BWW Previews: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH Inspires Passion

When I decided to do an article about Dane Peterson's Theatre Series' upcoming production of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, I had no idea I would be hit with so much passion from everyone involved with this show. I will be the first to admit I have never seen the show. I have seen several musical numbers from the play and I have discussed it with fellow actors who are obsessed with it, but I am not working with more than a minimal knowledge of HEDWIG.

I asked several people involved with the production if Birmingham was up for what I understood to be a "gritty, rock show with a flamboyant homosexual" to quote the show's director Marcus Lane. But he quickly added that this common perception was only skimming the surface of what HEDWIG is really about. Although "paying homage to the rock show idea," Lane says the story they plan to tell is more of a human story. "It's about a person who is struggling to figure out who they really are and they discover it during the course of the show. I feel most of us have, at one time or another, hated or hid who we are in order to fit in or to avoid being hurt. It's a story I am very excited to help tell."

Tawny Stephens, who will play Yitzhak in the production, is exceedingly excited and passionate about the show as well. Knowing very little about it, not the musical style, plot, etc. she did what any good actress does before jumping into a show- research! (I think before you audition you should read the script and KNOW what you are getting yourself into!) After seeing a Youtube recording of the show, she was haunted by it. She asked her husband to watch it and he later told her that he couldn't stop thinking about it either. "The show is not just a plot line, it is someone's life. The show IS Hedwig. On the surface, it is crass, raunchy, funny, loud, and a little obnoxious. When you explore it just a little more, you realize that ALL of that is a cover for deeply rooted pain, loss, abandonment, longing, and self-discovery. But this is not just a show for the "misfits and losers". This is a show where every person who watches it WILL connect to it in some way. Maybe that's why the show is controversial. Maybe it's because people who are uncomfortable with what's on the surface don't know how to handle how much they connect with what's underneath."

Dane Peterson, who has cast himself in the role of Hedwig, says "we are all Hedwig." "Have you experienced that definitive moment when everything becomes so clear?...Then you, too, are Hedwig. Or perhaps you are still waiting to discover life's answers as you constantly and painfully grow and learn?...Then you, too, are Hedwig."

I know what a powerhouse Ms. Stephens can be onstage and Marcus Lane is an outstanding director so HEDWIG has all of the makings of a hit. Peterson asks that we leave any "preconceived misconceptions at the door." So mark your calendars for June 2- 13 for HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH at the Virginia Samford Theatre in the Martha Moore Sykes Studio. Call 205-251-1206 for more information.