Saw NPH in this on browadway. One of the best performances I have ever seen. He played the role very human in a way that made the performance intimate, real, and still hilarious in an uncomfortable but still amazing way. He built up the very shattered person that Hedwig is, while still being a rockstar that makes you cheer her on throughout the entirety of the play. Influencing things into the role in small hints that have influence from her past without it being obvious how damaged she is. Well done Neil. Well done.
I think it's hilarious that Neil's like 'I lost 20 pounds for this' and when Andrew Rannells took over the role he was like 'I eat like a tapeworm now'. XD
I really hate when they say the sinopsis is just about a drag queen with a butch sex change. The story has way more meaning about finding yourself as an individual and accepting your past, present and future.
i like that that is what the synopsis is, because it makes you want to see the show because it is different and interesting. And when you go see the show you are surprised and get to find out the deeper meaning as you watch the show, instead of expecting it before you go in
I put off seeing the movie or show for so long under the mistaken assumption that, as a gay man, I might not "get a lot" from what I thought was just a story about "a trans female rocker trying to fit in a cis male rocker's world" and that I'll see it eventually, no rush. I finally put the movie on this week and I had no idea the ideas and and concepts within were this encompassing! I think ANY human can get something out of it for themselves as, even if you're not personally "confused," you'll still a lot about understanding other people who can be so different from yourself or society. The movie is about exploring sexuality and being open and honest about it, especially your own uniqueness. It teaches you that gender and sexuality can and should be descriptive, not prescriptive, if we all want to be happy and especially get along. My overall take is that everyone's lived and and continues to grow into their own unique story, don't deny them of it especially since their sexuality doesn't hurt you or anyone else.
As much as I don't like the idea of summing up an important show to just that.. at the same time I kinda love it because.. well because nowadays (and I realize your comment is 5 years ago) but for quite a while now.. they put too much info in the synopsis and it takes away from the magic of the storytelling. If you gave the most accurate synopsis of Hedwig, it would take away from what people really feel from this show if they already know too much. And the biggest thing people can get out of this show it to really truly feel.
I love the movie! I came upon it by accident when it came out on DVD. I was still in grade school so I begged my mom to let me watch it and I'm glad we rented it. It was emotional and all she ever wanted was someone to love her back. I finally purchased the movie and I watch it from time to time. One of the greatest movies ever made.
well I had no chance of ever seeing it (hello, live in Australia). If they would consider releasing this on DVD or preferably, blu ray, I'd buy it in a heart beat (but please make it region free so it's not limited to US peoples only).
I got to see NPH in Hedwig last month. No one can ever replace JCM, but Neil has a tremendous voice and I was impressed with him. I thought his German accent was a little weak, but otherwise he was amazing!
sometimes I hate living in Norway...there are so many musicals I have wanted to see...like Spamalot (with Sara Ramirez) and Wicked (with Idina Menzel) and OMG I so wanna see this!!!!! buhuuuuu
great film and soundtrack - I've seen a lot of Hedwig shows done at fringe festivals - would love to see the New York play - sex pistols meets wigstock - rock on man!
Having played Hedwig twice now, I can attest the character takes almost everything out of you. The obvious high level of energy it requires is grueling in itself, but the responsibility you have of taking audiences on an emotional rollercoaster cannot be understated. By the end, you're broken and literally laid bare. The night my first production opened, my mother sat in the front row. It was a lot to ask of her considering the volume of the music and the show's occasionally risque content, but in the raw, silent moments before "Midnight Radio," this tiny little superwoman in her sixties stood and started a standing ovation that resulted in me absolutely bawling. I couldn't help but flash back to the day twenty years earlier when I shattered the hopes and expectations she'd always had for me by coming out to her. Back then, I couldn't allow myself to expect this moment would ever happen. The audience got their money's worth that night as they witnessed what is still to this day the most profound moment of my life.
Personally I would have loved to have seen jinkx monsoon in this role no disrespect to NPH I think he's awesome but I think Jerick Hoffer would have been a much better fit
Cyndie Maher If you like the Hedwig movie, you'll LOVE the stage show! It's very sad and unfortunate to me that I can't even recommend the movie to friends because the music is performed in such a lackluster & perfunctory way. They take the greatest musical ever and turn it into something mediocre in the movie. (Sorry...so wish it wasn't true, but it is)
Would love to see NPH in this! I was lucky enough to see the Australian production with iOTA in the role of Hedwig multiple times. iOTA has a better voice but I still think NPH would be perfect. Probably my favourite musical ever. The stage musical leaves the movie in the dust.
Oh no-no-no-no-no! Stephen Trask had his adorable gap-toothed smile "fixed!" I've always thought he was one of the cutest guys in showbiz...he's still looking fine but I liked his older look.
Oh get over yourselves. John Cameron Mitchell was fine but this role is hardly Man of La Mancha or Fiddler...lots of people would be just fine in this role.
"He is like the greatest Drag Queen ..." *facepalm* the opposite is called Drag King. It would not hurt to actually study the marteria, before you play a character.
The character of Yitzhak, though always played by a woman, is male. *HE* is supposedly one of the best drag queens ever (because he looks and sounds so much like woman), which is why Hedwig won't let him dress in drag, lest Yitzhak outshine her. If you haven't seen the musical or movie (I'm only guessing that you haven't as you didn't know Yitzhak's gender), I won't spoil anything else but, I definitely recommend watching it.
still really wish they had swapped the two leads around. while I love nph, this casting just perpetuates the myth that trans women are just men it drag.
Vicky Mc part of the reason Hedwig is played by a man is because the character, born Hansel, never wanted to be a woman. He was swept into a world with the promise of love and riches. At the end of the show he strips himself of the wig and becomes Hansel again, giving the wig to his husband and allowing him to be a drag queen again
Actually, no - the conclusion of the show involves Hedwig in nothing but tight black undies, giving up the wigs and femininity. That role is handed to Yitzhak (acted by a woman, playing a man who's a drag queen). Hedwig isn't a transwoman in the normal sense of the word, it was a transformation of necessity, then making the most of a bad situation. Hedwig is stuck between "man" and "woman", trying to find a comfortable place. Why ask a transwoman to play a character who hasn't got a defined identity? Especially when society still isn't quite up-to-date on acceptance...
