A Fast-Paced Drama

Hedwig and the Angry Inch - Shotgun Players, Berkeley, CA - 11/21/23

Basically, this is a two person show (plus the musicians, of course). I knew nothing about the show going in, except that Neal Patrick Harris (native-born New Mexican from Ruidoso) had played Hedwig on Broadway.

As it turned out, we were there on a night when the understudies came out to play: Chris Steel as Hedwig, and May Ramos as Yitzhak. The Wikipedia article on the show is interesting:

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask and a book by John Cameron Mitchell. The musical follows Hedwig Robinson, a genderqueer East German singer of a fictional rock and roll band. The story draws on Mitchell's life as the child of a U.S. Army major general who once commanded the U.S. sector of occupied West Berlin. The character of Hedwig was inspired by a German divorced U.S. Army wife who was Mitchell's family babysitter and moonlighted as a prostitute at her trailer park home in Junction City, Kansas. 

...The character of Hedwig was originally a supporting character in the piece. ... The character of Tommy, originally conceived as the main character, was based on Mitchell himself: both were gay, the child of an army general, deeply Roman Catholic, and fascinated with mythology. Hedwig became the story's protagonist when Trask encouraged Mitchell to showcase their earliest material in 1994 at NYC's drag-punk club Squeezebox, where Trask headed the house band and Mitchell's boyfriend, Jack Steeb, played bass.

...Mitchell, who himself came out as non-binary in 2022, has explained that Hedwig is not a trans woman, but a genderqueer character. "She's more than a woman or a man," he has said. ... He also stated that, while Hedwig is meant to be a queer voice, she is not meant to be specifically transgender: "[The sex change operation is] not a choice. Hedwig doesn't speak for any trans community, because she was ... mutilated."

...The concept of the stage production is that the audience is watching genderqueer rock singer Hedwig Robinson's musical act as she follows rockstar Tommy Gnosis' (much more successful) tour around the country. Occasionally Hedwig opens a door onstage to listen to Gnosis's concert, which is playing in an adjoining venue. 

...She is aided and hindered by her assistant, back-up singer and husband, Yitzhak. A Jewish drag queen from Zagreb, Yitzhak has an unhealthy, codependent relationship with Hedwig. ... (To further the musical's theme of blurred gender lines, Yitzhak is often played by a female actor.)

...Hedwig goes to live in Junction City, Kansas, as Luther's wife. On their first wedding anniversary, Luther leaves Hedwig for a man. That same day, it is announced that the Berlin Wall has fallen and Germany will reunite, meaning Hedwig's sacrifice was for nothing. Hedwig recovers from the separation by creating a more glamorous, feminine identity for herself ("Wig in a Box") and forming a rock band she calls The Angry Inch.

At the rest stop on the way to Berkeley.

Interesting stage.  Ashby Ave. Sit and Spin?

Posing afterwards with the band.

Chris Steele as Hedwig.  A difficult, demanding role! Drag persona.

The band, and others, but including Shelley Doty, Vicki Randle, Katie Cash, and Kofy Brown.

I liked this song.

I liked the finale too.  It reminded me of another song....

This song is quite likely the one I'm reminded of.  Four syllables "Lift up your hands" = "I'm going home."

Various Signs Out and About These Days

Including some Halloween signs.

Exemptees only. (I don't know what this means - it was at the Sleep Center.)

Ghost killers. Will help if you have a ghost. Check up $1.00. $3.50 if hard to get rid of.

Hippies use side door.

This is an NFT.

You're a monk, I'm a monk, we're all monks.

I came back from the dead, and all I got was this stupid hat.

The Royal Family 2019

The precision of this New Zealand crew is amazing!

 

Kate Sends These Wonderful Swing Videos!

Been Busy

Strangely enough, I've been beating my February SWPACA talk into better shape. Way too early, but best to be prepared. 

Meanwhile, the saga of Joe the Plumber's life goes on. Joe had his pickup truck stolen at Costco early in October, and it badly affected his income. This month, two satisfied customers each gave him an automobile, so now he has two vehicles. He still has to fully replace all his tools, but he's doing much better.

George Santos, Fraudster and Statesman

George demands a Constitution more to his liking:

Santos then endorsed a fringe idea that's been gaining traction in state legislatures to convene a new constitutional convention, which could radically alter the founding document through a process that political scientists say would likely favor conservative states.

"It is a disgusting politicized smear that shows the depths of how low our federal government has sunk," Santos said. "Everyone who participated in this grave miscarriage of Justice should all be ashamed of themselves. We the People desperately need an Article V Constitutional Convention." 

"We are quickly approaching $34 trillion dollars in debt, the government is continuously on the verge of a shutdown, our southern border is wide open, our current President is the head of an influence peddling crime family, and all this Congress wants to do is attack their political enemies with tit for tat unconstitutional censures, impeachments, expulsions and ethics investigations," he added.