Displaying items by tag: John Cameron Mitchell

You might think that a rock musical featuring a genderqueer, hard-rockin’ and brokenhearted performer born on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall and the recipient of a sex-change operation gone horribly wrong might not be the show for you. But you would be making a big mistake.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a sometimes raunchy, sometimes heartbreaking rock-and-roll musical now playing with Haven at the Den Theatre in the heart of Wicker Park, is so much more. At its core, Hedwig is an inspirational search for identity, for acceptance, and ultimately, for finding one’s own voice.

And more than that, Hedwig under the skillful direction of JD Caudill, is just plain fun. You cannot leave the theatre without feeling that you have been entertained and uplifted. And in today’s current state of the world, that’s not a small thing.

The musical, with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask and book by John Cameron Mitchell, first opened off-Broadway in 1998 and won awards for Best Off-Broadway Musical. While it has been produced throughout the world in hundreds of stage productions, it wasn’t until 2014 when the show first made its Broadway debut starring Neil Patrick Harris and winning a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

The musical tells the story of “internationally ignored song stylist,” Hedwig Schmidt, in the form of a rock gig/stand-up comedy routine backed by the hard-rocking band “The Angry Inch.” Using song and monologue, Hedwig (Tyler Anthony Smith) tells her story which began as Hansel, a “slip of a girlyboy” growing up in East Berlin. Hansel meets Luther, an American GI, who promises to take him to America if he agrees to a sex change. The ensuing bungled operation leaves the newly renamed Hedwig with just “an angry inch.”

Luther abandons Hedwig in a Kansas trailer park, where she turns to music and meets the geeky Tommy Speck, whom she takes under her wing and soon falls for. But Tommy, too, is repelled by her “angry inch,” and after stealing her songs, achieves rock star fame. Hedwig once again is cast aside. She begins stalking Tommy, performing in dive venues next to the stadiums where Tommy is appearing. Throughout the show, Hedwig repeatedly pokes her head out the door where we can hear Tommy Gnosis (who Hedwig named) as he talks about himself, never mentioning or crediting Hedwig.

Hedwig is aided -- and hindered – by her assistant, back-up singer and husband, Yitzhak (Ismael Garcia), a Jewish drag queen from Zagreb. The two have an unhealthy, codependent relationship, and Hedwig verbally abuses Yitzhak throughout the evening, clearly threatened by his natural talent. We learn that Hedwig agreed to marry Yitzhak only on the condition that he never perform as a woman again.

Smith absolutely dazzles as Hedwig in their debut performance with Haven. They strut and swagger across the intimate setting of the Den, singing of their search for “The Origin of Love” and better half. A great deal of the charm of the show is Hedwig’s interaction with the audience, and Smith is quite adept at adlibbing and engaging with the audience, getting upfront and personal (very personal) with those sitting in the cabaret-styled tables. (As an aside, audience members do have the ability to indicate their preference for any audience participation with cleverly placed red, yellow, and green signs.)

It's all in good fun, and the audience loved it, as did the cast! Caudill also includes lots of local references and touches (like the Pepper Palace at the Salt Shed) that added to the performance, keeping it fresh and relatable.

Garcia, also making his Haven debut as the disgruntled and downtrodden Yitzhak, plays his role perfectly. It is clear that he yearns to come out from under Hedwig’s shadow, but he sullenly submits to his back-up role. Finally, in a complete breakdown, as Hedwig tears off her wig and takes off her makeup, Yitzhak must step up to sing the final song.

The show closes as Hedwig finds peace and acceptance within herself, and Yitzhak finds his true voice in a performance that brings down the house.

The two main performers are skillfully back by “The Angry Inch,” a hard-working and hard-rocking group of talented musicians led by musical director and keyboardist, Harper Caruso. Joining her onstage are Nate Hall on guitar, Alek Boggio on bass, and Mia Park on drums. In addition to keeping the beat moving, they also engage with Hedwig and Yitzhak in ongoing banter throughout the show and are very much a part of the overall performance.

I love the intimacy of the Den Theatre. It was the perfect venue for this type of show, but because of its size, I did feel the band sometimes overwhelmed the vocals and it was hard at times to clearly hear the words of the songs.

That aside, the evening was truly enjoyable and entertaining, and I would definitely recommend this production of Hedwig. As billed, it was funny, it was touching, and in the end, it was a wonderful reminder of every person’s need to find their own voice and use it.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch plays at the Den Theatre now through August 4. For ticket information, visit the Haven website.