The History of Hedwig
Perhaps it is fitting that Hedwig, whose success has reached such enviable heights, was conceived miles above the ground.
John Cameron Mitchell, the writer and performer who first imagined Hedwig, met rock musician Stephen Trask during an airplane flight. Their collaborations led to Hedwig’s first appearance soon after, at The Squeezebox nightclub in New York City.
Hedwig’s debut occurred in the midst of an unusual drag phenomenon that was developing in New York at the time: Punk Rock Drag. In a drag-world that consisted of lip-synching, glamourous female icons, and torch songs, this underground drag movement began to discover a new form of expression by actually singing the songs, and creating drag queens who were rockers, who were punky, and who were edgier than their predecessors.
It was a movement that began to identify a link that had long existed between rock music and gay culture, a link that had never been truly embraced. It was the acknowledgement of a sort of ‘queer sensibility’ that had always been part of rock and roll, dating back to icons such as David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Billy Idol. These were performers who had been ‘hard-rockers’, but were in touch with a feminine quality and glamourous performance style – Glam Rock.
It was in this climate that Hedwig was born, at a drag night at the
Squeezebox in 1994. Her first performance consisted of only one song (‘The
Origin of Love’) and one twelve-minute monologue.
She immediately captured the attention of the audience who witnessed this
first appearance, because she took drag to a new and unusual place. Drag
had always been about the persona, but Hedwig made it about the person.
Hedwig was a character, a drag queen with a history and a story, who had her
own
aspirations and ideas, fears and hopes.
The story of Hedwig was developed
and workshopped in front of the audiences
at the Squeezebox, until director Peter Askin was recruited to help shape
the storyline. In his words: “It was a mess, but it was a wonderful
mess.”
The first production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch premiered at the Jane
Street Theatre in New York City, on Valentine’s Day in 1998. The Jane
Street Theatre was actually not a theatre at all, but an old hotel that
was converted into a theatre by the original Hedwig company. (The movie version
of Hedwig and the Angry Inch pays an homage to the Jane Street Theatre,
by
featuring a painting of the sinking Titanic - The Hotel Riverview housed
the surviving members of the Titanic in 1912.)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is quickly becoming a global phenomenon, boasting performances in America, England, Scotland, Iceland and Germany.
Theatre Network’s production marks the 3rd in Canada, and we are pleased and proud to host the Edmonton stop in her glamourous world tour; hers is a tour across the globe, and a pilgrimage of the soul. It is a rock and roll odyssey. And a journey to find true love.