With its newest production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Actor’s Express has essentially delivered a gift-wrapped wig in a box to Atlanta audiences. It’s terrific fun.
Running through August 19 and starring both Niko Carleo and Christina Leidel in the title role at alternating performances, the 1998 raucous rock musical, written by John Cameron Mitchell with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask, remains a thought-provoking, hilarious piece of work with amazing songs.
The musical has been staged at Actor’s Express twice before. This production, directed by Quinn Xavier Hernandez, sets all of its activity in Atlanta at the actual theater, rather than having the craziness take place at some zany fictional setting as previous productions have done. This allows for hometown references and for the show to seem immediately involving, since the audience doesn’t have to suspend disbelief at all to fully grasp the narrative. It’s a great touch.
We are in attendance at a small concert of the band Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Somewhere else within earshot at the King Plow complex, a large rock show for superstar Tommy Gnosis is taking place. This is no accident, for Hedwig once served as Tommy’s mentor, songwriter and lover. Now, she, her backup singer/husband Yitzhak and her band stalk him all over the country, hoping he will in some way acknowledge her and give her the credit and fame she deserves. Barring that, she at least wants to capitalize on the notoriety and have her story known.
Hedwig’s story, presented in between and punctuated by the band’s
songs, is a bittersweet, weird and fascinating tale. She began life as Hansel, an East German child with a stern mother and an abusive, then absent, father. The child would pass the time by playing in the oven of the family’s tiny apartment and listening to rock music on American Forces Network, hoping to grow up to be like David Bowie and Tina Turner.
Eventually, a way to America presents itself when a soldier named Luther offers to marry Hansel, though a botched gender re-assignment surgery is required for the marriage, hence the band name and show title.
Once in America, Hedwig gets mixed up with Tommy, and their collective fate is sealed.
In the July 22 performance seen for review, Carleo was a blast as Hedwig, giving the audience a wry sense of humor, emotional vulnerability in the storytelling and signs of a diva attitude. The role is mostly monologue, requiring the actor to occasionally play every character mentioned in a memory. Carleo, who uses they/them pronouns, was able to alternate their voice and physicality seamlessly when embodying Hedwig’s mother, Tommy or Luther.
The physical feat of playing Hedwig is also impressive. Carleo’s voice has a wonderful range, and they do remarkable work in heels performing Precious West’s choreography and navigating quick costume changes.
It’s great work, matched by Isa Martinez (they/them) as Yitzhak. Martinez has a phenomenal singing voice and innate star quality, which is used to great comic effect in the show. Whenever Yitzhak threatens to steal focus from Hedwig during the performance, the tension is palpable.
Additionally, Martinez grabs the audience’s sympathy in large and small ways throughout the show. Yitzhak is one of the first people we see, and we watch as they sacrifice or subjugate themselves out of love to Hedwig.
That dynamic drives the show almost as much as the great music.
And the musicians here are really, really grand. Under the direction of Bucky Motter, the band playing the Angry Inch is guitarist JoAnn Pfeiffer, drummer Jen Hodges, keyboardist Gamble and bassist Dan Bauman. The band is onstage for the length of the 95-minute performance, occasionally acting in addition to playing the music.
The technical touches that were particularly effective included Nick Battaglia’s props and April Carswell’s magnificent costumes. Favorites include a gigantic necklace made of candy hearts featuring obscene slogans; the American flag/rainbow flag cape; and all of the wigs.
Honestly, Hedwig is just a breezy good time with an undercurrent of humanity flowing through it. Trans people deserve consideration and respect in general. On this particular stage, Hedwig deserves our applause.
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Benjamin Carr, a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, is an arts journalist and critic who has contributed to ArtsATL since 2019. His plays have been produced at the Vineyard Theatre in Manhattan, as part of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival and at the Center for Puppetry Arts. His novel, Impacted, was published by The Story Plant in 2021.
