The new Broadway cast recording of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, starring Bro Code womanizer turned transsexual punk rocker Neil Patrick Harris, is set to be released digitally and on CD next week.
Harris and co-star Lena Hall both won Tony Awards this past Sunday for their work on the revival of the incredible musical, where Harris also performed an incredible, stage-grinding, husband-kissing version of “Sugar Daddy.”
Hedwig, written by John Cameron Mitchell, debuted off-Broadway in 1998. Mitchell also directed and starred, then reprised the role in a film version.
Hedwig is one of my absolute favourite musicals; the mythical gender-queerness and rocking songs got me through my high school years. To this day, I get a little teary-eyed every time I hear “The Origin of Love.”
I’m happy to say that the recording is solid from what I’ve heard. Some of the tracks work better than others — Harris’s “Origin of Love” didn’t blow me away, but “Wig in a Box” did.
I think what especially stands out in the new Broadway recording is Hall’s “The Long Grift.” This has always been one of my favourite songs from the musical, but it’s continuously undervalued. The track was sung by the musical’s composer, Stephen Trask, in the original Broadway cast recording and film’s soundtrack, despite the fact that it is meant for the character of Yitzhak, a male character played by a woman. Hall’s version highlights why the song is meant to be sung as a power ballad by a woman with an incredible voice.
There are few times I will link to the general cultural wasteland that is BuzzFeed, so you know this is good! Get Hed!
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