Having seen the original off-Broadway sensation, and the even-more-sensational Broadway turn by Neil Patrick Harris, it’s going to take a lot to wow me with this week’s performance of ‘Hedwig and the Angry inch’ at Proctor’s Theatre. I’m not too concerned though, as it’s being helmed by Euan Morton, recent Hunk of the Day, and a powerhouse musical theater performer whom I still lovingly recall from his ‘Taboo’ stint. He should make a fine Hedwig, as he understands the soul of that character like no one else.
As a character, Hedwig is the ultimate outsider – one hell-bent on proving that she doesn’t give a fuck about anything or anyone, and one who will stop at nothing to achieve the success she so fervently believes is her right and destiny. That her talent is stolen from her only makes her more of an intriguing mess, and the sacrifices she makes – for freedom, for love, for art – give her a compelling structure from which to hang her “internationally-ignored†persona. She’s brash and grating, vulnerable and endearing, and straddled smack in the middle of so many extremes that she places herself completely outside of the box.
Ultimately, it is her resilient spirit and desire to connect, and to love, that allows her to survive her journey. By the end she’s a little tattered and bruised, stripped of her wigs and costumes, and the only reminders of her fabulousness are the rivulets of glitter and mascara running down her sorrowful face, but she has made her utterly ridiculous and singular tale one of universal redemption. All of us misfits and losers looking to be rescued by rock ‘n roll find our salvation there.
