"Hedwig and the Angry Inch"

Theatre review
"Hedwig and the Angry Inch" at the Hangar Theatre
Ithaca Times
August 20, 2008
739 words
"All That Glitters"

full text here

All That Glitters
By: Mark Tedeschi
08/20/2008

Hedwig and the Angry Inch," by John Cameron Mitchell with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask. Directed by Michael Donald Edwards and starring Aaron Berk and S.J. Pickett. Set design by David L. Meyer, costumes by Gretchen Darrow-Crotty, lighting by Jason Read, sound by Jonathan Herter. With stage manager Kelly A. Borgia and technical director Colin Stewart.

Nearly everything about John Cameron Mitchell's "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," from its furiously black humor to its bizarro title, is unconventional. It's a concept musical: a stage show presented as a rock concert-cum-performance art piece starring a charismatic character of ambiguous gender. Hedwig, the title 'raconteuse' recalls her life for the audience via engaging storytelling, ribald stand-up comedy, and rocking out, backed by her enthusiastic band of Yugoslavian refugees.

"Hedwig" is well-suited to be produced anywhere, since the show is staged as a gig in a traveling tour. In the Hangar Theatre's current production, Hedwig authenticates the Ithaca placement by mentioning landmarks like Stewart Park and Moosewood. But lending an even more bona fide if intangible sensation of uniformity are the principals' familiarity with the material and each other; the director (Michael Donald Edwards) and two leads (Aaron Berk, donning the Hedwig wig for his fifth time, and S.J. Pickett - also the musical director - playing another questionably sexed, powerhouse-voiced band member named Yitzhak) put on "Hedwig" at the Syracuse Stage four years ago.

Before the show even begins, we're treated to some wonderful sights and sounds, the latter gifted by Lou Reed and Iggy Pop. Scenic designer David L. Meyer has married a disarrayed East Germany, where Hedwig was raised, with glam-rock razzle-dazzle: a backdrop of wooden planks and graffiti over a catwalked, stars-and-stripes stage floor complete with the transgender astronomical symbol. Audience members seated at bar tables up front allow Berk to better interact with and respond to the crowd. The set has a few neat surprises, too: for one, Matthew Farrow-coordinated projections of sketches and (unfortunately, sometimes illegible) words correspond with the music.

The four "Angry Inch" band members (Dillon Kondor, Josh Oxford, Steve Reichlen, Ben Reynolds) enter, clad in bang-up black leather, courtesy of costume designer Gretchen Darrow-Crotty. Yitzhak - timid, bearded, and baggy-clothed - introduces Hedwig, who braves the stage with thick-glitter makeup, big hair, a corset, and gray stiletto boots, which, mercifully for Berk, are changed by the doting Yitzhak midway through the sub-two-hour show.

Hedwig tells her tale: Born to a single mother, Hedwig (né Hansel) is a poor boy who escapes oppression through passion for listening to rock music. Eventually, he's noticed by "Sugar Daddy" American GI Luther Robinson; they fall in love and Robinson offers to bring Hansel back to the United States. Before they're allowed to marry, Hansel needs sexual reassignment surgery, but the doctors botch the operation, leaving Hansel, now Hedwig, with a functionless "one-inch mound of flesh."

They fly to Kansas, and after a year, Robinson leaves Hedwig for another man. So Hedwig moves into a trailer, forms a band, and begins a complicated romantic relationship with a teenage boy, Tommy. After they write a few songs together, their popularity as a group escalates. Following a highly publicized auto accident, Tommy leaves her and catapults into rock superstardom. Hedwig resents her lack of deserved credit and follows Tommy's countrywide tour with her own... including this particular stop in Ithaca.

That's pretty much everything, but the story, while beautiful and original, isn't as important as the experience. The band, made up of carefully selected IC music students or graduates, express agile musicianship and prowess; the songs range from raging metal-ish numbers to soft, heartbreaking ballads. Jason Read's spirited lighting design simulates a rock concert with strobes, sharp color changes, and ever sweeping spots. Jonathan Herter's sound design is largely articulate, but in louder numbers, the band, while terrific, drowns Stephen Trask's enchanting lyrics.

The music, like the dialogue, encompasses multifaceted emotion. "The Origin of Love" is epic, "Angry Inch" seething, "Wig in a Box" toe-tapping, and "Sugar Daddy" jocular. Speckled between the songs are rim-shot groaners, generally adults-only jokes I can't repeat here. Hedwig plainly explains her stylistic blend of comedy with tragedy: "I laugh, because if I don't, I'll cry."

Finally, there's the matter of the make-or-break lead performer. Berk, under Edwards's confident, cohesive direction, is spot-on; he walks, talks, and sings like a female rock star better than most contemporary female rock stars. He allows you to experience Hedwig's life as she relates it, through the brilliant ups and tearjerking downs of a gifted musician with the world's worst luck.

If you didn't know, Mitchell created "Hedwig" as a Broadway show, and then adapted, directed, and starred in a film version. It's excellent, but I recommend you attend the live version first. And now you have a chance.


©Ithaca Times 2008