Back in 1998, when “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” opened at off-Broadway’s grotty Jane Sreet Theater, it was easy to be excited about the music, the comedy and author/star John Cameron Mitchell’s performance. But the idea of the show moving beyond even cult status to something of an institution – and a musical that could play on Broadway alongside the likes of “Les Miz” and “Cinderella” – would have seemed almost laughable.
But move six inches forward and five inches back, and not only did a revival of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” open last night (April 22) at Broadway’s Belasco Theater, but the rock musical’s a hot mainstream ticket thanks to its lead Neil Patrick Harris, who has ridden a little TV show called “How I Met Your Mother” and four Tony Awards broadcasts to becoming one of the most popular stars in all television.
But do the New York critics think NPH has what it takes to be the brightest star, or will they send him back with his, um, something tucked between his legs?
After wondering whether “Hedwig” could retain its downtown edge in a Broadway theater, especially with Harris being more “punk-lite” and less menacing than his off-Broadway predecessors, Entertainment Weekly’s Thom Geier gives up his reservations, applauds Stephen Trask’s “infectiously rockin’ score”, lauds Harris’ “bravura performance” and awards the show an A-minus grade.
“What fun!” raves Variety’s Marilyn Stasio. She still believes the music has kept its edge and notes, “for all the cleverness of the book and the pathos of Hedwig the character, this is a true rock concert” where “the music…is closer to punk rock and more in step with Hedwig’s nihilist inclinations.” Raving about NPH’s “bravura performance,” Stasio writes, “It’s astonishing how polished a physical performance Harris gives [as he’s] channeling his inner Rockette, along with Iggy Pop and Lou Reed by way of the Ramones.”
Daily News critic Joe Dziemianowicz, in his **** review, calls the show “sensational.” Finding the music too loud at the Jane Street Theater, Dziemianowicz is pleased that the Broadway version is “loud but clear.” Harris, he writes, is “a true stage animal” who establishes “a vibrant rapport” with the audience.
In her *** review, Elisabeth Vincentelli admires NPH’s ability to do anything and make it look easy – except in this show, where we see the strain “of a show-tune guy trying on rock `n’ roll for size… It it all feels a little too rehearsed, and Harris doesn’t look entirely comfortable clambering over the bombed-out set.” Vincentelli does think he rocks the “Wig in the Box” number and calls co-star Lena Hall “excellent.”
Like other critics, Mark Kennedy, of the Associated Press, notes that the audience goes wild for Harris/Hedwig, and deservedly: Harris “simply crushes it,” he writes, “holding nothing back, softening no edges, making no nice… Harris is funny, twisted, poignant, outrageous, bizarre, silly and very, very human.” Kennedy is also pleased that John Cameron Mitchell has updated the book a bit with new jokes that poke fun at the Broadway setting.
Ben Brantley, chief critic of the New York Times, agrees that NPH takes Broadway by storm. “Harris is in full command of who he is,” Brantley writes, “and, most excitingly, what he has become with this performance. That’s a bona fide Broadway star, the kind who can rule an audience with the blink of a sequined eyelid.” Brantley calls the show “one of the few unqualified pleasures of this Broadway spring” for being “foulmouthed, electrically tuneful and furiously funny” and “rousingly directed” by Michael Mayer.
AM New York’s Matt Windman’s praise is not quite so unqualified (though he grants the production ***1/2 stars). “While no one can doubt Harris’ fierce theatricality, strong voice and expert handling of the comedy aspects,” Windman writes, “his Hedwig has yet to come together as a fully-developed, vulnerable character.” Nevertheless, Windman lauds this “wildly enjoyable production of one of the most exciting and inventive rock musicals of all time.”
David Rooney, of the Hollywood Reporter, has no qualms about the show’s star and raves that “Harris is beyond fabulous, holds nothing back and plays it any way but safe in Michael Mayer's exhilarating production.” Rooney adds that “Lena Hall is simply wonderful,” though he returns for more encomiums about Harris in this “dazzling showcase role.”
OVERALL
Nearly all the critics call Hedwig a monster triumph for Neil Patrick Harris, and even the ones who don’t think he’s just a few more performances away from getting there. Fine reviews for “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” and “Violet” aside, it looks as if “Hedwig” will be the revival to beat for this year’s Musical Revival Tony.
