Photo courtesy of J. Stubbs Photography (https://jstubbsphotographyvb.com/)

*Note: As per the performance eligibility requirements laid out here, this production is not up for HRACT Award consideration.*

In our typical fashion, we walked into 37^th and Zen to see “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” totally blind to the plot and having never been to the venue.  Thus, when we saw the small size of the stage, we were a little concerned about exactly what this show was going to look like (although we did enjoy the very cool playbill, provided in the form of a newspaper).  Turns out, we should have trusted director Patrick Mullins and his Roūge Theater Company from the beginning, as this was the perfect venue for “Hedwig”. 

If you, like us, don’t know, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” brings its action through stories being told by the eponymous Hedwig as she puts on a show in an underground music venue with her band, the Angry Inch.  So, 37^th and Zen was the perfect venue, being a spot where the action of this play could actually be set.  And, this performance used the space to its fullest, with Hedwig moving through the audience, and the set even having a couple tricks up its sleeve, including a door with dramatic flood lights, giving Hedwig a spot to peer in on her former lover and collaborator, Tommy Gnosis, as he performs down the street in a huge concert venue.  Knowing that not every seat in a dinner theater-type venue is going to be perfect, the production also incorporated a live feed of a camera following Hedwig (or whatever the point of emphasis was at the moment) throughout the performance, which allowed the actors to bring the audience to the entire venue, including backstage, which gave the show a sort of “mockumentary” feel at times, and was very interesting to see.

With only two speaking roles in the play, there is a lot of pressure on just two performers, and Steve Pacek (as Hedwig) and Leila Stephanie (as Yitzhak) were completely up for the challenge.  Pacek, who we recently saw in “Rathskeller” at The Z, does a fantastic job of balancing the funny, quippy, pun-ny sexual lines of Hedwig with her deeper and darker past.  Hedwig has spent her life constantly searching for the one who completes her, which has led her from East Germany to America, seen her go through a botched surgery to confirm her gender identity, and sent her through three major relationships.  On the night we see Hedwig, she is coming to terms with who she is through her stories and songs.  This is a real tour-de-force role, and Pacek nails it.

Meanwhile, Leila Stephanie, playing Hedwig’s current spouse Yitzhak, sings backup most of the evening, while also being subjected to Hedwig’s constant verbal harassment.  Stephanie successfully gets across this deteriorating relationship while still somehow having really strong chemistry with Hedwig as a performer.  When Yitzhak finally takes center-stage and Stephanie’s vocals come to the fore, soaring over the track laid down by the Angry Inch (consisting of Andy Poindexter, Otis Brooks, Jaz Adkins, and Jordan Noble), we were totally blown away by the power and beauty of Stephanie’s voice. 

This is a moving story of self-discovery and finding one’s other half, whether that other half is in fact someone else or somewhere within you.  Oh – and it is also just a really good time for much of the night, with hilarious jokes and great punk rock/glam music throughout, all performed by this very talented group of artists.   Theater within and around the community, where sets are unnecessary because the place you are is in fact the proper setting for the play, is a really cool concept – here’s to hoping we get to see a lot more of this type of performance from Roūge in the years to come.