Short and Sweet
Menomonie Theater Guild stages Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Betty Nikia, photos by Leah Dunbar |
This fall, the Chippewa Valley continues its evolution into more provocative theater productions with the Menomonie Theater Guild presentation of the cult film sensation Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The story follows the life of a boy named Hansel who undergoes a botched sex change while pursing love and an escape from East Berlin, only to end up alone in a trailer in the middle of Kansas. Hansel, now called Hedwig, pursues a tentative young man who goes on to achieve fame by stealing Hedwig’s songs. The show has been simmering on the back burner for a couple of years since Jeannette Paules, the show’s director, met Miss Dee Lovely while working on the Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild production of The Rocky Horror Show in July 2008.
In February of 2009, Miss Dee Lovely accompanied Paules to a screening of Hedwig, the movie, in Columbia Heights, MN. Here, Dee met Hedwig’s creator, John Cameron Mitchell, and received his blessing to pursue a local production. Miss Dee Lovely recalls, “On the drive home, Jeannette and I knew there was no turning back. Hedwig had to happen.”
Compared to the campy familiarity of Rocky Horror, Miss Dee Lovely emphasizes that this show will take her and her audience to a place more raw and vulnerable. “In portraying the tragedy and struggles this character goes through … I am literally stripping away the persona I’ve spent 15 years creating and presenting. This has not only required me to explore my own insecurities, it has also driven me to drop what will be an approximate 50 pounds by the time the show hits the stage.”
In the film, Hedwig and her band The Angry Inch play all of their shows at a string of seafood franchises. In homage to the film, the Menomonie Theater Guild decided to hold the show at a local café “in the form of a makeshift rock concert” instead of a theater. “Lisa and Nathan Wilder, who own the Menomonie Acoustic were great about adapting their space for our needs,” says Paules.
Dee adds, “Traditionally, the show has been performed in small, intimate settings to reflect the fact that Hedwig is an ‘internationally ignored song stylist’ and a tragic figure that … has been oppressed due to her status as a transgendered woman. The owners of the Acoustic Café have been very supportive from the beginning.”
Paules attributes the momentum of the project to a good working relationship and sense of trust with the Menomonie Theatre Guild as well as the addition of the executive director position filled by Blaine Halverson. “It has really afforded us the opportunity to go beyond our regular main stage shows to try to develop our ‘Studio Series’ brand,” says Paules.
While Eau Claire stage performances such as Rocky Horror and Bent are often cited as laying the groundwork for edgier productions, Halverson adds that the timing was congruent with the Menomonie Theater Guild’s evolution. “For about four-five years now we’ve been working to broaden the theater choices we offer,” says Halverson. “We’ve put out uncensored versions of Brighton Beach Memoirs, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Art, Proof, The Zoo Story, and The Coming World, so doing this show is really just a natural part of our progression.”
Miss Dee Lovely suggests that if people can get past the “tabloid concept” of the show, “the themes of love and loss are universal and thought-provoking in that the audience ultimately finds so much they can relate to.” Paules acknowledges that the show is not for everybody. “We don’t want to try to shock our community into acceptance of the issues that are discussed in Hedwig because we know that obviously won’t work,” she says.
Halverson adds, “I do think, though, that it’s always a valuable exercise to challenge our comfort zones with art forms to which we’re not accustomed. At the very least, making those stretches help to teach us empathy.”
Hedwig and the Angry Inch • Sept. 10-11 • Acoustic Café, 102 Main St, Menomonie • 8pm and midnight (Sept. 11 only) • $10 advance, $12 door • tickets available at Tangled Up in Hue, Truckers Union, Acoustic Café (Menomonie), and menomonietheaterguild@hotmail.com.
