As one of the most iconic rock musicals of all time, staging Hedwig And The Angry Inch is by no means an easy task to tackle. Written by John Cameron Mitchell and composed by Stephen Trask, the play requires in-depth character studies, a wry sense of humour, outrageous talents and an informed understanding of music and literature.
Chanudom Suksatit, left, as Hedwig and Ratchawin Wongviriya as Yitzhak.
“Hedwig And The Angry Inch has these universal messages that we all can relate to in one way or another,” said director Dangkamon Na Pombejra, who will be bringing the cult musical to the Mongkol Studio, RCA, next Thursday.
“The misfits, the losers, the transgenders or whoever probably feels like an outsider at one point in their lives, and Hedwig speaks loudly to them,” added the director, who is also the chairman of the Department of Dramatic Arts, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University.
Neil Patrick Harris is currently playing Hedwig in the Broadway production, but for the Bangkok version, the role of the East German transgender falls to Chanudom Suksatit. Actress/idol Ratchawin Wongviriya will be playing Yitzhak and Pakorn Musikaboonlert of Siam Secret Service and Knock the Knock fame is at the helm as music director.
The musical, produced by Walrus Art Company, will be entirely in English with subtitles.
“We don’t dare translate it since every word means something, and we are afraid that it might get lost in delivery. The beauty of Hedwig And The Angry Inch also lies in the carefully crafted dialogues, so it’s better to leave it alone,” said the director.
Hedwig And The Angry Inch tells the story of Hansel, an East German boy, who falls in love with an American soldier. They decide to move to America, but in order to do so, they must first get married. This requires Hansel to become a woman, but the operation goes wrong, and Hansel, now taking the name of his mother Hedwig, is left with a one-inch penis. Hedwig moves to America, but gets left by her husband on their first wedding anniversary. Hedwig then decides to form a rock band, The Angry Inch, to cope with her undoings. She also becomes friends with Tommy Speck, whom she later names Tommy Gnosis. Gnosis also leaves, taking Hedwig’s compositions with him and becoming a huge rock star.
Bitter and understandably rather angry, Hedwig follows Gnosis with The Angry Inch and plays run down venues near Gnosis’ stadium shows. The stage production is set in one of Hedwig’s shows. Hedwig And The Angry Inch was made into a successful musical movie in 2001 and starred Cameron Mitchell as Hedwig.
This won’t be the first time that Chanudom has taken on the role of Hedwig, however, as in 2011, for his final year project at Bangkok University, he gave a performance as Hedwig that was spellbinding, emotionally raw, fragile and tragically honest. A strong singer, Chanudom portrayed Hedwig as strangely vulnerable, despite her tough exterior, and moved much of the audience to tears. Big things were expected from Chanudom, but tragic incidents, including a death in the family and suffering from a bout of cancer, put a pause in his ascent to stage stardom.
Now, recovering from cancer, Chanudom reveals that his life events revived his interest and strengthened his faith in Hedwig And The Angry Inch.
“This time around, there are new interpretations and new perspectives I am exploring under the guidance of Dangkamon. I understand the symbolic meanings of the dialogue even more. I’ve learned so much from this character. Hedwig is actually not just a character. She teaches me meaningful life lessons, and provides me with new perceptions. My illness and the passing of my mother only made this play even more touching on a very personal level. I am ecstatic to return to the role,” said Chanudom.
The dynamic of the relationship between Hedwig and Yitzhak — Hedwig’s chorus singer, confidant, lover and, also, butt of her abuse, is one aspect of the play that is being explored in depth. Yitzhak, who was once a famous drag queen in her homeland, becomes forced to dress as a man to be able to stay with Hedwig. Chanudom’s university production downplayed the significance of the relationship, presenting it merely as a comical struggle, but not this time around.
“The interplay between Hedwig and Yitzhak is not just for entertainment purposes anymore. Their relationship is now being closely inspected, and they play off one another with a high energy. It’s like a strong push and pull and back and forth between the two. I hope it’ll be interesting for the audience to see,” said Chanudom.
As an in-demand pop idol/actress/tabloid regular, Ratchawin, at first, seems like a curious casting in the role of Yitzhak in this small stage production. Hearing Ratchawin talk passionately about the role and the play, as well as the reassuring words from the production team and co-stars, however, it quickly becomes clear that she is determined and dedicated to bring the role to life. For this, Ratchawin is required to sing chorus lines, dress as a man and speak English with an Eastern European accent.
“It was quite daunting at first, but I’ve always loved the play and the movie, so I would never have let this opportunity pass me by. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small, indie production or it’s in a stadium. I also don’t want to not do something because it might be too difficult,” said Ratchawin. “I hope that I bring depth to Yitzhak, who is forced to appear as something she’s not to appease Hedwig whether in the name of love or survival. I hope that I can get the multiple layers of this character across to the audience.”
Hedwig And The Angry Inch is also lauded for its musical scores. Taking after the glam rock era of David Bowie, invoking the spirits of Iggy Pop and poetic shamanism of Lou Reed, the scores are timelessly beautiful, and have been recited and covered constantly since their debut in 1998. Music director Pakorn has studied the various incarnations of the music of Hedwig And The Angry Inch, and decided to to execute them as closely as possible to the originals.
“They are so well written and the melodies are beautiful. There’s no point in making alterations. They’re perfect the way they are, but having said that, it doesn’t mean that we have just copied. We’re using accomplished musicians who have their own signature sounds, so we’ll somehow produce sounds that pretty much belong to us too. Hopefully it’ll become unique in its own way,” said Pakorn.
“In preparation, I explained the different music genres used in Hedwig And The Angry Inch to the cast and the band. They should understand the spirit of punk rock and glam rock and to be able to truly deliver what the play set out to do,” he added.
For Chanudom, the most difficult aspect of Hedwig And The Angry Inch is the time limitation on stage, as he feels the endless layers of this character can be hard to compress and communicate if not done correctly.
“I use my life experiences to identify with Hedwig’s pain, and I try to escalate my pain to match those of hers. I think this musical is for every single one of us. We all have hope and fear. We all go through struggles,” said Chanudom.
“We all fight, from the moment we’re in our mothers’ wombs. It’s not aimed towards certain segments of our society. It’s for everyone that has ever fought against misfortunes... and life.”
Hedwig And The Angry Inch is on from June 12-14, June 19-21 and June 26-28 from 8pm to 10pm at Mongkol Studio, RCA.
Tickets are 1,000 baht, and available at www.bananabooking.com.
Dudesweet and Trasher will also throw after parties. Call 093-992-4514 for more information.
