As a poster child for the disenfranchised, one can’t imagine a better representative than the unloved and unwanted Hedwig, who stars in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Milwaukee’s All In Productions has staged a raunchy, funny and heartbreaking version of this rock musical. Or, as Broadway’s Alexander Hamilton might have surmised, here’s a guy who “never got his shot.”
The show was first staged Off-Broadway in 1998 with writer John Cameron Mitchell playing Hedwig, an essentially sweet, vulnerable character of undefined gender. A botched genital surgery – which was supposed to get him out of East Germany – left him with no vagina but, as he says, an “angry inch.”
The popular show ran for two years downtown, starting in 1998, and then was revived on Broadway in 2014 at the Belasco Theater where Neil Patrick Harris did the honors of becoming Hedwig – sparkling red lipstick, outrageous wigs, shiny boots and all. Throughout the 90-minute Milwaukee show (with no intermission), Hedwig, an “internationally ignored song stylist,” keeps the crowd on its toes. One is never sure whether the next moment will elicit a sweet smile, a sneer or some bawdy remark. Hedwig fronts a five-piece rock band called the “Angry Inch.”
As Hedwig, Milwaukee-trained actor Brett Sweeney is dead-on with the show’s songs, which take the audience on a roller coaster ride of emotions. Sweeney performs under the expert guidance of director Robby McGee. Of all the show’s songs, the most playful is undoubtedly “Sugar Daddy.” Hedwig sings of trading sex for candy in his pubescent years. Meanwhile, a stagehand dressed as one of the Oompa-Loopas from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” toss out giant, inflatable gummy bears to the audience. Hedwig encourages the audience to toss the toys around as she sings. On most of the songs, she’s joined by her oft-humiliated boyfriend, Yitzak (played by a woman, just to “even-out” the sexual variations). Playing Yitzak, Lydia Rose Eiche is dressed in a swarthy ensemble and penciled-on “beard.” Credit for the costumes—Hedwig has numerous outrageous costume changes—goes to designer Lyn Kream. The hard-working band is led by director Paula Foley Tillen.
As Hedwig’s story is unveiled during song breaks, we learn that s/he once taught a young boy to become a rocker. That kid eventually went on to superstar fame, sadly leaving Hedwig behind. Even during his own performance, Hedwig waits for the recognition from Tommy Gnosis that never comes. In the otherworldly aura of the theater, the unseen Gnosis is performing nearby. From time to time, Hedwig can’t help but open a door and listen to the throngs of screaming fans. Hedwig is forgotten in the glare of the spotlight. Tommy’s fans will never know that it was Hedwig who worked with him to write some of Tommy’s best material.
Hedwig’s amazing story starts at the beginning (he was born in 1961). While still a child, the country is divided by the Berlin Wall; likewise, Hedwig is divided between the sexes. Along the way, his disfigurement causes some to revile him. He can’t seem to find his place in the world. Everyone seems to be against him.
Hedwig doesn’t fully accept his individuality until the very end, when he strips off his clothes, his wig and his makeup, appearing in front of the audience wearing only black shorts. He sings “Wicked Little Town,” a song he wrote that Tommy made famous. It is a powerful moment, and the entire show is definitely worth seeking out for patrons with a taste for the avant-garde edges of theater.
