DCPA NEWS CENTER
Enjoy the best stories and perspectives from the theatre world today.
Enjoy the best stories and perspectives from the theatre world today.
Nick Sugar’s history with Hedwig and the Angry Inch goes back eight years. But the settled past became the urgent present in January when the acclaimed director unleashed a spectacular new version at the Aurora Fox that seamlessly joined past and present like two sides of a missing whole.
Denver’s Hedwig history begins with Director Brian Freeland, who introduced the story of the East German girly-boy turned rock diva to Denver audiences in 2002. In 2010, Sugar came out of a four-year performing hiatus to star in a run directed by Bob Wells at the Avenue Theater. Sugar proved to be the quintessential “internationally ignored song stylist,” winning the Denver Post Ovation Award for Best Actor in a Musical. (When The Avenue staged a revival in 2011, Sugar’s Hedwig referred to having won the Denver Post “Ovarian” Award.)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch, written by Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell, is both a trashy and astonishingly literate theatrical experience. For the uninitiated, the story is presented as a driving glam-rock concert woven into a meaningful monologue in which Hedwig tells the provocative tale of her origin as a boy named Hansel who longs to be freed from the oppression of East Berlin. His only escape is marriage to a U.S. soldier. But to accompany him home, Hansel would have to become Hedwig. After a botched sex-change operation, Hedwig now tours from dive bar to salad bar stalking young rock star Tommy Gnosis, who both loved and betrayed her back in a Kansas trailer park.
Our interview: John Cameron Mitchell on the ageless appeal of Hedwig
For The Fox to bring Hedwig back after seven years was to risk the show’s considerable Denver legacy. Sugar agreed to direct and choreograph but chose to pass Hedwig’s high heels to young Jake Mendes, whose brutally vulnerable performance certainly changed the trajectory of his ascending theatre career. Mendes was soon after scooped up by the Denver Center for successive appearances in Off-Center’s This is Modern Art and DCPA education’s Corduroy. Yes, Mendes went straight from playing Hedwig to a graffiti artist to a stuffed bear. And I happen to know that from opening day to closing day of Corduroy, Mendes uttered the word “button” 6,844 times. (And that is an actual tabulation.)
For Hedwig, Mendes walked away with the 2018 Henry Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. Westword’s Juliet Wittman wrote: “Mendes gives a gutsy, all-stops-out performance. He struts and strides, erects defenses and dismantles them. He maintains a love-hate relationship with the audience so that when he invades the first few rows, you’re never sure if he’s going to flirt or spit. Whichever it is, you can’t take your eyes off him.”
Sugar smartly regathered essential members of the 2010 team, starting with Music Director David Nehls and Costume Designer Kevin Copenhaver (also DCPA Costume Crafts Director). Freeland, the man who started it all in Denver, was back with an updated iteration of his remarkable projection design, which for this show is an essential element of the storytelling.
While Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a great story, the Aurora Fox’s production was filled with amazing subplots of its own. Here are a few that made the show special:
Our interview with Stephen Trask: There are Thors all around us
A year ago, no one knew quite what to make of what was happening at the Aurora Fox. But after Hedwig, Wittman wrote: “Whatever the company’s future direction, let’s hope it carries forward the charge and energy of this exhilarating Hedwig.”
Critics Corner: “Mendes has to be able to turn on a dime as Hedwig to pull off this performance. He handles the hairpin turns like a finely tuned Italian sports car, covered in glitter and wearing an incredible Farrah Fawcett wig.” – Bobby Reyes, Aurora Sentinel
Nick Sugar: 2018
As Director and Choreographer:
As a performer:
Jake Mendes: 2018
Our interview: Hedwig creator’s parents are tearing down a wall
Hedwig and the Angry Inch: Cast and creatives
Cast:
The Angry Inch:
Creatives:
The True West Awards, now in their 18th year, began as the Denver Post Ovation Awards in 2001. DCPA Senior Arts Journalist John Moore — along with additional voices from around the state — celebrate the entire local theatre community by recognizing 30 achievements from 2018 over 30 days, without categories or nominations. Moore was named one of the 12 most influential theater critics in the U.S. by American Theatre magazine in 2011. His daily coverage of the DCPA and the Colorado theatre community can be found at MyDenverCenter.Org