At this point,
there have been at least three incarnations of Hedwig and the Angry Inch: the original off-Broadway production starring Hedwig creator John Cameron Mitchell, the film version
(again starring Mr. Mitchell), and now, an honest-to-God, big-budget Broadway
production starring TV star, movie star, and ubiquitous host of the Tony
Awards, Neil Patrick Harris. What’s remarkable about this show is that it has
endured over the past 20 years and its trajectory mirrors that of not only the
scrappy protagonist, but of the entire gay rights movement itself. Who could
have imagined, 20 years ago, that gays would not only have the right to marry
but would become so mainstream that they’re a running joke on both the Tony Awards
and the Oscars? Equally astonishing is the fact that a show about a transsexual
is now on Broadway, playing alongside not just one but two shows about transvestites (Kinky Boots, Casa Valentina), as well as the usual assortment of gay-themed shows (Mothers
and Sons). Part of the credit may go to the gay rights movement, but
the other part belongs to the rock-solid credentials of this show.
In a sea of
jukebox musicals (Beautiful, Jersey
Girls, Midnight Blue) and original musicals that close overnight (Bridges
of Madison County), this is that rarest of
creatures: an original Broadway musical with staying power. When was the last
time you walked out of an original musical and the songs were truly hummable? I
don’t want to take anything away from Mr. Mitchell’s clever book, with its
Borscht belt humor (and I mean that as the highest compliment), but I don’t
think enough credit has been given to Stephen Trask’s phenomenal,
Bowie-inspired score. It now has to rank among the great works of American
musical theater, alongside Rodgers and Hammerstein and Stephen Sondheim.
Hedwig, in its stage version, is essentially a
one-man/woman show, so it’s critical to find an actor with both the musical
chops and the comic timing to pull it off. Needless to say, they’ve found that
person in Neil Patrick Harris. Harris has proven his musical theater abilities
in the recent concert staging of Company, as well as his recent Tony-hosting duties. He’s so effortlessly
self-assured in this performance, it’s breathtaking! The one-hour-and-40-minute,
intermissionless show breezes by with the immediacy of a rock concert.
There’s only one
minor criticism I can think of: Some of the seats on the side of the orchestra
(I had one such seat) have a partially obstructed view of the stage. Other than
that, it’s hard to find fault with this production. It now takes its place in
the musical theater canon as the very model of a modern major musical.
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