BWW Blog: Chris Patton On Directing HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH for Obsidian

Several months ago, I was fortunate enough to be asked to direct a dream show of mine: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH.

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It's a show I've been familiar with since its run at the Jane Street in the West Village in the late '90s, where I saw it for the first time.

And though I didn't immediately understand its complexity and nuance, I sure as hell loved the music. This was pre-SPRING AWAKENING or AMERICAN IDIOT, and real, loud, honest, aggressive rock and roll still had not been heard on a Broadway (or Off-Broadway) stage, nor on a cast recording. But that's what I heard on the HEDWIG CD. (Yes. CD. It was 1998!)

Apart from the gritty, loud, punk-and-glam music, there was an almost shocking intelligence and depth to the lyrics that caught me off guard. What, exactly, was going on here?

So I began to research via the internet (a new concept at the time) and my beautiful, wonderful, late friend, the playwright David Bell, was viewing the show sometimes twice a week. He would jump on AIM late at night and ping me, going on and on about the show, how incredible it was, and how he and his friends would bring Gummi Bears and throw them during the show. What? It was during one of these late-night conversations that he explained the story to me in detail. And I was hooked. Almost obsessed.

I've carried the knowledge about, and love of, the show with me all these years. Through watching the brilliant film, through almost understudying the role in Austin, all the way to its Broadway debut back in 2014, when it finally achieved mainstream status. So when Rachel [Landon, of SRO/Obsidian] asked me to direct the show for them this summer, I thought I'd discovered just about everything there was to discover about Ms. Hedwig and her angry inch. But, as with any challenging directing job, I've come away a better, more informed human after weeks of working over the text and getting the show on its feet.

The things that I'm probably the most obsessed about, things I probably almost bored my actors and production team to tears with, were the ideas of the whole individual, individuation, and self-actualization. For so many years, this show, to me, had always been about (a) sexual identity, (b) gender, and (c) finding your other half. I mean, yes, it was also about an almost-perfect rock score, and incredible text that ties the songs together, but I had become obsessed with the idea of Hedwig on her journey for her other half, to make her whole. But really, what I started to realize is that I'd spent years missing the mark.

The message of the show (if we must assign one) is that you are enough. Not only that, but that if you are truly searching for your other half, you won't find that individual without first making yourself whole. And I find that so simple, and beautiful, all at once.

Chris Patton has been acting on stage for over 35 years, has been a voice over artist for over 18 years, is a published author, has appeared as a guest speaker at over 100 pop-culture conventions and has been directing for the past five years, including two regional premieres in the Houston area. He studied Theatre and Voice at the University of Houston and was the recipient of a Golden Earphones Award and several audio nominations for excellence in Audiobook Narration.

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8 p.m. June 29 through July 1. 3522 White Oak. For information, please call 832-889-7837 or visit obsidiantheater.org.

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