Thursday, July 31, 2008

Hedwig and the Angry Inch - Jungle Theater

Last night, the Hubs and I went to the Jungle Theater to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch. We got there at 6:45 and there was a SOLD OUT sign at the ticket counter. We were sad and started to turn away when the guy behind the counter said he had two cancellations. SCORE! So we were not only able to get two tickets, but two front row tickets! It was our lucky night.

Oh man, the show was totally AWESOME! Now, I love the movie, so I was a little skeptical on how the play would translate (to, me, in my mind) but I was not disappointed. The Hubs has seen Hedwig in NYC (with the original cast) and in Boston, and he said that the show here in Mpls last night was comparable, if not better than, the one he saw so many years ago in NYC. He said it was absolutely better than the Boston production. I have never seen it on stage, so I can't offer any opinions on other productions.

The set was awesome, the costumes were fabulous, the music was excellent, and I thought Jarius Abts played a fine Hedwig. He looked awesome in the Hedwig get-up, and I swear there were times where I forgot I was watching a man performing as a woman who used to be a man. Ha!
Photo © Michal Daniel, 2008

I think I might want to go see it again! It was funny and loud and a general good time. My favorite part was when Hedwig came off the stage and into the audience and made The Hubs touch him. That made me giggle.

I wonder, though, what people who didn't know anything about Hedwig thought of the play? It's raunchy and kind of crude at times, but I knew all about that, so it wasn't a shock (not that jokes about BJs and same sex relationships shock me at all). But I wonder about the Midwestern Ma and Pa who sat behind us thought about it. Probably nothing, and I'm just perpetuating the uptight, conservative mentality stereotype of Midwesterners, right? Shame on me.

So, yeah. Go see Hedwig and the Angry Inch. You will thank me!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you - Hedwig was AWSOME!
Jarius Abts did a wonderful job along with the rest of the cast. Having seen the movie many times (yeah, I own it), I was wondering how it would be produced on stage - and the Jungle theater didn't let me down. Great Production, Directing and Acting (and Playing).

I thought the older man who was sitting next to his friend (who was getting the "Car wash") in front of me (in the front row) was having a heart attack he was laughing so hard, as his friend sat there rigid with a look of absolute terror...I nearly pissed myself laughing.