Hedwig and the Angry Inch- The Bay Street Theatre

EDITORIAL NOTE: The following review was penned at our request by a contributor. As much as I had hoped to cover Hedwig myself, my own production responsibilities precluded me from being able to do so. Though I did not see the production, it should be noted that the Editor does heartily endorse the content of the review's final paragraph.

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Hedwig and the Angry Inch could easily be called a one man tour-de-force, but it actually takes quite a few people to pull it off. The stage musical, which most people initially encountered as the 2001 John Cameron Mitchell film, follows the rise and fall of Hedwig from “a slip of a girlyboy living in communist East Berlin” to a glamorous transsexual "a internationally ignored" rock sensation.

Chris Blair is truly phenomenal [as Hedwig]. From his lengthy monologues in which he cracks jokes that have been appropriately updated to fit the time and place to his soaring rock vocals, to his climactic meltdown, it is clear that he is one of the finest musical theatre performers Savannah has to offer. The skill at engaging and responding to his audience that made last year's Rocky Horror Show a success is at its finest here.

But as much as Hedwig really is (as one person put it) "The Chris Blair show, staring Chris Blair" he is backed by an incredibly talented team, most notably Valerie Lavelle as Hedwig's husband,Yitzhak. Ms. Lavelle has always been particularly exceptional at staying present in a scene no matter how often she speaks. She is the rare actor who is always interesting to watch while never actually stealing focus. Her vocals are impressive and the moment she shares with Mr. Blair during "The Long Grift" is truly touching (until she spits in his face).

The Angry Inch band is a delight to listen to and watch react. Ryan McCurdy in particular helps keep up the illusion of spontaneity with his genuine reactions to Mr. Blair's performance (including taking a moment after one joke to put his head down on the keyboard while Chris Stanley patted him uncertainly on the shoulder). His solo during "The Long Grift" lacked the clarity that one usually expects from Mr. McCurdy's wonderful voice but that may have been a fault of the song itself. The pre-show provided by The Angry Inch was great fun, allowing all of the band members a chance to sing and Mr. McCurdy and Mr. Stanley in particular a chance to shine. (A sight not unusual to Club One where Mr. Stanley DJs Karaoke on Tuesday and Wednesday nights).

Travis Coles fits the role of Tommy Gnosis well, though much of what he was actually saying during his reprise of "Wicked Town" was lost. And that is unfortunately the greatest weakness of the show as a whole. The songs sound great and have a great energy but even Mr. Blair occasionally falls victim to the lyrics being more sound than words. Fortunately the story (for the most part) holds up without them, but one has to wonder if we as the audience aren't missing out on something. Whether the fault for this lies in the writing of the music or the production of the sound can be hard to tell. The performers, however, all seem to be giving it their all.

The costumes are pitch perfect and the slides for the most part are used very well. The space is well used, particularly for the "off stage" characters. The one moment of staging that felt contrived involved Ms. Lavelle's Yitzhak playing with a wig and a hand mirror on a table stage left. The symbolism of the wig did become apparent but I kept expecting the wig itself to be used since there really didn't seem to be any reason for it to be there. The director's work should rarely call attention to itself and here Bridget Tunstall has captured the illusion that she simply cast the right people and then stayed out of their way.

Since this was the inaugural event of a new venue and a new company, we here at the Savannah Dramaturgy would be remiss if we did not examine for a moment what this production means for the ever shifting Savannah Theatre scene. The Bay Street Theatre is a wonderful idea, but as good as this production was, as a choice of show it strays no further from the image of the Club One Cabaret than their second theatrical offering, The Rocky Horror Show, which opens at the end of next month. This is not necessarily a problem, but it will be interesting to see what happens when and if the Bay Street Theatre attempts to diversify their productions beyond shows that feature the fabulous Mr. Blair in heels. And it is important to note that these two shows are being produced by separate companies. But the venue itself will eventually have to define what audience it seeks and what it hopes to become.