A quarter century since it opened off Broadway, John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s musical masterpiece, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, may be more relevant than ever as a large faction of the political and legislative power holders in this country wages war with LGBTQIA civil rights. Hedwig, which debuted in 1998, follows the journey of a trans singer and musician who scraped her way out of Cold War-era East Berlin, only to land in the honkiest of tonks and dirtiest of dive bars in the United States, pining after a rock star who stole her songs and her heart. It’s a story of heartbreak and triumph, refracted through a heap of talent, wit, tenacity and humor.
Often deemed a cult classic, it’s more of a full-stop classic these days, given the enduring popularity of the 2001 film — part of the Criterion Collection — and the Tony-winning Broadway run with Neil Patrick Harris nine years ago. Atlanta audiences will have a chance to see what all the fuss is about — or relive their favorite moments all over again — as Actor’s Express “pulls the wig down from the shelf” once more in a remounting of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (which it produced in 2002 and 2008), running from July 21 through August 19.
At the helm is Quinn Xavier Hernandez (who uses the pronouns they/them/their), making their directing debut at Actor’s Express. Hailing from Charlotte, Hernandez graduated from Clemson University in 2018 with a capstone project directing Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer-winning play, How I Learned to Drive. A prolific writer, they have also penned several full-length plays and numerous shorts.
Ahead of opening night, ArtsATL chatted with Hernandez about why it’s the best possible moment for Hedwig, how the show may well have the most bangers-per-soundtrack of any musical ever and why introversion isn’t always a bad thing in show business.
ArtsATL: A lot has changed since 1998 when this show debuted in terms of how we talk about gender and how we talk about sexuality. But also, especially in recent years, we’ve seen this very dramatic rolling away of LGBTQIA rights, including recent Supreme Court decisions. And so it’s a very scary time in many ways. Can you speak to how you’ve approached connecting a 2023 audience with this material?
Hernandez: Yeah, I don’t think there’s a better show for this time. Hedwig has always been an anthem for the outcasts and the misfits and the people that don’t quite fit into society’s boxes. And although there is a lot of trauma and pain in this story, there’s also a huge amount of queer joy. I really want people to walk away from this show having seen these characters as the complex, fully dimensional, real people that they are.
I feel like it’s so easy to get away with, “Oh, it’s just it’s a man in a dress or a woman dressed up as a man.” It’s not that anymore. I don’t even really think it was that way in the early 2000s when this was starting to get big. I think people are just more aware now, and the more we can shine a light on that and say,‘Hey, see me as I am,’ I think that’s the whole reason to do this show and to keep doing this show.
ArtsATL: Can you take me back to the first time you saw Hedwig and what really resonated at the time?
Hernandez: Um, I have to admit that I have never seen the movie. I thought about watching it after I assistant directed it [in Greenville, South Carolina] and then, I don’t know . . . I never got around to it. And then when I got the offer for this, I was like, oh, well, I don’t wanna watch it until after because I don’t want it to influence me. My main experience with it was listening to the soundtrack. There’s something about the music in this show. There’s not a number that isn’t a bop. It’s got everything. It’s got your ballad; it’s got your crazy punk rock thrasher. It’s totally metal in some places. And totally sweet.
ArtsATL: Hedwig is such a complex character and has stood the test of time. What do you think is so enduring about her and her story?
Hernandez: I think the music is part of what causes Hedwig to be such a long-standing character in the zeitgeist of pop culture. There’s something so raw and vulnerable, and it’s a story of a survivor. And back when it was written, people didn’t have the language for how I believe Hedwig identifies or most likely would identify if given the language of today. But I think it’s the tenacity and the rawness of how everything unfolds and unravels toward the end that really sticks with people. It’s just so bold and in your face, too.
ArtsATL: I read another interview with you where you mentioned being very introverted, which I feel can lend itself well to being a writer, since there’s comfort in just getting to work on the words on the page. But can you talk a little bit about how being introverted has helped you as a director working with actors? And what are some of the challenges there, and how have you worked through them?
Hernandez: I think the biggest thing that being an introvert helps with is that I am much more the director that listens and responds. I feel like most extroverted directors lead with their ego a little bit. [Laughs.] I’m sure there’s a better way to say that!
ArtsATL: Oh, I’ve never heard that about directors.
Hernandez: There’s a real force of personality that I think some people assume a director automatically has to have. Whereas I want to sit and lean in. I think my introversion has helped with not taking up a ton of space as a director, which makes for a more collaborative space, which is cool. Especially with this cast. We have two different actors playing Hedwig, and getting to watch them explore and learn from each other and grow and make something truly, truly wonderful has been just a joy.
The hard part is when the meetings start with everyone looking at me like I’m supposed to have something grandiose to say. I sometimes feel like a little bit of an imposter because I’m like, I don’t have a ton to say. I just want to go with the flow and vibe.
ArtsATL: I get that. It’s like, oh captain, my captain. So — tell me about what the casting process was like.
Hernandez: Having done the show before and being fairly familiar with it, I am so used to seeing a cis, White, typically queer-adjacent person playing Hedwig. In the production that I worked on in Greenville, the cast and I discovered that these characters should really be portrayed by queer people. And so, when it came to putting the casting announcement together, I was very intentional about how I listed everything so that people who identified in a way that I felt represented these characters would show up.
And it was really phenomenal. I was a little nervous, honestly, as someone who writes for nonbinary and gender nonconforming people. It’s not always easy finding actors right now. I was a little concerned, like, are we going to be able to find them here in Atlanta? And the answer is yes. I think out of the 45 people that auditioned for the show, only maybe five or six identified as cisgender.
ArtsATL: What has been your favorite scene to work through?
Hernandez: That is tough. I think the most fun has been with Hedwig in particular. In the script, the notes are very specific about either creating a false setting or setting it where you are. And so, the previous two times that Actor’s Express has done this, they’ve set it somewhere. And this time around, I was like, no, Hedwig is in Atlanta. Hedwig is at Actor’s Express — how do we really hit those buttons and trade out the references and everything so that it feels very much like the world?
That’s been one of my most favorite things because Niko Carleo and Christina Leidel, who are playing Hedwig, are just so f*cking hilarious. Everything that they’re doing in rehearsal so far has had me on the verge of tears, and I can’t wait to see everything come together.
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Alexis Hauk is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association. She has written and edited for numerous newspapers, alt-weeklies, trade publications and national magazines, including Time, The Atlantic, Mental Floss, UPROXX and Washingtonian. An Atlanta native, Alexis has also lived in Boston, Washington, D.C., New York City and Los Angeles. By day, she works in health communications. By night, she enjoys covering the arts and being Batman.
