Zachary Scott Theater Center's arena stage has mounted a rollicking rock and roll hit, John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch, in its Texas premiere. Hedwig relates the story of the "internationally ignored" rock singer and 'her' search for love and stardom.
Hedwig was born a boy named Hansel in East Germany and yearns to find his other half. He meets an American G.I. and sees his chance to get over the Berlin Wall to freedom. In order to marry the G.I. and obtain an exit visa, he submits to a sex-change operation which is botched, leaving him with -- well -- "an angry inch" (also the name of his band). Hedwig is deserted by her savior in a Kansas trailer park and attempts to form a rock band. She takes on a young lover, Tommy Gnosis, who then leaves her, but not before stealing her songs and converting them to his own use to become a mega-rock star.
We do not see any of the above; we only learn of the story as Hedwig fills us in on the background of how she came to this point in her life. Billed as an "anatomically incorrect rock odyssey," Hedwig and the Angry Inch is one hour and 45 minutes of non-stop mesmerizing entertainment.
Andrew Rannells, in his tour-de-force as Hedwig, gives a dynamic and raucous rendition of this star-crossed, sexually confused misfit. Susanne Abbott gives a stellar performance as Yitzak, Hedwig's androgynous back-up singer, as Hedwig takes us on a non-stop roller coaster ride through the vicissitudes of her life.
