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Home-grown ‘Hedwig’ When thespian John Cameron Mitchell first met musician and songwriter Stephen Trask on a flight several years ago, neither could have dreamed their common interests would soon bring them numerous awards, including an OBIE, the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical.
A punk-rocker takes on directing,
production and starring duties to bring
the off-Broadway hit to isle stagesBy Shawn 'Speedy' Lopes
slopes@starbulletin.comTheir acclaimed rock 'n' roll musical "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" generated glowing reviews in such publications as Time magazine, Rolling Stone and Spin, and earned Mitchell and Trask guest spots on MTV, "Late Night with David Letterman" and "The Rosie O'Donnell Show."
"Hedwig" tells the story of an East Berliner named Hansel who meets an American G.I. and sees a sex change and marriage as his only ticket out of the communist bloc. A botched operation in America leads to a divorce from the G.I., however, and Hansel, re-christened Hedwig, finds herself alone in a Kansas trailer park with few resources. Determined to forge ahead, Hedwig forms a rock band and takes up with Tommy Gnosis, who eventually leaves her, steals her songs and goes on to become a huge rock idol.
The outrageous musical has played to audiences around the world and has, in recent years, given way to a CD and motion picture. Its renown continues to grow through local productions around the country, the latest premiering in Honolulu this weekend.
When and where: 6 p.m. today and tomorrow at Wave Waikiki, 1877 Kalakaua Ave.; 6 p.m. next Friday and May 25 at Pink Cadillac, 478 Ena Road; and 10 p.m. May 31 and June 1 at the Honolulu Academy of Arts Theatre, 900 S. Beretania St. 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch'
Call: 834-6886
Cost: $5
Surname-less punk-rock promoter/baker Otto, aided by a small cast of home-grown musicians, brings the off-Broadway hit to the islands a year after first viewing "Hedwig" the motion picture at the Honolulu Academy of Arts Theatre.
"I liked the movie and I said, 'Hey, we could do this onstage,'" recalls Otto, who, in the course of transcribing lyrics from the film, discovered the existence of the original musical. "I bought a book that has the script in it, and for the music (the band) just sat down and listened to the CD over and over and over and just figured it out. The music was amazing."
The story of Hedwig is as compelling as it is absurd. "Their apartment is so small, Mother made him play in the oven," reveals Otto, reciting a scene. "So late at night, he would listen to American Forces radio and listen to Toni Tenille, Debby Boone, Anne Murray and the crypto-homo rockers Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and David Bowie. Even when he has to go think, he creeps back into the kitchen and puts his head in the oven."
True to his do-it-yourself punk-rock roots, Otto is determined to stage this production without the benefit of local sponsorship. Costs for advertising and props were spent out of pocket, as was an agreement of exclusivity from its proprietor.
While ticket prices around the country hover around $30, admission for this pared-down production will cost a fraction of that. "They get almost the whole door because I'm only charging $5 for it. It's basically a band onstage and dialogue in between the songs."
While already spread thin by directing, producing and playing bass, after a series of would-be Hedwigs abandoned the part, Otto concluded he would have to either assume the starring role or abandon the production.
"It took me about a month to realize I was going to have to be (Hedwig) because I'd already paid the money and I'd already started it."
That called for donning the heavy wig and transvestite makeup that he says still "feels strange."
Buoyed by the positive feedback he has received since taking on this project, Otto appears upbeat about his chances of breaking even.
"Since we first put up the posters, I've counted over 70 phone calls," he says. "There's old people, young people ... everyone seems to like it. Now the band's even become aware of what they're really doing. People are coming up to them and making them realize how huge what they're doing is. I'm pretty confident about it."
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