Hedwig and the Angry Inch
In 2003 a new company arrived on the San Diego theater scene in the most unlikely of shopping centers on El Cajon Boulevard with a production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
That company, Cygnet, has pulled the wigs down from the shelf to give us a 2009 summer treat in the form of a revival of the same.
The Rolando performing space, tucked between a tanning salon and a smoke shop, seems the perfect venue for this show and provides good fodder for the opening monologue. The space feels like the small concert venue in which the show is set.
The show is conceived as a concert performed by "internationally ignored" rocker Hedwig and backing band, the Angry Inch ( a reference to Hedwig’s botched gender reassignment surgery, as explained in the song "The Angry Inch").
Through the course of the concert we learn how a young East German boy named Hansel in the 1980s lands in Junction City, Kansas as Hedwig, the wife of a US soldier.
After being dumped, Hedwig forms a band and nurtures the musical talents of a protege`/lover who leaves her and becomes a major rock star under the name Tommy Gnosis.
The show brims with ambiguity, sexual and cultural, which is the point - this is a show that challenges our preconceptions about sexuality, music, and the Cold War.
Those familiar with the 2000 movie should check their preconceptions as well, as there are important variations in the stage show including a more upbeat, though nearly as ambiguous ending.
In the title role, Matthew Tyler is manic. He portrays Hedwig’s despair, egomania, bitchiness, and everything in between seamlessly.
If anything, sometimes he has the ’seen it all’ persona down too well and his delivery allows some great lines (e.g. "my mother had a job teaching sculpture to limbless children") to slip by the audience nearly unnoticed.
Tyler shines with the non-verbal - microphone antics with Yitzhak, looks exchanged with the band, and playing with the audience.
Katie Alexander’s Yitzhak exudes punk rock from her pre-show delivery of the "silence your cell phones" speech, and she fulfills those expectations when rocking out in the final scene.
The band (Erik Enstad, Andrew Hoffman, Michael Alfera, and Zach Pike) sound like they’ve been playing together for years; unfortunately they sometimes overpower the vocals, particularly on power songs like "Tear Me Down" and "The Angry Inch".
On the technical side, director James Vasquez utilizes the entire theater, sending Hedwig up the aisles and against the side walls.
In a nod to the over the top subject matter, costume designer Peter Herman adds a three foot fall to Hedwig’s iconic wig; it almost has a life of its own when placed on a microphone stand.
Slides are projected on the back wall of the stage and are quite effective counterpoint to the action, especially in the songs "The Origin of Love" and "Wig in a Box".
At one point in the show, Hansel’s mother says "To be free, one must give up a part of oneself." Fortunately, there is very little the audience must give up for this production.
Cygnet, however, is giving up the Rolando performing space; all their productions will now be in Old Town.
