Perpetual Change: Hedwig CD Review and More
Hedwig And The Angry Inch has gotten a new life with the current incredibly successful run on Broadway. The new CD of the musical features Neil Patrick Harris in the title role, and it’s quite surprising to find out that Mr. Harris is actually a very good rock vocalist, as well as an accomplished actor.
Everybody reading this probably knows the Hedwig story, but for the benefit of anyone who has just gotten out of prison, been living in a cave or has been in a coma for the last 20 years, here’s a bit of back story on Hedwig.
Hedwig And The Angry Inch is the story of an East German transsexual who is the victim of a botched sex change operation. Born Hansel Schmidt in East Berlin, Hedwig was seduced by an American G.I., had a flawed sex change, and eventually ends up living in a trailer park in Kansas as a divorcee. The musical doesn’t go into detail with this, and focuses more on Hedwig’s rise to stardom as an internationally known singer, backed by the band The Angry Inch.
The original musical opened off-Broadway in February 1998. The first Hedwig album was released in 1999. John Cameron Mitchell starred as the original Hedwig, with the band Cheater as The Angry Inch.
The new CD, with Neil Patrick Harris, is produced by Stephen Task, Tim O’Heir and Justin Craig. Mr. Craig also plays guitar, keyboards and provides backing vocals. Other musicians are: Matt Duncan-bass, keyboards, vocals; Tim Mislock-guitar and vocals; and Peter Yanowitz-drums and vocals. Lena Hall stars in the reverse drag role of Yitzhak, Hedwig’s boy toy.
The CD opens with a punk instrumental version of America The Beautiful. This segues into Tear Me Down, which is the hard rock introduction to the character of Hedwig. The song has a middle spoken section about the Berlin Wall.
Another short instrumental, Deutschlandlied, leads into Sugar Daddy, which is the kind of great rock tune that any decent all-girl band could cover and make a hit.
The best tunes on the new Hedwig CD project are Angry Inch, the story of the actual botched sex change (with the great line “all I’ve got is a Barbie Doll crotch”); Wig In A Box, which somehow manages to go from laid back to punk to a sing-a-long; and the closing tune Midnight Radio, which is practically an anthem, and includes a “who’s who” list of female rockers.
Clip from Angry Inch
Clip from Wig In A Box
Clip from Midnight Radio
The trick of tying songs together (as with The Beatles Abbey Road), works well for Hedwig’s Lament, which segues into Exquisite Corpse, which then leads into the reprise of an earlier tune in the show, Wicked Little Town.
The new CD differs from the 1999 release with the inclusion of the aforementioned two short instrumentals, and with the tune When Love Explodes (Love Theme from Hurt Locker: The Musical). One song found on the original release, Random Number Generation, is not on the new release.
Having not seen the Broadway production, I can only imagine what some of this music is like live. I was impressed a great deal with the CD and with Mr. Harris. The song structure and placement, along with the performances of all involved, offers a degree of pathos that makes this new production of Hedwig more Grande Opera than Broadway. This is a must have for any serious music collector.
Mr. Harris is no longer in the lead role of Hedwig. He was replaced last month by Andrew Rannells, who in turn will be with the show only until mid-October. Michael C. Hall will take over the lead role on October 16th. For more information, please check out www.hedwigbroadway.com. CD is available through the official site, as well as through Amazon and other major music outlets.
ALSO THIS MONTH
Beth Isbell
Beth Isbell sent us this press release regarding her new album plus some other news.
“Well, it’s here! Today is the official release of my new album We Are The Gods! And to celebrate, you can download it for FREE at CD Baby. Or get it on iTunes. Read an Album Review and a press release here.
Also, I made a decision on 9.7.14 to prove my artistic worth to you over the next 30 days, and BeTh’s 30 Day Challenge was born. So far, in the first 10 days, I’ve posted almost 30 items of lovely free content for you to peruse if you choose. http://www.patreon.com/BeThisBell?ty=c Patreon is a cool arts patron site where for as little as $1/month (you set your limit) you can pledge support for your favorite artists! And you can check out all the free content I’ve already posted without having to sign up or pledge. 🙂
(And if you do decide to pledge, I promise I won’t post more than one or two pieces of paid content per month).”
Coco Peru
Coco Peru
Coco Peru will be on the road for several dates in the next couple of months. She’s almost the hardest working queen in show biz. Check out her extensive schedule posted on her website in the Calendar section. With all that travel Miss Peru manages to produce videos, too. Check out the video menu on her website.
Justin Vivian Bond
Justin Vivian Bond will be at Florence Gould Hall on September 25th, 7:30 PM, presenting a new show entitled Love Is Crazy. This presentation is part of the French Institute Alliance Francaise Crossing The Line 2014 Festival. (55 East 59th St., NYC tickets are $30, available through fiaf.org/ctl or by calling 800-982-2787; also please check out Justin Vivian’s website.
Storm Miguel Florez
Storm Florez has been working on editing the film Major, which is about the life and work of transgender activist Miss Major. The trailer for the movie is now available for viewing. For links, please check out www.stormflorez.com.
NEW MUSIC
My Everything By Arianna Grande
Arianna Grande’s second album, My Everything, has been all over the charts since its release. Four songs from the project-Problem (with Iggy Azalea), Break Free (with Zedd), Best Mistake (with Big Sean), and Bang Bang (with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj) have placed on both digital sales and various Billboard charts.
While this project follows the trend of using a different producer on each track, as well as utilizing rap on half of the tunes, it does, nonetheless, allow Ms. Grande to excel at what she does best, and that is to really cut loose as a vocalist.
The best examples of he incredible vocal chops are found on Why Try, the laid back Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart, and the title cut, My Everything.
The most musical, even somewhat surprising tune on the project is Bang Band, which features Jessie J and a rap moment by Nicki Minaj. It’s actually a very fun tune.
Arianna Grande has the kind of vocal chops on which she could build a life-long career. If she could settle on one producer and concentrate on great songs such as My Everything instead of gimmicks, she has the ability to turn into a force to contend with. You can learn more about Ms. Grande on her website and Facebook and Twitter.
Cherry Cherry Boom Boom
Cherry Cherry Boom Boom is the official production moniker of one Martin Kierszenbaum. Mr. Kierszenbaum is best known for his studio and production work with such artists as Madonna, Natalia Kills, LaRoux, Robyn, Lady Gaga, and Far East Movement, to name just a few. he is also the co-founder of Cherrytree Records, along with Jimmy Iovine.
This four song EP is Kierszenbaum’s foray into the shoes of the artist. All the material is dance/club related. The most musical is the piano driven One And Only, which is also partially spoken word. The one really stand out track, and probably the most radio friendly, is Come Back From San Francisco.
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Kierszenbaum has an excellent higher register vocal range, and, as to be expected, a great ear for production. Should be interesting to see if he eventually goes to the next level with a full length album.
Category: Music, Transgender Fun & Entertainment
About the Author (Author Profile)
Pamela DeGroff been writing for TGForum since the start of 1999. Her humor column, The Pamela Principle, ran until 2005. She started the Perpetual Change music column in May of 1999, and in 2008, Angela Gardner came up with the idea for the Transvocalizers column and put Pam to work on that. Pamela was a regular contributor to Transgender Community News until that magazine's demise. While part of a support group in Nashville called The Tennessee Vals she began writing for their newsletter, and also wrote for several local GLBT alternative newspapers in Tennessee. Pamela is currently a staff reporter for a small town daily paper in Indiana, and is also a working musician.Subscribe
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