RuPaul's Drag Race Star Headlines reTHEATER's HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH
After a critically acclaimed run in Philadelphia last summer, RuPaul's Drag Race Star Mimi Imfurst will return as Hedwig in reTHEATER's production of John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask's gender bending rock musical HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH. The production was nominated for a 2018 Barrymore Awatd and The Philadelphia Inquirer hailed Imfurst as giving "a performance worthy of a rock star, at once weepy and melodramatic and infused with the fury and angst of long-endured sorrow." It will be presented for one night only: Friday, February 15 at 7pm at The Laurie Beechman Theatre (inside West Bank Cafe at 407 West 42nd Street -- at Ninth Avenue). Tickets are $23 plus a $20 food/drink minimum. A $40 VIP ticket including priority seating and meet-and-greet is also available. To purchase tickets, call 212-352-3101 or visit www.SpinCycleNYC.com.
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, the landmark musical by John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask, tells the story of "internationally ignored song stylist" Hedwig Schmidt, an East German rock 'n' roll goddess who also happens to be the victim of a botched sex-change operation. This outrageous and unexpectedly hilarious story is dazzlingly performed by Hedwig in the form of a rock gig/stand-up comedy routine backed by the hard-rocking band "The Angry Inch." Using songs and monologues, Hedwig tells her journey, how her self-sacrificing escape out of East Berlin lead her to a trailer park in Kansas. It's a story about finding your other half, a search for love and self-acceptance.
"When I was 15, my family disowned me for being gay. I was living on the streets and my only possessions were the clothes on my back, a discman, and the original Off-Broadway cast recording of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH. Those songs in many ways kept me going during the most difficult time in my life. Now twenty years later, it brings me full circle to bring to life this incredible story & live in these songs that once saved me in unimaginable ways." said Chapman of playing Hedwig.
Directed by John Hitchens, the production stars Stephanie C Kernisan as Yitzhak and Bobby Goodrich, Paul Severe Harlan, Robert Covello, EJ Simpson, and Tucker Marshall as The Angry Inch. It also features costumes and wigs by Bobby Goodrich with additional costume and wig design by Anthony Sirk and Christopher Sirk.
Braden Chapman (Mimi Imfurst) is a director, writer, actor and producer. Aside from two notorious turns on RuPaul's Drag Race (and RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars), as Mimi Imfurst he has also appeared in drag on Nurse Jackie, Celebrity Apprentice, Blue Bloods and ABC's What Would You Do? He was crowned Miss'd America 2017 and later that year became the first American Drag Queen to perform in Cuba since the embargo. He founded the ground-breaking gender bending "girl" group XELLE and as a producer created RuPaul's Drag Race Battle of the Seasons, the Divas of Drag and Dragapalooza tours which have toured the world. Aside from touring as a drag comedian, onstage he has starred in productions of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH(Hedwig), THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW(Frank N Furter), INTO THE WOODS(Witch), THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANKENSTEIN(ANNE) as well as MARY, LIKE A VIRGIN (The Virgin Mary), THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND (THE GOLDEN GIRLS UNAUTHORIZED MUSICAL), THE FACTS OF LIFE- THE LOST EPISODE(Natalie), and RHODA HEARTBREAK: THE MUSICAL. Most recently he conceived & directed the award-winning new play DIVINE/INTERVENTION, the first ever play about the life of the John Waters muse DIVINE. Many of his music is available on iTunes including his debut solo album The Fire, elect tracks from QUEENS, as well as his parodies and most recent singles SWEET TRANSVESTITE (from the Rocky Horror Show) and (A Little) PIECE OF PEACE. MimiImfurst.com
reTHEATER is a new non-profit theater company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The mission is simple: to reimagine great shows and to realize new ones. Through the re-invention and re-examination of ideas reTHEATER strives to create unique theater going experiences for audiences. reTHEATER.org
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