Musical in the City - Hedwig and the Angry Inch

First, thanks so much to my good friend Dinah for suggesting to see this musical. I forgot if she had seen this show before in NYC. If she did, she must have really liked it to see it again here in SF.

Second, I absolutely enjoyed the show. This is probably one of the most demanding musicals, in the acting and singing department, I've ever seen. I liked it so much I might just see it again this week.

I haven't seen the movie version so I didn't know the story of Hedwig and the Angry Inch before Dinah and I went to see the musical at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre. I remember one time hearing a co worker of mine saying that he has seen the movie and he didn't like it with a matching frown on his face. So in a way, I had that biased opinion about the show.

[read about my other Musical and Theatre blogs here]

Dinah and I got to the theater at noon to pick up our rush tickets for the afternoon show. The biased opinion and cloud of doubts cleared a bit after I read all these rave reviews from distinguished publications and theater institutions on the doors of the theater. This story ended well because I totally enjoyed the musical and instantly became a fan of Darren Criss and Lena Hall.

 

From my un-Broadwayish point of view, the musical is about a German rock or metal singer who used to be a man but had a botched sex change that left an inch of his former organ intact. The entire musical happened during his concert where he retold his stories that took us from his early years through the present. I loved the high and low points in his life and eventually everything in his life working out fine in the end.

   

Darren Criss was amazing as Hedwig. I was also impressed with the range of his voice. He can sing in metal, ballad and pop.  He can change his accent from a German to a GI to a teenage American boy. Great acting and well rouded artist!  I had several laughs too. At times I think he's doing spontaneous dialogues using jokes and references only local Bay Area folks would get. I loved it! 

   

Lena Hall was great as Yitzhak. I loved her transformation in the end. It was so drastic I completely forgot what she looked like as a masculine Yitzhak. She and Darren were the only major characters so they did most of the work the entire time. I thought that was intense. Of course, the band, The Angry Inch did a great job as well.

 

The show is currently playing at the Golden Gate Theatre through October 30, 2016.

~rl