Hedwig review
Jun. 21st, 2015 02:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bearshortyBefore I get too swamped, I wanted to write down my thoughts on seeing "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" with Darren Criss on Broadway yesterday. We went to the matinee show. I feel like I need to write it to really process it. (Spoilers will be marked)
I was pretty spoil free on the plot. I knew the bare basics and it wasn't exactly right things either. I listened to the album beforehand and knew all the songs but not the context behind the songs. I've seen some pictures on Tumblr but avoided spoilery descriptions.
Overall, it was tremendously acted and really well done. If I didn't know Darren Criss was in it I wouldn't have known it was him. The body movement, the accents, the facial expressions - all amazing. Rebecca Naomi Jones also very good with a beautiful voice. And also this kind of story stays with you because it must be digested, I think. But I did go online just to double check that I understood all the story and details (I did), I felt a bit confused there.
Before I get into spoilery details, I do want to mention the drawbacks which were personal drawbacks really and might not bother other people whatsoever.
First, the music was so loud. Too loud for me. I know it's a rock concert music for a reason but I also personally rarely go to rock concerts because I don't like music that I can feel in my body and that overwhealms my ears where I can't even think or hear conversation. I'm really glad I got the soundtrack earlier because otherwise I wouldn't understand any lyrics. The quiet songs were the most effective for me emotionally, because I could hear the lyrics properly, and because that's when the character stopped hiding behind the loud music too.
Second dissapointment, was just a function of where I was sitting. We were in the balcony, at the very top. Broadway tickets get more expensive every year so it never bothers me that we get the cheapest ones. Especially when I was on unpaid maternity leave last year and been back to work part time since. And usually, it's not a problem at all. I have my binoculars. But with this show, in this theater, I could not see the orchestra at all, so I missed all audience participation thing. I knew enough about it from online but I felt like I was deprived of part of the show. This show is the kind of show that needs to be seen up close - it's a character piece that benefits from seeing the actors' faces too. So even before the show started I felt sad when I realized I would miss stuff and that I can't afford those expensive tickets or that kind of experience. Silly, I know. Many people can't go at all. I'm lucky just to go at all. But $50 per ticket as cheapest tickets where I can't feel like part of the real audience is a bit frustrating.
But I don't want to leave the wrong impression. I did enjoy the show. It was funny and moving.
SPOILERS HERE. And as the show went on, you realize just how terrible and frelled up Hedwig's life is. She is loud and brash but that's mostly masking anger and pain. I didn't realize that Hedwig only got the failed operation just to escape East Berlin and a year later it proved even more useless. The gender identity is pretty fluid here but this is not a typical transgender narrative we keep hearing about in the media. Her whole life was pretty sad. By the end of the show, she learns to cope with it and achieves some closure, but it's a pretty hard story. It is a story of finding peace at the end.
I did really like the quiet moments in the story.
I liked the staging a lot and the animation during 'The Origin of Love'. Very clever. Could have done without the strobe lights.
It's not my favorite musical and I don't think it will ever be ('Aida' still holds that title) but I will remember it and will continue listening to the soundtrack and thinking about the story. (My taste in musicals might also be strange - I didn't like Wicked, because I liked the book)
I was pretty spoil free on the plot. I knew the bare basics and it wasn't exactly right things either. I listened to the album beforehand and knew all the songs but not the context behind the songs. I've seen some pictures on Tumblr but avoided spoilery descriptions.
Overall, it was tremendously acted and really well done. If I didn't know Darren Criss was in it I wouldn't have known it was him. The body movement, the accents, the facial expressions - all amazing. Rebecca Naomi Jones also very good with a beautiful voice. And also this kind of story stays with you because it must be digested, I think. But I did go online just to double check that I understood all the story and details (I did), I felt a bit confused there.
Before I get into spoilery details, I do want to mention the drawbacks which were personal drawbacks really and might not bother other people whatsoever.
First, the music was so loud. Too loud for me. I know it's a rock concert music for a reason but I also personally rarely go to rock concerts because I don't like music that I can feel in my body and that overwhealms my ears where I can't even think or hear conversation. I'm really glad I got the soundtrack earlier because otherwise I wouldn't understand any lyrics. The quiet songs were the most effective for me emotionally, because I could hear the lyrics properly, and because that's when the character stopped hiding behind the loud music too.
Second dissapointment, was just a function of where I was sitting. We were in the balcony, at the very top. Broadway tickets get more expensive every year so it never bothers me that we get the cheapest ones. Especially when I was on unpaid maternity leave last year and been back to work part time since. And usually, it's not a problem at all. I have my binoculars. But with this show, in this theater, I could not see the orchestra at all, so I missed all audience participation thing. I knew enough about it from online but I felt like I was deprived of part of the show. This show is the kind of show that needs to be seen up close - it's a character piece that benefits from seeing the actors' faces too. So even before the show started I felt sad when I realized I would miss stuff and that I can't afford those expensive tickets or that kind of experience. Silly, I know. Many people can't go at all. I'm lucky just to go at all. But $50 per ticket as cheapest tickets where I can't feel like part of the real audience is a bit frustrating.
But I don't want to leave the wrong impression. I did enjoy the show. It was funny and moving.
SPOILERS HERE. And as the show went on, you realize just how terrible and frelled up Hedwig's life is. She is loud and brash but that's mostly masking anger and pain. I didn't realize that Hedwig only got the failed operation just to escape East Berlin and a year later it proved even more useless. The gender identity is pretty fluid here but this is not a typical transgender narrative we keep hearing about in the media. Her whole life was pretty sad. By the end of the show, she learns to cope with it and achieves some closure, but it's a pretty hard story. It is a story of finding peace at the end.
I did really like the quiet moments in the story.
I liked the staging a lot and the animation during 'The Origin of Love'. Very clever. Could have done without the strobe lights.
It's not my favorite musical and I don't think it will ever be ('Aida' still holds that title) but I will remember it and will continue listening to the soundtrack and thinking about the story. (My taste in musicals might also be strange - I didn't like Wicked, because I liked the book)