now lives in an artists colony outside of town, and rejects her offer to live at the colony. Moritz shoots himself and the town mourns him, but when the teachers find an essay Melchior wrote to explain sex to Moritz, they blame Melchior for his suicide instead of themselves and expel him from school. Wendla finds out she is pregnant, which she did not believe was possible since her mother told her pregnancy only happens when you love someone, and she does not believe she loves Melchior. Her mother tells Melchior's parents, who send him to reform school, but when Wendla tells him about the baby in a letter, he returns home to start a family with her. He tries to meet Wendla in the cemetery, but finds gravestones for both Moritz and Wendla, who died from a botched abortion. Melchior contemplates suicide but then sees Moritz and Wendla urging him to continue living with his memories as company.	

Character:
Wendla, a naïve German teenage girl who does not understand her feelings for Melchior; desperately trying to understand the world around her.

Song Context:
Wendla wants to learn about sex and pregnancy, but her mother refuses to educate her. As her sister prepares to welcome her second child into the world, Wendla laments all that she does not understand.

Fun Facts:
1. This musical is based on Frank Wedekind's 1891 play of the same name, and while it takes place in the same place and time period, the music, costume design, and dialogue suggest a more contemporary lens through which to consider the plot and characters. 
2. Lea Michele originated the role of Wendla on Broadway and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance. 
3. In an interview with Broadway.com, Lea Michele described Wendla in three words as "Brave. Restless. Pure."