My journey with Hedwig begins in Boise Idaho. A friend of mine passed me a DVD copy of the flick and insisted I watch it. I borrowed it and it sat on my shelf for the better part of three months. I was about to head back to Boise for another visit and figured I better watch it before I returned. Thus began my love affair with a fictional drag queen.
Hedwig exists as both a film and a stage play written by John Cameron Mitchell (story) and Stephen Trask (music).
A few months ago a friend of mine said she had heard that Neil Patrick Harris had been cast for a re-launch on Broadway and today he tweeted the first image. I have to be honest, I’ve been geeking out all day. Seeing Neil Patrick Harris do it would be the next best thing to Mitchell himself.
A little history.
Hedwig opened Off-Broadway at Jane Street Theater Feb 14, 98 where it ran for two years. It was loosely based on Mitchell’s own life, his father was in the military and played heavily in the German conflict. The scenery is something Mitchell was quite familiar with.
It was developed in clubs as a series of drag shows before emerging like a beautifully shocking butterfly on stage where it tells the story of a young boy named Hansel in East Germany. He meets a soldier named Luther and they fall in love over gummy bears. In order to leave East Germany, Hansel must marry Luther, and in order to do that he must get a sex change operation and take on the persona of his mother, Hedwig.
The sex change operation is famously botched leaving Hedwig with a one inch mound of flesh where his penis used to be… the angry inch.
Hedwig sees a series of misfortunes, on Luther and Hedwig’s anniversary, Luther leaves Hedwig for another man and it is simultaneously announced that the Berlin wall has fallen. The great tragedy being that all of his sacrifices were now for naught.
Most of the story is told as a series of flashbacks while Hedwig is on the road following Tommy Gnosis, a rock god who I always thought seemed quite a bit like Billy Corgan, on tour. Hedwig maintains that Gnosis stole her songs and became famous from them and intends to prove it.
The music is solid. Every song wonderful all on it’s own. The standout gem in this robot’s opinion is of course The Origin of Love based on Aristophanes’ speech in Plato’s Symposium. Rather than tell you about it, just check it out. It’s worth it, I promise.
If you haven’t seen Hedwig, give it a shot. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. And if you love it, consider joining me on a trek to Broadway. NPH has the talent, and the look. It’s going to be amazing. The show opens on April 22, 2014. Tickets go on sale October 19.
Where’s my wig.