Photo Credit: Michael Brosilow
Is Hedwig and the Angry Inch a concert? Is it a play? Who cares? It is just pure, unbridled fun. In the show put on by the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, the Stiemke Studio welcomes the one-venue tour of one Hedwig Robinson and her backing band, the Angry Inch. Between the songs of her rock concert, Hedwig reveals some details of her troubled past and no-less-troubled gender identity.
What is the “angry inch”? “It’s what I have to work with,” Hedwig would say. Concretely, it’s what’s left between her legs after a botched sex change operation imposed on her as a young man, forcing her to reinvent herself as a woman and an entertainer. She took a younger boy under her wing, but he betrayed her, stole her music and became a rock star, leaving Hedwig with nothing to show for it. All of that and more comes to light thanks to the impressive amount of information the show manages to convey between musical numbers.
The songs are the main draw, of course. With (mostly) high-energy rock and legendary tracks, the band delivers some amazing moments of pure music. It’s a real concert that’s taking place on stage, and audience members are encouraged to wear earplugs, because the band will not crank down the volume. The Angry Inch is composed of Dan Kazemi playing keyboards, Maxwell Emmet on guitar, Tommy Hahn on bass and Patrick Morrow on drums. “The Origin of Love” might be the weirdest, most engaging song you’ll hear this year, drawing from Plato’s Symposium to create an alternate, almost mythical starting point to the queerness that Hedwig embodies.
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Photo Credit: Michael Brosilow
Here is the key to what makes this show so good, and why it attracted such a diverse LGBTQ crowd on opening night: Queerness is actually the topic of the show, not just alluded to or included for tokenism purposes. Hedwig—but also Yitzhak, her former drag queen husband (masterfully embodied by Bethany Thomas)—completely blur sexuality and gender lines, and these issues are the core of the character development and events related on stage.
Hedwig is an all-encompassing role: As the show’s namesake character, Matt Rodin must dance, sing, perform stand-up comedy, improv and emotion-heavy acting, all while remaining in character as an over-the-top, queen-like stage persona. Hedwig enters the room clad in brightly colored clothes, including a cape and massive wig. But, as Hedwig unveils her personality and sensitivity, she literally sheds her clothes, ending the show almost entirely naked. The last deeply emotional note that Hedwig and the Angry Inch leaves you energized and awash with excitement—avoid spoilers, but you should keep an eye on Bethany Thomas, as she shares more of the spotlight than seems obvious at first.
Through March 8 at the Stiemke Studio, 108 E. Wells St.
