Hedwig Steals the Spotlight and Your Wig
By Vanessa J. Cheeks
Hedwig the star is unconventional, just like Hedwig the show. It shatters the fourth wall and floats between rock concert and Broadway musical but, Lyrics cabaret stage fits this production like a glove. Folding chairs are set up in front of the stage and everyone has a good view of the shows shenanigans. The sound is loud. It is a rock show after all but, not earpericing. For those with Epilepsy or other sensitivities to light, some portions of the show include flashing and rapid light movements. I do not recall any announcements of this being made prior to the start of the show but, it should be considered when you purchase tickets.
It strikes a chord with hysterical ups and sobering downs. You love Hedwig, but sometimes you hate the bitch. While it is captivating, the story ends abruptly and without feeling like anything was really resolved. Not in 70 minutes. The lead in this production is Hector Manuel, who’s unfaltering German accent and suggestive performance is fantastic. But, the timeline is kind of confusing.
She current song lyrics and talks about watching the Berlin Wall come down. But her suggested age and timeline of events does not quite match up. Or at least not easily. Actors are notoriously given small freedoms with this performance and even though it can create some slight inconsistencies with the script it is still fun to watch and in the end makes no difference.
Telling us the story of her life, Hedwig is reborn in a way. After changing her wigs, costume and ultimately her attitude (specifically toward Yitzhack) she finally accepts herself and strips down in front of the crowd. Not completely, but laying it all bare Hedwig learns to share the spotlight, allowing Yitzhack to bloom as well.
The songs don’t stick with you like most musicals but Manuel and Stewart’s performances and the story of a rock and roll goddess from the Eastern- Bloc of Berlin with an angry inch will. Hedwig and the Angry Inch continues Thursday, September 20 at 7:00 p.m. ; Friday, September 21 at 7:00 p.m. at the Lyric Theater for the Rochester Fringe Festival. Tickets can be purchased at www.rochesterfringe.com or ofccreations.com.
Strutting on stage at Rochester’s Lyric Theatre, Hedwig Robinson unapologetically steals the show in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a half rock- concert, half cabaret show performance. Hedwig is a precocious transsexual diva from the Eastern Bloc of Berlin touring with her band the Angry Inch. The (rock) star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, she requires sunlight…in this case a spotlight, to flourish, and takes it by force if necessary. Hedwig is funny, vulgar, and vulnerable. A gem at this years Fringe Festival.
Bursts of punk rock ballads are interrupted by outbursts about her bad childhood in East Berlin. Her father left, her stoic mother was unloving, and indifferent. She laughs it off.
“I have to laugh because if I didn’t I would cry,” she says to the captivated audience. It’s when she talks about her first romance in the song “Sugar Daddy” and the botched sex change operation at his request that things get deep. The audiences laughter gets uncomfortable, and you get your first glimpse at that vulnerable part of our Hedwig.
The stage is small. It barely fit the band, Hedwig, with all her grand motions and high kicks, and Yitzhak, Hedwig’s husband. The move of a chair, change of a microphone, hand-off of a wig is all done by Yitzhack who also provides back-up vocals for his wife. Yitzhack is played by Sable Stewart. They have a dysfunctional relationship. Hedwig shares everything about her personal life including lost loves and current lusts. But, she won’t share the spotlight with Yitzhak, who is a vocal powerhouse in his own right and was a Drag Show queen before he met her.
