Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Beginning August 14th, the boundary-breaking rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch will explode onto the Hangar stage.  Get out your glitter and prepare to take a walk on the wild side with our outrageous leading lady Hedwig Schmidt. Hard rock and hard politics unite in this potent, OBIE-winning off-Broadway hit. 

Written by John Cameron Mitchell, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is an in-your-face, thought-provoking exploration of personal and cultural identity. A recent victim of a botched sex change operation, Hedwig escapes communist East Berlin to America where she ultimately pursues a life of rock & roll stardom. She creates the rock band “The Angry Inch”, plays nightly gigs in rundown venues and now makes a stop in Ithaca.

With songs in the glam rock/punk tradition made popular by David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Iggy Pop, Hedwig shares with us the graphic details about her transformation from an East Berlin boy named Hansel into the “internationally ignored” glam rock goddess Hedwig.  Beautiful and shocking, her journey is a sharp examination about the nature of love and the search for self.  Behind this outrageous character is a touching story about a person who is broken--much like the city that bore her. 

The Berlin wall is an important dramatic element in the show.  Director Michael Donald Edwards says the wall is an emblem representing the tension between communism and capitalism, good and evil. “Hedwig is not contained by the fixed reality of race and gender that divide us. She embraces the need to be different and gives up her script of what she’s defined by,” said Edwards. She finally accepts that she is—as we all are—male, female, and human.

Hedwig’s personal journey is manifested in a take-no-prisoners rock score by Stephen Trask. Songs like “Tear me Down” (later covered by Meatloaf) “Wig in a Box,” “Angry Inch,” and “Origin of Love” range from blistering rock to haunting anthems, mirroring Hedwig’s own turbulent, emotional path.

Four talented local musicians make up Hedwig’s tight band of Yugoslavian refugees and bring their own rock energy to Trask’s remarkable music and lyrics. Steve Reichlen is on the drums, Ben Reynolds plays bass, Josh Oxford is on the keyboard and Dillon Kondor is on the guitar, all four musicians are Ithaca College School of Music alums.

Michael Donald Edwards returns to upstate New York to stage the same musical he directed at Syracuse Stage in 2004. Edwards is now the artistic director of the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota, FL.  Edwards’ directing credits include productions at Shakespeare Santa Cruz, GEVA, D.C. Shakespeare Theatre, San Jose Rep, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Our favorite blonde bombshell, Hedwig, is played by the talented Aaron Berk.  Berk is no stranger to this role; he has performed as Hedwig in four other productions.  Berk’s acting credits include five productions of Hair, Shockheaded Peter, Rocky Horror Show nation-wide, and performances at the Fringe and New York Musical Theatre Festivals. 

Yitzhak, Hedwig’s back-up singer, is performed by S.J. Pickett who also serves as the music director.  At the Hangar Theatre, Pickett designed sound for Rough Magic, Stones in His Pockets, Topdog Underdog, and Bach at Leipzig. At Syracuse Stage Pickett was co-author and composer for The Great Peanut Butter Radio Hour and music director and Yitzhak for Hedwig and the Angry Inch.  Pickett has sound designed at the Yale Repertory Theatre, Yale School of Drama, and the Yale Cabaret, among others.

The rest of the creative team behind this production includes set designer David L. Meyer, costume designer Gretchen Darrow-Crotty, lighting designer Jason Read, and sound designer Jonathan Herter. Meyer’s favorite designs include Bat Boy: The Musical, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Little Shop of Horrors, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch.  Meyer has received two TANYS awards for production design. Crotty’s previous Hangar credits include The Truth About Dinosaurs, The Blue Room, Stones in His Pockets, Forever Plaid, and Fences. Read has recently worked for an entertainment lighting company in San Francisco and worked on the Tony Awards this year.  Herter is the resident sound designer at Syracuse Stage for his 10th season and has designed for Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Indiana Repertory Theatre, and Studio Arena.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch will appear at the Hangar Theatre in Cass Park from August 14th through 30th. This production contains adult content, language and themes.  The production is made possible with the support of corporate sponsor C.S.P. Management, media sponsors I-100 The Classic Rock Station and Progressive Talk 1470, with additional support from The Jewelbox and Micky Roof—Designer/Goldsmith. 

----
v4i31