Theatre Thoughts sits down in an exclusive interview with the creatives of Australia’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch ahead of its Melbourne premiere to ask, why do we need Hedwig, and why now? The creative team delve into the importance of love, survival, and self-acceptance in the Tony Award-winning show.
Written by Justin Clarke
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is set to rock the Athenaeum and Carriagework venues across Melbourne and Sydney over the next two months. Time Magazine has called Hedwig, “the most exciting rock score written for the theatre”, and Rolling Stone coined it, “the best rock musical ever”. So with so much to unpack, I sat down with the creatives behind the latest Australian production to hit our shores, featuring the ubertalented Seann Miley Moore (Miss Saigon) in the title role.
“Hedwig is more than a character; she’s a symbol of resilience and self-discovery. In today’s climate, where conversations about identity and acceptance are at the forefront, bringing Hedwig’s story to life feels both timely and necessary,” says Miley Moore, who along with co-director Dino Dimitriadis, has brought Hedwig to Australian audiences with a focus on integrity and truth. Dimitriadis adds that, “the themes of transformation and finding one’s voice are universal. Hedwig’s journey mirrors the struggles many face today, making her story incredibly relevant.”
The smash hit of the Adelaide Festival and earning five-star acclaim across the board, Hedwig and the Angry Inch arrives in Melbourne for a strictly limited season from June followed by a season in Carriageworks from July. Featuring iconic songs including “The Origin of Love,” “Midnight Radio,” and “Sugar Daddy,” this electrifying production is a celebration of love, survival, and self-acceptance.
The Origin of Love – Seann Miley Moore in rehearsals
The story of Hedwig itself follows the journey of Hedwig Schmidt, a genderqueer rock singer from East Berlin who undergoes a botched sex change operation to escape communist Germany with an American soldier. Abandoned in a Kansas trailer park, Hedwig forms a band called The Angry Inch and struggles to find love, identity, and success. Through raw storytelling and electrifying rock music, Hedwig confronts her past, embraces her complex identity, and ultimately finds empowerment and self-acceptance.
Hedwig‘s story, which won Best Revival of a Musical at the 68th Tony Awards, has been captured by a variety of Broadway artists, from the most recently Tony Nominated Darren Criss through to Neil Patrick Harris’ Tony Award Winning performance. “The story has such power in who you are,” says Miley Moore adding that having “someone up there [on the stage] in radical defiance and in radical queer spirit,” is vital now as it says, “this is who I am, and I will not be erased. She takes back the story.”
It is Musical Director Victoria Falconer who’s task it is to bring the electric rock and roll genre to life, with this production featuring a live on stage band. Falconer says that through rehearsal, “every day the team would come in and sit down, and the words of the song became more poignant and meaningful to everything we were reading on our news feeds.”
“The music of this particular work is just astonishing,” says Dimitriadis of the show’s score, with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask. With Falconer adding that the songs, “will break your heart, tear it, stomp it on the ground, and then put it back together again by the end of the show. You’ll feel some things”.
With a blistering live band, razor-sharp humour, and a story that is as hilarious as it is heart-wrenching, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is an unmissable theatrical event. You can watch the full interview with the creative team of Hedwig and the Angry Inch below.
Book your tickets to Hedwig in either Melbourne or Sydney through following the link below: https://hedwig.com.au
