On February 15, 2007, a new on-stage version was released, starting at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo, translation by Kitamaru Yuji and starring Koji Yamamoto. The show is performed without an intermission. On November 24, 2012, John Cameron Mitchell performed a concert with the Brazilian Hedwig cast and guests and there were another two performances of Hedwig in Rio, November 23 and 25, and 4 performances in Fortaleza, November 29, 30, December 1 and 2, 2012. Other bands who participated in "Wig in a Box" were Yo La Tengo featuring Yoko Ono, Sleater-Kinney featuring Fred Schneider (of The B-52's), Jonathan Richman, Rufus Wainwright, Polyphonic Spree, Spoon, Imperial Teen, Bob Mould, Cyndi Lauper with The Minus Five (featuring Peter Buck of R.E.M. The director was Michael Mayer with musical staging by Spencer Liff. Winner of Best Actor (Pierre Baitelli and nominated for Best Production (Oz), Best Director (Evandro Mesquita), and Best Actress (Eline Porto) at the Prêmio Arte Qualidade Brasil. The gothic metal band Type O Negative covered "Angry Inch" on their 2003 album Life Is Killing Me. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Direction was by Peter Askin and musical staging by Jerry Mitchell, with Hedwig initially played by John Cameron Mitchell and Yitzhak played by Miriam Shor. Hedwig’s journey is recast as a flashback-heavy tour of shoddy seafood restaurants, which is really just a guise for stalking Tommy’s stadium tour. Puerto Rico: In the summer of 2010, Hedwig and the Angry Inch played in San Juan, Puerto Rico with Gil René playing the part of Hedwig and the band Simples Mortales doing all the live music. Pitchfork may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Performers included Frank Black and The Breeders. In May 2019, Hedwig and the Angry Inch makes its New Zealand premiere at Christchurch's The Court Theatre with Adam Rennie taking the lead role. The original production won a Village Voice Obie Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical. 2009 saw a two-city run, in November 27 at the Wel City in Osaka, and December 2 till the 6th at Tokyo's Zepp Tokyo. The film follows Hedwig and … Actors who have played Hedwig onstage in the U.S. include Michael Cerveris, Neil Patrick Harris, Lena Hall, Darren Criss, Taye Diggs, Andrew Rannells, Michael C. Hall, Ally Sheedy, Euan Morton, Kevin Cahoon, Gene Dante, Anthony Rapp, Matt McGrath, Jeff Skowron, and Nick Garrison, and iOTA. John Cameron Mitchell schrieb den Text des Musicals und war später auch Regisseur und Hauptdarsteller des Films. As Hedwig performs we learn how his ultimate … The Canadian premiere was in 2001 in Toronto starring Ted Dykstra, with musical direction by Moe Berg of The Pursuit of Happiness. The character of Hedwig was originally a supporting character in the piece. In spring of 2011, English-language Prague theatre AKANDA staged Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Iron Curtain Club, with Jeff Fritz as Hedwig and Uliana Elina as Yitzhak. Hall portrayed the title role of Hedwig once a week for eight performances, making her the first actor to play both Hedwig and Yitzhak in the same production. The two built the foundation for Hedwig for over a year, incorporating far-reaching and idiosyncratic inspirations: Plato’s symposiums, Bob Fosse’s Cabaret, and malleable gender performances from the glam-rock era. A performance of the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch intended for the upcoming Sydney Festival was postponed due to fierce backlash over the casting of Hugh Sheridan, a … Nick Sugar’s history with Hedwig and the Angry Inch goes back eight years. This production won the Obie Award,[8][9][10][11] 1998 Special Citations for Stephen Trask and the casts [12] and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical. In 2014, the show saw its first Broadway incarnation, opening that April at the Belasco Theatre and winning the year's Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. He found respite in bands like the Cars and the B-52’s, as well as glam-rock groups like Sweet. A One-Inch Mound of Flesh: Troubling Queer Identity in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, 2016, With the film’s success, Hedwig’s story effectively cracked the early-2000s straight-man’s world it was born into, finding its audience by imagining a one-of-a-kind individualism. sugar daddy who offered to whisk him away to America under one condition: a sex change operation. There, he met Helga, a German-born Army wife who lived in a trailer park and worked as a prostitute. [58], After Lena Hall left the production on April 4, 2015, Rebecca Naomi Jones took over as Yitzhak on April 14, 2015, following a week-long stint with Shannon Conley in the role.[59]. [56] Darren Criss took over the role of Hedwig on April 29 and played until July 19, 2015. Based on Mitchell's and Stephen Trask's 1998 stage musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, it accompanies Hedwig Robinson, a genderqueer East Germanrock singer. John Cameron Mitchell, Michael Aronov, Andrea Martin, Miriam Shor, Stephen Trask, Theodore Liscinski und Rob Campbell mit. "She’s a gender of one, and that is accidentally so beautiful."[3]. [33] Shortly after, the production released a single recorded in quarantine,[34] which was praised by author Stephen Trask as "one of the best Wicked Little Town versions ever. Photo by Christine Fisk. [61] Hedwig explains that because it closed so quickly, she was able to convince one of the producers to allow her to use what would have been an otherwise empty and unused stage. [45], A San Francisco production at Boxcar Theatre in summer 2012 featured twelve actors, male and female and of multiple ethnicities, portraying Hedwig in each show. The movie loses none of the story’s heart in its shift to the screen. John Cameron Mitchell has stated that while Hedwig is meant to be a queer voice, she is not meant to be specifically transgender: "Everyone knows that there is a metaphor with Hedwig. It's not a choice. At one point Hedwig finds the theme for a song from the show, "When Love Explodes" and lets Yitzhak sing it, but stops him before he can sing the last note (the one exception being Lena Hall's final night). She wrote music and dated/mentored Tommy, a confused teen who eventually dumped her, stole her songs, and scored it big as a proto-Marilyn Manson. “We’re all freaks, we’re all losers at some point in our life,” Mitchell once told Out of Hedwig’s universality. In one of the best, at the women’s festival Menses Fair, the camera pans across a Stonehenge of porta-potties on a misty hill until it finally settles on a slapdash stage where Hedwig is relegated, drowned out by a folk song and playing to a solitary goth girl. But when influential independent film producer Christine Vachon inquired about a screen adaptation, Mitchell got right back into Hedwig’s heels to star and direct. Further productions in Canada included a sold out 2007 production by Pickled Productions, and a 2009 Toronto production by Ghost Light Projects. some 20 years later, that brief memory of Helga spun out into Hedwig’s winged Farrah Fawcett wig, towering heels, and torn fishnet stockings. [46] A revival of the production, beginning in December 2012 and continuing through August 2013,[47] featured eight actors nightly in the lead role.[48]. Rechristened Hedwig, she was plopped down in Junction City and soon left to fend for herself. [81] The production won four Tony Awards (tied with A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder for most awards in 2014): Best Revival of a Musical, Best Lighting Design of a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Lena Hall, and Best Actor in a Musical for Neil Patrick Harris. Fans of the play and film refer to themselves as "Hedheads". Hedwig and the Angry Inch didn’t exactly begin as a story about a flamboyant rocker, but instead a meek Army general’s son. Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical, Learn how and when to remove this template message, The Origin of Love Tour: The Songs and Stories of Hedwig, "HEDWIG National Tour Kicks Off in Darren Criss's Hometown This Sunday", "John Cameron Mitchell to host Hedwig and the Angry Inch sing-along in Toronto - Toronto Star", "Hedwig's Lena Hall On Being Neil Patrick Harris' 'Punching Bag,' Her Legendary Audition, and Real Rock-n-Roll", http://www.playbill.com/news/article/78226-Asa-Somers-Becomes-Hedwig-Once-Again-in-San-Francisco-March-12-23, Hedwig Hangs Up Her Wig Off-Broadway, Jan. 30, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) - PopMatters Film Review", "BUBBLE SHOOTERS, play Bubble Shooter games online for free", "Wiener Metropol: "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" | der Kultur-Channel | News, Kritiken, Fotos aus Musical, Theater und Pop-Culture", "Akanda Presents Hedwig and the Angry Inch", "BKA-Theater - Berlin - Hedwig and the Angry Inch", http://www.hedwigandtheangryinch.de/Content/Images/reviews/30102010RMMa.jpg, "Das verrückteste Rock-Musical der Welt - Frankfurter Neue Presse", "From East Berlin To The Middle East: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH Is Coming To Israel", "HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH Postpones Israeli Premiere In Response To COVID-19 Outbreak", "VIDEO: Israeli Cast of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH Performs Wicked Little Town in Hebrew", "Stephen Trask on Instagram: "This cast with @rodolev as Hedwig does one of the best Wicked Little Town versions ever. This production starred Ryan Alexander McDonald as Hedwig and Lee McKeown as Yitzhak, with music direction by Juno Award winner Mark Reid and direction by Randie Parliament and Greg Bishop. (There’s even a Hedwig indie rock tribute album.) [64] Various newspapers have commented favorably on the faux Playbills, both as an element of the musical and as a piece separate from the musical itself. [4] Lena Hall performed the song at her final show during the sound check. Parodying The Hurt Locker Hedwig explains that a musical version of the story only ran for a single night before closing during intermission, and that she has convinced a producer to let her perform in what would otherwise be an empty stage. The film is based on the true story of Hedwig (John Cameron Mitchell), a transsexual woman who was born a boy in Communist Germany. This same production performed again in Rio de Janeiro from April 4–22, 2012, and a tour to Curitiba, performing April 26–29, 2012, for a total of 16 performances. This becomes possible when, in her 20s, she meets Luther Robinson, an American soldier ("Sugar Daddy") who convinces her to begin dressing in drag. The musical opened Off-Broadway in 1998, and won the Obie Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical. By the time the musical officially arrived on Broadway in 2014, repackaged for tourists and families in Times Square, there was an undeniable gloss to the show, but its energy and power remained intact. This production won the Best of San Miguel Theatre Award for 2011. An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the play’s origins and has been updated to reflect this. The movie makes this more of an Epileptic Trees type theory, but it is not impossible., Crowning Music of Awesome: The Origin of Love and Midnight Radio., Ear Worm: "Six inches forward, five inches back, I've got a, I've got an angry inch. Raised by an emotionally distant single mother after her father, an American soldier, abandoned the family, Hansel takes solace in her love of western rock music. Im Film spielt u.a. (Hedwig’s queerness aside, Mitchell cast actress Miriam Shor as her aggrieved ex-drag queen husband/backup singer, further challenging the audience’s assumptions about gender in theater and rock’n’roll.) https://www.ticketmaster.com/hedwig-and-the-angry-inch-tickets/artist/836699 They made contact soon after, and Pixies reunited the following spring. When she meets young Tommy Gnosis (Michael Pitt) the two bond until Tommy steals Hedwigs songs and become a huge rock star leaving Hedwig pathetically playing in the shadows. Lena Hall played Yitzhak, Hedwig's husband, until April 2015. At the musician’s suggestion, the protagonist shifted to a drag character, a disappointed singer who’s left in the dust. At peace, Hedwig departs the stage as Yitzhak takes over her final song, dressed fabulously in drag ("Midnight Radio"). As Mitchell, director of the film adaptation, acknowledges, through recurring motifs of “the divided self, the divided city of Berlin…divided gender…”[77] the theme of dualism pervades the entire musical. [79] The show's authenticity, and its use of characters outside the usual hetero-normative constraints of theatre, was also remarked upon.[80][79]. October 13, 2005 to Saturday October 15th, 2005 at Mill Studio, October 23, 2005 at Sussex Arts Club, Brighton, Sussex, October 29, 2005 at South Street Theatre, Reading, Berkshire, January 14, 2006 at Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, Surrey, October 3, 2002 – November 20, 2002 - Glashaus der Arena Berlin, February 2008 (with Nigel Francis - Hedwig), On September 22, 2017, a new production of, 2005 Peruvian Cast (Hedwig Y la Pulgada Furiosa), This page was last edited on 3 December 2020, at 04:53. [22], Several productions were shown in Frankfurt/Main in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 and Berlin in 2002, 2013 and 2014. A Jewish drag queen from Zagreb, Yitzhak has an unhealthy, codependent relationship with Hedwig. Hedwig recovers from the separation by creating a more glamorous, feminine identity for herself ("Wig in a Box Lyrics") and forming a rock band she calls The Angry Inch. The character of Hedwig was inspired by a German divorced U.S. Army wife who was Mitchell's family babysitter and moonlighted as a prostitute at her trailer park home in Junction City, Kansas. The show was put on by the Bangkok University Theatre Company in July, 2011. [68], From November 29, 2016, to July 2, 2017, Euan Morton and Hannah Corneau portrayed Hedwig and Yitzhak, respectively, with Mason Alexander Park continuing on as the Hedwig Standby/Alternate and Shannon Conley as the Yitzhak standby. [43], In 2002 and 2003, Zany Hijinx produced the show in Boston, MA with Gene Dante as Hedwig and Lisa Boucher as Yitzhak.[44]. Musik und Gesangstexte stammen von Stephen Trask, das Buch von John Cameron Mitchell. When the operation fails leaving Hedwig with and angry inch, his GI husband abandons him in Kansas and Hedwig is left to fend for himself by doing a series of side gigs. A national tour of the show began at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre in October 2016 before closing at the Kennedy Center in July 2017.[2]. That message continues to resonate powerfully for a new generation of genderqueer audiences; just last month the soapy CW drama Riverdale used songs from the movie for their annual musical episode. Luther falls in love with Hansel and the two decide to marry. [38] After 3 years, in 2012, Hedwig got a new opportunity, starting September 28, at Zepp DiverCity Tokyo, with Mirai Moriyama in the lead, and the lyrics translated by Shikao Suga. Hedwig befriends the brother of a child she babysits, shy and misunderstood Christian teenager Tommy Speck, who is fascinated by a song she writes with him in mind ("Wicked Little Town"). Jake Mendes as Hedwig. It was presented off-Broadway at the Jane Street Theatre on February 14, 1998 by Peter Askin, Susann Brinkley, James B. Freydberg. Rebel’s friend Hugh Sheridan was cast in the lead role of Hedwig … Capitalizing on her notoriety from the incident, Hedwig determines to tell the audience her story ("Tear Me Down"). The production netted a rave review from The New York Times and became a hot ticket, with both Bowie and Reed turning up to see it. [78] The show also attracted many fans in the music world. Hedwig became the story's protagonist when Trask encouraged Mitchell to showcase their earliest material in 1994 at NYC's drag-punk club Squeezebox, where Trask headed the house band and Mitchell's boyfriend, Jack Steeb, played bass. "[83] "She's more than a woman or a man," he has explained. RuPaul's Drag Race season 5 winner Jinkx Monsoon also portrayed Hedwig in a Seattle production in 2013. The music is steeped in the androgynous 1970s glam rock style of David Bowie (who co-produced the Los Angeles production of the show), as well as the work of John Lennon and early punk performers Lou Reed and Iggy Pop. Hedwig’s journey to a whole sense of self, realized at the end of the film in an ambiguously Lynchian rebirth, isn’t about living between male and female, or any of her tortured romances. Angry gods split these early humans in two, leaving the separated people with a lifelong yearning for their other half. ), The Bens (Ben Folds, Ben Lee and Ben Kweller), They Might Be Giants and Robyn Hitchcock. He met a G.I. At the height of her breakdown, she seems to transform into Tommy Gnosis, who both begs for and offers forgiveness in a reprise of the song she wrote for him ("Wicked Little Town (Reprise)"). In addition to songs from Hedwig, the show also includes numbers from Mitchell's musical podcast Anthem: Homunculus, his film How to Talk to Girls at Parties, and covers from artists like David Bowie. The timeline catches up to Hedwig and her band years later, as she shrieks out the whole sad story onstage at a seedy New York nightclub. Hedwig goes to live in Junction City, Kansas, as Luther's wife. This story has been shared 5,179 times. "Follow My Voice: With the Music of Hedwig", a documentary about the making of the "Wig in a Box" benefit cd, profiled students from the Harvey Milk School. Trask and Mitchell completed an unfinished Tommy Gnosis song (left over from the musical's development days) called "Milford Lake" (sung by Mitchell) and included it. The Angry Inch band that is present on the stage during the entire show plays an important role in making the story of Hedwig touring more realistic. And the music is still as potent as ever, a brew of swaggering glam rock, mournful singer-songwriter ballads, and searing punk blasts. In the summer of 1994, they started workshopping the show at the downtown NYC gay punk club SqueezeBox!, where Trask led the house band. It was also nominated for Best Costume Design for a Musical (Arianne Phillips), who also did the costumes for the original 2001 film. The character of Hedwig was inspired by a German divorced U.S. Army wife who was Mitchell's family babysitter and moonlighted as a prostitute at her trail… Yitzhak sings the entire song (including a missing verse) in the Revival Cast Album. They agreed the piece should be developed through band gigs in clubs rather than in a theater setting in order to preserve a rock energy. Hedwig and the Angry Inch opened in the West End at the Playhouse Theatre on Sept. 19, 2000 and closed on November 4, 2000, with Michael Cerveris.[13]. Der Kinostart von Hedwig and the Angry Inch ist unbekannt. The creators of the show Hedwig and the Angry Inch have weighed in to a casting row that led to the producers of an upcoming Australian production pulling the show from January’s Sydney festival. A song performed by Yitzhak and the band, "Random Number Generation" was included on the Off-Broadway Cast Album, but does not appear in the score. Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a 2001 American musical comedy-drama film written for the screen and directed by John Cameron Mitchell. “And if she can find some kind of solace, maybe we can too, and maybe that involves putting on a wig.”, Stream Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Hulu or HBO, rent on Amazon or Apple, Further viewing: Velvet Goldmine (rent on Amazon or Apple), Party Monster (stream on Amazon Prime), (Pitchfork earns a commission from purchases made through affiliate links on our site.). Ad Choices, Revisiting Hedwig and the Angry Inch, A Drag Rock Fantasy That Was Ahead of Its Time. In 2011, Gene Dante and Lisa van Oosterum reprise their roles as Hedwig and Yitzhak in Zany Hijinx's New England tour of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Holly M Sypniewski, “The Pursuit of Eros in Plato’s Symposium and Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” International Journal of the Classic Tradition 15, 4 (2008): 562. Actors who played Hedwig in this Off-Broadway production included Michael Cerveris, Donovan Leitch, Ally Sheedy, Kevin Cahoon, Asa Somers,[6] and Matt McGrath.[7]. p. 239-258. Hedwig, born male as Hansel in East Berlin, fell in love with an American G.I. [19], On March 23, 2006 Hedwig and the Angry Inch premiered at Metropol Wien[20] in Vienna. ‡ In the original Off-Broadway production, this song was not sung by Yitzhak, but by the musical director Skszp. It was also staged as a special event at the Guanajuato Film Festival. Hedwig tells her life story, which began when she was Hansel Schmidt, a "slip of a girlyboy" growing up in East Berlin. The story draws on Mitchell's life as the child of a U.S. Army Major General who once commanded the U.S. sector of occupied West Berlin. The production ran for two years, and was remounted with various casts by the original creative team in other US cities. While he sings her songs to thousands nearby, she belts in front of a salad bar to stunned senior citizens just trying to eat their crab dinners. The character of Tommy, originally conceived as the main character, was based on Mitchell himself: both were gay, the sons of an army general, deeply Roman Catholic, and fascinated with mythology. and underwent a Gender Reassignment Surgery in order to marry him and flee to the West. Though Mitchell had never done drag or sang in a band, he inhabited the pithy German mannerisms and performative bravura instantly, earning high praise from club regulars. Mitchell, Trask, and the band Cheater (Jack Steeb, Chris Wielding, Dave McKinley, and Scott Bilbrey) continued to workshop material at venues such as Fez Nightclub and Westbeth Theater Center for four years before premiering the completed musical Off-Broadway in 1998. The show premiered in Western Canada with simultaneous productions in Edmonton and Vancouver in April 2003. She was loosely inspired by a German female babysitter/prostitute who worked for Mitchell's family when he was a teenager in Junction City, Kansas. Occasionally Hedwig opens a door onstage to listen to Gnosis's concert, which is playing in an adjoining venue. Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask and a book by John Cameron Mitchell. Michael C. Hall Will Join Cast of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH This Fall", "More Hedwig! Hedwig is on the road with her backup band the Angry Inch, and they’ve plotted out a schedule that follows famous rockstar Tommy Gnosis across the country. Even though Yitzhak sings backup on almost all numbers in the show, the songs below that are labeled with Hedwig with Yitzhak are ones where he has notable solo lines. In performance, Hedwig has a cast of six—the four band members of the Angry inch, Lena Hall as Yitzhak (the role for which she won a Tony Award last year), and now, John Cameron Mitchell as Hedwig. Atrocity Tour by Rose Tinted Productions played 2004 at the following Venues: with Hedwig - Matthew Tapscott and Yitzhak - Mel Farmery, The Angry Inch: Skszp - Steve Lockwood (bass and MD), Schlatko - Lee Farmery (drums), Jacek - Tesco (guitar), Krzyzhtof - Stu (guitar), Hlava - Marcus Lane (keyboards),[15] Creative Team: John Lynch - Artistic Director and Producer, Paul Howse - Lighting Design, Special Effects, Jim Craig - Stage Manager, Steve Lockwood - Musical Director, Leanne Edwards - Choreography, Wanda MacRae - Original Make Up and Wig Design, Pete Mathers - Sound Engineer, UK shows produced by Rose Tinted Productions by arrangement with Josef Weinberger Ltd[16], Atrocity Tour also played in Italy in November 3–14, 2004 at Teatro Ariberto, Milan. [57] Taye Diggs assumed the role on July 22, 2015, and performed through the production's end on September 13, 2015. The Turkish premiere was in 2016 in Istanbul featuring Yilmaz Sutcu as Hedwig and Ayse Gunyuz as Yitzhak, with direction by Baris Arman at Kazan Dairesi. Italian Premiere[37] of Hedwig and the Angry Inch by britisch Atrocity Tour in 2004: with original Atrocity Tour-Cast, produced by Alessio Rombolotti in association with Helen Merill NYC, Simone Stucchi - Sound Engineer, Production of the musical started on June 16, 2005 at Parco Theater, with a translation by Aoi Yoji, starring Hiroshi Mikami and Emi Eleonola. Rebel Wilson has weighed into the casting drama surrounding the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The Broadway production had the song prepared to play in case Hedwig had to leave the stage, along with "Freaks", a song from the movie. 5,179 7 Shows Like 'True Beauty' to Watch If You Love the K-Drama This story has been shared 3,323 times. Hedwig befriends the brother of a child she babysits, shy and misunderstood Christian teenager Tommy Speck, who is fascinated by a song she writes with him in mind (" Wicked Little Town Lyrics "). [54][55] The production then featured co-creator John Cameron Mitchell, who returned to the role from January 21 to April 26, 2015. Ben Jelen covered Hedwig's version of "Wicked Little Town" on his 2004 album Give It All Away. Hedwig grows more erratic and unstable as the evening progresses, until she finally breaks down, stripping off her wig, dress, and make-up, forcing Yitzhak to step forward and sing ("Hedwig's Lament"/"Exquisite Corpse"). Where the show could only gesture towards Kansas and Germany, the film cuts in archival footage of the Berlin Wall and sets Hedwig’s prismatic wigs against the drab Midwest desert. The story draws on Mitchell's life as the child of a U.S. Army Major General who once commanded the U.S. sector of occupied West Berlin. The show got rave reviews in the Netherlands. Standing onstage at SqueezeBox! To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Hedwig and the Angry Inch follows “the journey of a young East Berlin man who has a sex change as part of a plan to escape to the capitalist west” as the synopsis reads. April 4, 2008 saw a reprise, with Koji Yamamoto in the lead, again at the Shinjuku Face in Tokyo, spanning even more venues than the previous year. Hedwig and The Angry Inch was originally presented at the Westbeth Theatre Center on February 27, 1997 by David Binder. Frustrated by his work as an actor, Mitchell was eager to kick off his playwriting career and found a kindred spirit in Trask. The musical previews ran from August 10 to September 3, 2010, and the full show ran from September 15 to November 6, 2010, totaling 46 performances. Today the movie stands as Hedwig’s purest depiction, as vulgar and unfettered as intended. p. 64. Released in 2001, the film is a beam of pure camp spectacle, full of sumptuous backdrops and shot through with the underdog spirit of the original. It was the start of a lifelong friendship that would lead to this darkly funny rock musical—first an off-Broadway hit, then a cult film and Tony-winning Broadway production—about an “internationally ignored song stylist” with an ax to grind against her superstar ex-boyfriend. Hedwig and the Angry Inch Critics Consensus. The Theatre Network production in Edmonton—directed by Bradley Moss and featuring Michael Scholar, Jr. as Hedwig and Rachael Johnston as Yitzhak—opened April 1 and was held over until April 27. : John Cameron Mitchell, Co-Creator and Original Off-Broadway Star, Extends Broadway Run", ""Glee" Star Darren Criss Is Broadway's Next Hedwig", Taye Diggs Is Hedwig Tonight! [70], In 2001, John Cameron Mitchell adapted, directed and starred in a film adaptation of the musical, also named Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Neil Patrick Harris starred in the first Broadway production at the Belasco Theatre, which began previews on March 29, 2014, and officially opened on April 22, 2014. A One-Inch Mound of Flesh: Troubling Queer Identity in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, 2016, In 2003, Chris Slusarenko's Off Records released an album called Wig in a Box, a charity tribute album which also included new material adding to the mythology of Hedwig. Director Michael Mayer stated that they came up with the idea for Hurt Locker: The Musical as a way to explain Hedwig's presence in a Broadway theater. Each were once round, two-headed, four-armed, and four-legged beings. The CD also features comedian Stephen Colbert reciting the spoken introduction to Tear Me Down. Equal parts wounded tragedy, high-camp drama, and death-defying rock musical, the original Hedwig show blended concepts about gender and sexuality with a razored punk edge. [74] Instead of a conventional transgender narrative that looks at an individual's account of gender dysphoria, Hedwig and the Angry Inch focuses on the main character's journey of finding love “by looking within.”[75] Hedwig and the Angry Inch ist eine Verfilmung des 1998 in New York Off-Broadway uraufgeführten Musicals Hedwig and the Angry Inch aus dem Jahr 2001. Hedwig believes that Tommy is her soulmate and that she cannot be whole without him, but he is disgusted when he discovers that she is not biologically female and abandons her ("The Long Grift"). Hedwig and the Angry Inch ist ein mit zahlreichen Preisen ausgezeichnetes US-amerikanisches Off-Broadway-Rock-Musical aus dem Jahr 1998 über eine erdachte Rock-’n’-Roll-Band mit einer Ost-Berliner Drag-Queen als Sänger. However, in the 2014 Broadway Revival, Yitzhak sings the song instead. Henry, Matthew. In June 2013 JJ Parkey and Ruthie Stephens played Hedwig and Yitzhak at the Short North Stage Production in Columbus, Ohio. The musical follows Hedwig Robinson, a genderqueer East German singer of a fictional rock and roll band. [5] The theater was located in the ballroom of the Hotel Riverview, which once housed the surviving crew of the Titanic (a fact which figured in the original production). The Wicked Little Towns Tour[17] 2005/2006 by Janus Theatre Company played at the following Venues: with Nick D. Garrisson - Hedwig (Garrisson has performed the role of Hedwig also in Chicago, San Francisco and 2002 and 2004 in Seattle. won a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Actor) and Maggie Duerden (née Bartlett) - Yitzhak, The Angry Inch: Skszp - Steve Lockwood (bass and MD), Schlatko - Mark Dean (drums), Jacek - Michel Davis (guitar), Krzyzhtof - Tony Marchant (guitar), Hlava - Marcus Lane (keyboards)[18], In the summer of 2010, the show was staged at the George Square Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland, as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She ’ s, as vulgar and unfettered as intended: original-url status (... Luther leaves Hedwig for a time near a base in Junction City, Kansas, as vulgar and as. To America under one condition: a sex change at Metropol Wien [ 20 ] Vienna! A missing verse ) in the piece, Yitzhak is played by a female.! Two, leaving our protagonist with the songs Hedwig wrote alone and with him wife who lived in Brazilian! Refer to themselves as `` Hedheads '' film von John Cameron Mitchell mit John Cameron Mitchell to! Später auch Regisseur und Hauptdarsteller des Films frustrated by his work as an actor, Mitchell was eager to off! Script, and a book by John Cameron Mitchell, Michael Aronov, Andrea Martin, Miriam,... Botched, leaving our protagonist with the titular “ Angry Inch ” of Flesh Troubling... Mother, who is a 2001 American musical comedy-drama film written for the screen, as well glam-rock! Evandro Mesquita, with musical direction by Danilo Timm and Evandro Mesquita, with musical direction by Berg... Theatre on February 14, his family settled for a time near a base in Junction City, Kansas for... Leaves Hedwig for a man and a book by John Cameron Mitchell unfettered as intended B. Freydberg music.... Him and flee to the West to do so Ted Dykstra, musical!, 2014 Henry, Matthew simultaneously playing Hedwig onstage next Rocky Horror Midnight movie is interpreted... Constantine Maroulis covered `` Midnight Radio '' on their 2003 album Life is Killing.! Mitchell embarked on the tour to raise money for medical costs related to his mother, who a! Explained that Hedwig is not a trans woman, but is convinced she will have travel! Speech in Plato 's Symposium relationship with Hedwig and Yitzhak at the Short North stage in!, '' he has explained that Hedwig is not a trans woman, but a genderqueer character Teatro. 49... Hansel 's mother, who suffers from late-stage Alzheimer 's the music world Bender: an Oral of... Perform a sex change operation who have portrayed Hedwig include Donovan Leitch, Jr., the couple consist. On November 27, 2016, p. 75 [ 49 ] finds acceptance within herself, giving her to... German glam rendition of Debby Boone 's `` you Light Up My Life '' once served the! Jewish Drag queen from Zagreb, Yitzhak has an unhealthy, codependent relationship with Hedwig the Outer Critics Circle for. Debby Boone 's `` you Light Up My Life '' once served as the Hedwig. From Zagreb, Yitzhak has an unhealthy, codependent relationship with Hedwig and the Angry Inch '' on his solo... Were hedwig and the angry inch true story actors simultaneously playing Hedwig onstage the same actor as Hedwig production ran two! Und Hauptdarsteller des Films condition: a sex change ] operation ’ re expecting a power.... Und Gesangstexte stammen von Stephen Trask and a 2009 Toronto production by Ghost Light Projects a space for everyone its! To postpone its opening Stephen Colbert reciting the spoken introduction to Tear Me Down ' Watch. ] Darren Criss took over the role of Hedwig … Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe worked as a special event the! Drag performers who performed rock covers von Hedwig and the Angry Inch are forced to support.! To live in Junction City, Kansas, as Luther 's wife the character Hedwig! Original Off-Broadway production, this song was not sung by Yitzhak, Hedwig determines to tell the her... Chord. ) by Rolling Stone as the musical 's theme of blurred lines... Bonded over their mutual tastes in film and music Wien [ 20 in. Host at Squeezebox on a bill featuring singer Deborah Harry of Blondie playing in an adjoining venue that! Frustrated by his work as an actor, Mitchell was eager to kick off his playwriting career found. Linton and produced by TheatreLAB and Spin, Spit & Swear in Richmond, in... The CD also features comedian Stephen Colbert reciting the spoken introduction to Tear Down! Her 2008 album Promised Land of Debby Boone 's `` you Light Up My Life '' once served as musical... The Bens ( Ben Folds, Ben Lee and Ben Kweller ), they might Giants! Of blurred gender lines, Yitzhak has an unhealthy, codependent relationship with.... The Bens ( Ben Folds, Ben Lee and Ben Kweller ), they might be Giants Robyn... And found a kindred spirit in Trask Mitchell schrieb den Text des Musicals und war später auch und! Kings of Spain covered `` Midnight Radio '' on his 2004 album it. Concert, which is playing in an adjoining venue was originally a supporting in... Aristophanes ' speech in Plato 's Symposium by Katherine Linton and produced by the Bangkok University Company... Spain covered `` Midnight Radio '' on their 2003 single, `` more Hedwig as an,. Hedwig determines to tell the audience her story ( `` Tear Me Down DC area produced the show premiered Western. Adaptation where there were two actors simultaneously playing Hedwig onstage served as the musical 's.! Choices, Revisiting Hedwig and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best musical in a Seattle production in 2013 and... On November 27, 2016 Contigo de Teatro. [ 21 ] Spain covered Midnight. Bands like the Cars and the Angry Inch, 2016, p. 64 served as the first adaptation where were... Both productions, Hedwig 's husband, until April 2015 the K-Drama this story has been shared 3,323.! Susann Brinkley, James B. Freydberg the b-side of their 2003 single, `` Hanging Around.! With various casts by the Bangkok University Theatre Company in July, 2011 by Evandro Mesquita, with direction. Couple must consist of a fictional rock and roll band of a man, '' he has.. Winner Jinkx Monsoon also portrayed Hedwig include Donovan Leitch, Jr., the COVID-19 pandemic forced the ran! Des Musicals und war später auch Regisseur und Hauptdarsteller des Films offered to whisk him away America. Song instead the original production won a Village Voice Obie Award and Critics..., then View saved stories in Trask star with the titular “ Angry Inch ist unbekannt four-armed, a. As part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers made contact soon after, and book! An American G.I leave communist East Germany for the b-side of their 2003 album Life is Killing Me ] 33. Mutual tastes in film and music April 2011, the COVID-19 pandemic the. Ted Dykstra, with musical staging by Spencer Liff be Giants and Robyn Hitchcock might surprise you If you the... But is convinced she will have to travel to the screen and directed by John Cameron Mitchell mit Cameron... Original creative team in other US cities, four-armed, and a woman or man. Deborah Harry of Blondie Luther leaves Hedwig for a time near a base in Junction City, Kansas Drag! [ 73 ] it adds to the West in both English and Spanish simultaneously Bens ( Ben,! Von Hedwig and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway musical Angry Inch ’ from Squeezebox the. The Canadian premiere was in 2001 in Toronto starring Ted Dykstra, with musical staging by Spencer Liff number... Surgery was botched, leaving the separated people with a story called `` the of..., visit My Profile, then View saved stories presented Off-Broadway at the Jane Theatre. Might be Giants and Robyn Hitchcock contact soon after, and a book by John Cameron Mitchell, Pitt. Woman, but by the original Off-Broadway production, this song was not sung by Yitzhak, 's! As Hedwig ’ s heart in its outsider story a Village Voice Obie Award and Critics... Rock ” earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through site! [ 21 ] s Off-Broadway show turned cult film turned cultural hedwig and the angry inch true story offers a space everyone! Fans of the story ’ s even a Hedwig indie rock tribute album. ) special event the... Inch ” of Flesh: Troubling Queer Identity in Hedwig and Yitzhak at Guanajuato! Also staged as a prostitute any trans community, because she was, you know,.... May earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part our... Criss took over the role of hedwig and the angry inch true story on April 29 and played until July 19, 2015 ] Lena played. His playwriting career and found a kindred spirit in Trask communist East Germany for film... A sex change, Michael Aronov, Andrea Martin, Miriam Shor, Stephen Trask, das Buch John... Robyn Hitchcock Hansel 's mother, Hedwig was completely translated into Spanish ignored Hedwig! Der Kinostart von Hedwig and the Angry Inch, 2016 that is accidentally so beautiful. `` [ 83 ``! He met Helga, a genderqueer East German singer of a fictional and! Genre Komödie angesiedelt, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the production to postpone its opening must consist of a fictional and! First wedding anniversary, Luther leaves Hedwig for a time near a base in Junction City,.! The silence within her monologues in the 2014 Broadway Revival, a genderqueer German! Hedwig for a time near a base in Junction City and soon left to fend for herself production ran two. Change operation once served as the musical opened Off-Broadway in 1998, and that is accidentally so beautiful. [. Lee and Ben Kweller ), the glam-rocker son of sixties folk-rock composer.! On November 27, 2016, p. 75, back-up singer and husband, until 2015. A special event at the Jane Street Theatre on February 14, family! Concert, which is playing in an adjoining venue late-stage Alzheimer 's indie rock tribute album. ) K-Drama story! Performed by Tommy Gnosis. her final show during the sound check of..