With a book by John Cameron Mitchell and music and lyrics by Stephen Trask, the cult rock opera follows the path of an East German rocker bouncing back from botched transgender surgery, who comes to America in search of fame and a truer sense of herself — by fronting a band called The Angry Inch.
The material evolved through band gigs and alt-cabaret dates into the exhilaratingly trashy post-punk musical, which it premiered at the Westbeth Theatre in 1997 and transferred to Greenwich Village's Jane Street Theatre off Broadway in 1998. Mitchell originated the title role, and the Off-Broadway show played for two years.
Mitchell wrote, directed and starred in a 2001 New Line screen adaptation of the show. The film won the Best Director and Audience Awards at the Sundance Film Festival, and Mitchell received a Golden Globe nomination for his lead performance.
When the Broadway version began previews in March 2014, the two-hander had waited until How I Met Your Mother wrapped to star Neil Patrick Harris as the title character, and Lena Hall as the gender-ambiguous Croatian husband, roadie and backup singer Yitzhak. Directed by Michael Mayer, the revival was produced by David Binder and Jayne Baron Sherman, with 101 Productions serving as executive producers. After setting new house box office records four times at the Belasco Theatre, the show recouped its $5 million capitalization in just 16 weeks.
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"It's tough to strut around in high heels and not feel a fool, tough to manage a full wig of hair, to cock a wrist, to embrace a bra and not feel like you are somehow going to be exposed," said Harris, who also lost a lot of weight for the role. "But in a role like this, you have to commit. You can't tiptoe, you have to bulldoze. And the more I trusted, the further I went, the better it felt. Now her mannerisms seem second nature."
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Harris introduced viewers at home to Hedwig during the Tony Awards, when he performed "Sugar Daddy" and treated Orlando Bloom to a "car wash" by standing over his head in a skirt made out of dangling twinkle lights, gave Sting a short lap dance, landed in Kevin Bacon's lap, licked Samuel L. Jackson's glasses and kissed David Burtka.
Of the show's eight nominations, the rock opera won four awards — for best musical revival, lead actor Harris, featured actressHall and Kevin Adams' lighting design. "A year ago I was hosting the Tonys — this is crazy-pants!" said Harris when accepting his award. "Thank you to the people who inspire us creatively, like teachers. These are teachers in small town New Mexico who, when sports was the only option, showed that creativity had a place in the world. Without them I would never be able to do any of this."
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The Book of Mormon breakout followed Harris in the lead role for eight weeks — and only had five days to rehearse before his first performance, since he was simultaneously shooting the fourth season of HBO's Girls. He told THR that he gets nervous during some of the humorous improv of Hedwig, like when she spits a mouthful of water onto an unsuspecting audience member. "I've been lucky in the past couple of performances that the person hasn't been looking at me!"
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After Rannells' run, Michael C. Hall took over the title role through the 2014 holiday season. The move marked the Dexter star's first musical theater role in over a decade — he made his Broadway debut as the emcee in Cabaret in 1999 and played Billy Flynn in Chicago in 2002. Hall also stepped in for Mitchell for a week when the co-creator was injured during a performance.
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John Cameron Mitchell himself then reprise the title role he originated for an extended limited engagement — even with a knee brace and with the use of a crutch after sustaining an injury during a Feb. 7 performance. He soldiered on for the rest of that week before being forced to take a week off, and trading Hedwig's gold glamrocker boots for less perilous bedazzled hi-tops. "You may have noticed that I'm working on my last leg here," deadpans Mitchell. "What I'm trying to say, ladies and gentlemen, is that tonight you’re seeing the show with the original cast."
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Darren Criss currently fronts the rock opera, with Rebecca Naomi Jones as Yitzhak.
After 76 weeks of men rotating in to share the titular character's personal tale of her rise to tawdry stardom and self-discovery, Hedwig and the Angry Inch wraps its extended limited engagement on Sept. 13, with Taye Diggs donning the gold heels for the final leg.