REINVENTING THE MUSICAL
By THOMAS CONNER World Entertainment Writer, 9/12/2002
Matt Brown plays the title character in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch." The show opens at 8 p.m. Thursday at The Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. Fourth St.
Stage production of 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' struts its rock roots
Landlocked here in middle America, we wind up seeing the film adaptation by the time a stage show -- in its fourth or fifth incarnation, and with significantly reduced star power -- makes its way this far inland.
Fortunately, when the material is good, the show still rocks.
"A lot of people are surprised to learn this started as a stage show," said Matt Brown, who plays the title character in the upcoming Tulsa production of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch." "They ask, 'So you're doing a show based on the movie?'"
Rest assured, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" was the stage show of stage shows. When it ran in New York City's Greenwich Village a few years ago, it was a sensation -- hailed as the greatest rock musical since "The Rocky Horror Show" (which, children, also began life on the stage before becoming a hit film and then, well, returning to the stage).
Stars of every stripe crammed into the Westbeth Theater to see the tale of Hedwig, a delicate boy from East Berlin whose attempt to escape communism leads him to a botched sex-change operation. He is left angry and with the, um, inch in question, but he winds up becoming an international superstar in a fabulous Farrah Fawcett wig.
The show was turned into a faithful film adaptation and a hit soundtrack last year.
It's a wild tale and, yes, it rocks.
But is it "Rocky Horror"?
"A lot of people make the 'Rocky' comparison," Brown said. "It's got a transvestite and some drag queens, but that's about it as far as the comparison goes. 'Rocky' is so full of camp. The 'Hedwig' idea is so over-the-top, but it's done with such realism and humanity that you wind up really cheering for this character."
If you've seen the movie, you know it's not a non-stop wacky laugh-riot. The story, by creator John Cameron Mitchell, takes an outlandish premise and wrings out some serious drama and human feeling.
The real success of the show, though, is in the seamless use of the music. It's real, solid rock 'n' roll, and it contributes to the story instead of merely offering an element through which to push the narrative into your face.
"This was written by a real rock band, and the play stays faithful to it," Brown said.
Brown plays in an indie-rock band himself, Oklahoma City's the Fellowship Students. The band will be the band in the show, with a substitute for Brown, the guitarist.
Brown saw "Hedwig" five times while living in New York. He said the show's potential excited him.
"It's a musical that isn't a musical, you know? I don't think anything can save the musical -- it's a tired art form -- but 'Hedwig' certainly reinvented it with style," he said.
Whatever became of the rock musical, post-"Rocky Horror"?
"Well, you had 'Rent,' which was very exciting at the time, though years later we look back on it and realize, 'Oh God, it was just a big Gap ad.' It was this adult-contemporary soft-rock musical. 'Hedwig' came along, and it's basically a rock concert with a lot of talking. I mean, people say that 'Hair' was the quintessential rock musical, but looking back at it -- it's not real rock music at all."
This production of "Hedwig" has been running since early June in Oklahoma City, produced by the Chocolate Factory and Starving Shark Productions. The troupe was excited to bring it to Tulsa.
"The whole thing kind of culminates in these Tulsa shows. It's what we've been working towards," Brown said. "It'll be a great show because now the whole thing is part of our fiber. We've almost become these people."
Thomas Conner, World entertainment writer, can be reached at 581-8473 or via e-mail at thomas.conner@tulsaworld.com .
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and Sept. 19-21, plus a special midnight performance Sept. 20
Where: The Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. Fourth St.
Admission: $10, available in advance by calling 583-8487 [As of February 2007, 633-8666] or visiting www.starvingshark.com