Pink as Hedwig?!

Posted: 5/15/14 at 10:15am

http://moviemartin.blogspot.com/2014/05/pink-and-angry-inch.html

Hmmmmm... could work I suppose

[wdwfreak]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 10:27am

As much as she would sing the hell out of the score, Hedwig has to be played by a guy, no contest.

Posted: 5/15/14 at 10:30am

why?

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 10:35am

She certainly does not have to be played by a guy, and I think this could be brilliant.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 10:39am

She may work as Yitzhak but I don't think Hedwig. Lady Gaga could sing the hell out of the score, too but as another poster noted, Hedwig needs to be played by a man.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 10:42am

Oh, so THIS is where the line of "non traditional" casting is drawn in the sand.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 10:43am

She has been played by women before. I'm sure there were costume tweaks to the finale, but Hedwig does not need to be played by a man. Especially if a name this big is interested.

Updated On: 5/15/14 at 10:43 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 10:45am

Ally Sheedy was the first, I believe.

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:02am

Ally Sheedy was the only, after Sandra Bernharad reneged. Hedwig must be played by a man. This is a controversial topic but for me there is no argument.

Carry on.

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:07am

JCM on the topic (from the NYT in a joint interview with Ally): "I always thought there would be something subversive about having a woman play the role. But there's a whole history of women as drag queens, strong women with a heightened awareness of their femininity and how it worked in the world. Mae West was a drag queen. So is Barbra Streisand, unintentionally.

And everyone has an aunt or a mom or a grandma who was a drag queen. You know, the hair was higher, the words were longer and larger, the sex was unabashed and she called it like it was. But some fans have been outraged that the part of a drag queen would be played by a woman, like we were selling out. And I do sort of enjoy their stunned wrapping-their-mind-around-it kind of look."

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:12am

Well, of course. He was promo-ing the show with Ally. As history showed us, it clearly didn't work out. Some of us who were there saw it first hand.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:14am

I don't see the problem. I'd drop everything to see this.

[newintown]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:15am

If a woman were to play Hedwig, wouldn't all the keys need to be changed, and melodies changed? I mean, JC Mitchell is/was basically a baritone, but a woman singing in his octave would sound like Bea Arthur or Elaine Stritch. If she sang it up the octave, she would sound more like Jeanette MacDonald. It's a rangy score, and even Mitchell (on the recordings) doesn't sing it as written, opting for lower notes than written in many places.

Since Hedwig isn't taking voice-changing hormones, he ought to sound like a man, logically (not that many people really care about logic).

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:15am

Well, there is a huge difference between Ally not working out and no woman ever being able to work out...

I have no interest in the concept, was just curious what JCM thought, so I looked it up.

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:17am

I cannot post what happened during the Sheedy run. Even I will not go there. All I will say is that after she was fired, the show would have closed if not for Matt McGrath, who saved it.

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:19am

"I have no interest in the concept, was just curious what JCM thought, so I looked it up."

I'd be interested in your posting what he said about a female Hedwig after the run.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:23am

I hardly think one woman not working out means the role should never be played by one. As for the voice...the show's timeline is already completely f*cked, they spend minutes winking at how silly it is for the show to be on Broadway, etc. I think we'd be willing to buy it, depending on the performer.

Has an actual trans woman ever done the role, even regionally?



Updated On: 5/15/14 at 11:23 AM

[newintown]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:24am

I love some of the stories I heard about Sheedy during her tenure, including the one where she talked throughout the show with her mother when she came to see it.

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:29am

That would combine Ally/any woman as Hedwig into one thing, though. I didn't post what he said about Ally to specifically not make this about her, and instead focused on the clip where he talked about a woman in general playing the role.

Pink couldn't play Hedwig because Ally Sheedy couldn't doesn't seem to line up logically for me.

The best news would be JCM stepping into the heels after NPH, everything else is a step down to me.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:30am

I remember all the things Mitchell wrote on the Hedwig board when the Sheedy announcement was made. It was all very heartfelt and made a lot of sense from a theoretical standpoint. He urged everybody to give this radical change a chance, before condemning it without seeing it.

It didn't work out. I would think they might shy away from taking such a big chance in the Broadway version.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:30am

This is slightly off-topic, but while we're discussing past Hedwigs, did anybody see Cerveris? I would love to hear (or HEAR) anything about that performance.

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:33am

"I hardly think one woman not working out means the role should never be played by one."

I'd like to know how many posters here who think a woman can play the role have seen the show with Ally Sheedy in it. I say that because notwithstanding Ms. Sheedy, there are reasons why it wouldn't work out with a woman. there's a huge difference between sitting there and imagining it would work, and actually seeing it.

costume re-creation, musical changes, drastic voice difference, etc.

Newintown, that story is one of the more tame ones!

[newintown]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:35am

Jane, I long for you to be indiscreet just this once.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:36am

How did they do the Wicked Little Town reprise?

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/15/14 at 11:37am

This is slightly off-topic, but while we're discussing past Hedwigs, did anybody see Cerveris? I would love to hear (or HEAR) anything about that performance.

Michael was a very popular Hedwig. After JCM, there were varied opinions on who was the best Hedwig. Half the people were for Cerveris, and half were for Kevin Cahoon.

Michael, in JCM's own words, sang the show better than he did. Michael affected the accent strongly, and emoted quite strongly. His transformation during Wicked Little Town reprise was breathtaking. I wish you could all see it.