Acceptance and Rock music: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the Musical
Who says you can't watch musical plays at home? Upon the availability of resources online, big hits from broadway can be watched right away! With that, I chose to experience Hedwig and the Angry Inch as played by Darren Criss.
Hedwig is, more or less, a one woman(ish) show with a band. Hedwig can be played by either a woman or a man, the backing singer by a woman in drag. The plot was around Hedwig Robinson, an East German "slip of a girly boy", who underwent a botched sex change operation in order to marry an American soldier. Abandoned by him at a military base in Kansas, Hedwig strikes up a songwriting partnership and doomed romance with a teen boy who goes on to rock'n'roll stardom, leaving Hedwig to a life of dead-end gigs and occasional prostitution.
MAKE-UP, COSTUME and STAGE DESIGN
The make-up and the costume was just fantastic. The exaggeration and oddity that were applied in all the play’s characters just added edge. It may give you the creeps of how weird a transvestite like Hedwig looks like or how bizarre the Angry-Inch can be-- the artists of these elements just nailed it. They really brought out the characters in each and every casts.
The stage design just did this play the right treatment with its fabulous Las Vegas-ish style. The different plot-arts just characterized the different floating emotions one should feel; the kind of vibe was a necessity to incorporate Hedwig’s miserable and hazy feelings with the stage and to the characters.
Proudly, I’ll give 10/10 for the three elements.
ACTING and MUSICAL SCORING
Everyone played their part in this play very well (OMG, Darren Criss!!!). Each and every characters stood out. It showed that this play was not just about Hedwig, although the title goes with him.
Then let's go with Darren Criss.
(Photo courtesy of Entertainment Weekly http://ew.com/article/2016/05/09/darren-criss-hedwig-angry-inch-national-tour/)
I would like to greet him a big “Congratulations”, for he managed to pull-off that “drag queen” thing and made Hedwig a loveable and acceptable character despite of the over bearing descriptions. His portrayal together with that of Yitzhak's actress, showed the vital change and acceptance both characters underwent all throughout the play.
Rock-on! That’s how I’ll put my reaction for the Musical Score. It was like “Rock of Ages” minus Tom Cuise plus the approach of a complex gender identity. One can never sleep this play for the songs, and how the performers executed them will rock your brains out.
I will score the acting and the musical score 9/10.
Don't forget to watch the tvc below!
