Hedwig and the Angry Inch Slays with Sawyer Smith in the Lead Role at Signature Theatre
Hedwig and the Angry Inch Signature Theatre Jordan Wright April 26, 2025
When Hedwig and the Angry Inchfinished its premiere Broadway run, Signature made the decision to mount this niche production. That was 26 years ago. Now in their 35th season, Signature is re-staging this four-time Tony Award-winning rock musical.
Directors of Hedwighave free rein to create adlibs for the script and the actors do too, affording a wide berth to interpret the script with both topical and regional humor. In in our area that means politics. Inside the Beltway mixing politics and theater guarantees a hugely receptive audience, especially given our current political and regional climate. And for a non-federally funded theater with a progressive board and deep-pocket donors, that translates to free license to mount edgy, intriguing and controversial theatre.
Sawyer Smith (Hedwig) in Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Signature Theatre. (Photo/Daniel Rader)
With that said creator/writer/original cast performer John Cameron Mitchell (who refers to Hedwig as “genderqueer”) in partnership with composer/writer Stephen Trask, allowed for countless reinterpretations to keep the show both current and relevant. This production ushers in the 50thAnniversary of World Pride celebrations in the nation’s capital.
Born male in East Berlin in 1961 before the wall came down, Hedwig, neé Hansel (note the lederhosen), is the child of an absent Army officer father and a cruel and loveless mother. As a child he referred to himself as a “girly boy” who liked to dress in drag. In his teen years, he meets Luther, a soldier eager to encourage his tendencies and who will become his sugar daddy. One day, Luther tells Henry he will marry him, but he will need to have a sex change operation. When Henry wakes up the botched job leaves him with an inch of his manhood.
Vanessa (V) Sterling (Yitzhak), Sawyer Smith (Hedwig), and Joanna Smith (Bass) (Photo/Daniel Rader)
Hansel, now Hedwig (Sawyer Smith), is abandoned by Luther and soon meets Tony, a rock musician. She writes all of Tony’s material and his star ascends, but he too abandons her. It’s 1989 and she winds up in a mobile home in Kansas divorced, penniless and a woman. But despite all that, Hedwig, no slouch to show biz and the glam world of rock, decides to hit the boards with the help of her new husband Yitzhak (Vanessa (V) Sterling) who is as mercurial as a snapdrake – alternating between servile and surreptitious.
Accompanied by a four-piece band Hedwig, now in eye-popping costumes and towering wigs, performs an androgynously hilarious act filled with trash and flash. Their music is an amalgam of punk rock, glam rock and head-banging heavy metal and reminds me of the Russian feminist anti-Putin rock group “Pussy Riot”.
This immersive production snatches life at every turn with cheesy jokes, sassy quips and audience participation. Sit in the front row if you dare – or if you like. The music veers from mosh pit raucous to beautifully tender ballads with Hedwig revving up the audience with twirls and whirls, high kicks and massive allure as her story unfolds.
Chicago actor Sawyer Smith is riveting and reckless. You can’t look away for a second. She has the charisma and vocal chops to captivate the audience who lap up every minute. Sterling is a perfect vocal match to Smith and their harmonies are most especially lovely in the ballads.
Vanessa (V) Sterling (Yitzhak) and Sawyer Smith (Hedwig) with Marika Countouris (Keyboard), Sam Carolla (Drums), Joanna Smith (Bass), and Alec Green (Guitar) (Photo/Daniel Rader)
With The Angry Inch Band of Sam Carolla on drums; Marika Countouris on keyboard and as Music Director; Alec Green on guitar; and Joanna Smith on bass guitar.
Directed by Ethan Heard, Text by John Cameron Mitchell, Choreography by Ashleigh King, Costumes by Eric Teague, Scenic Design by Richie Ouellette, Lighting Design by K Rudolph, Sound Design by Eric Norris, Wig & Makeup Design by Ali Pohanka.
Recommended for grown-ups of all stripes. Wave your freak flag and join the madly wacky world of Hedwig.
Through June 22nd at Signature Theatre, in the Village of Shirlington, 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA. For tickets and information call the box office at 703.820.9771 or visit www.SigTheatre.org.
Playwright Larissa Fasthorse’s Zany Farce Reveals an Insider’s Guide to American Indian Identity and How to Become Native as a Pastime
Fake It Until You Make It Arena Stage Jordan Wright April 12, 2025 Special to The Zebra
Noah Bean (Theo) and Shyla Lefner (Wynona) in Fake It Until You Make It at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater running April 3 – May 4, 2025. (Photo/Daniel Rader)
Fake It Until You Make It is a wildly funny farce that provides us with a modern-day interpretation of Indian Country vis à vis White America with all its struggles and challenges. It is a co-production with Los Angeles’ Center Theatre Group.
For a wonderfully fascinating eight years, I became immersed in the heart of Native culture for Indian Country Media Network, and as beautiful, fascinating and historical it is, it can be a tangled web. No one is quite certain of the racial or cultural definition of what it means to be American Indian, for example how much ancestral Indian blood allows membership in a tribe, or if a White person can properly represent their interests. This raucous comedy addresses all those familiar controversies with lampooning, caricatures and cheeky humor.
Burgandi Trejo Phoenix (Grace), Noah Bean (Theo), Shyla Lefner (Wynona), Eric Stanton Betts (Mark), and Brandon Delsid (Krys) (Photo/Daniel Rader)
Playwright Larissa Fasthorse, who defines herself as a DC-born nonbinary Two Spirit Afro-Indigenous (Quechua-Kichwa) Latine actor, writer, director and musician, tackles these thorny issues with extraordinary humor, a side eye and a wink. Her six characters have differing viewpoints as to what makes an Indian an Indian, as they go head-to-head in a political farce that is wacky and wonderful with a cat (Yes, a cat!) that takes star turns in thewomen’s catfights.
Five of the characters have offices in a building dedicated to Native American Organizations. River (Amy Brenneman) is White, yet she’s ingratiated herself among the tribal elders with her non-profit group “Indigenous Nations Soaring”, and like the other NGO directors she is fighting for grants. Wynona (Shyla Lefner) runs N.O.B.U.S.H, a non-profit that promotes native plants and shuns the invasive butterfly bush. Thus, the ‘no bush’. She calls people who appropriate her native culture “Pretendians”. In her spare time, she is having a hot and heavy romance with Theo (Noah Bean) who’s an invasive plant remover and, as Wynona calls him, her “ecological warrior and undercover spy. She knows Theo is White but chooses to ignore that little detail to keep him as her lover.
Shyla Lefner (Wynona) (Photo/Daniel Rader)
Grace (Burgandi Trejo Phoenix) is an attorney whose concept of being Native American she describes as a personal choice. She calls it “race shifting”. In other words, you can be whatever race and culture floats your boat. To that end she morphs into Japanese, Middle Eastern and even White. And then there’s Krys (Brandon Delsid), an out gay man who goes to powwows with Grace and is a scene stealer and heart stealer in the very best way.
There are feuds and cock-ups as they challenge each other as to who is Native and who will snag the big grant. In one scene River does a TED talk and screws up her message by performing a slinky belly dance thinking she’ll charm her way to the top. She most decidedly does not. Theo pretends to be Native American in order to spy on River for Wynona. River needs a real Indian to front her organization. When the suave and handsome Mark (Eric Stanton Betts) shows up for his interview to be River’s Executive Director, Theo, who’s pretending to be Indian, gets caught out as a poser and everything goes utterly off the rails.
Describing the characters and their relationships does not in any way detract from the over-the-top high jinks, the chases, the spying, and the alliances. In the end, there are DNA tests that stun everyone as to who is a real Indian.
Burgandi Trejo Phoenix (Grace), Brandon Delsid (Krys), Eric Stanton Betts (Mark), Noah Bean (Theo), and Shyla Lefner (Wynona) (Photo/Daniel Rader)
Designer Sara Ryung Clement has created very effective moving sets of offices with doors and plate glass windows designed for us to see and hear everything that goes on inside. It’s a little bit like the TV show, “The Office” with mayhem and freakouts at every turn and I loved every bit of it.
With great respect local theaters have been paying homage to the American Indian tribes in our region, acknowledging they are sitting on their indigenous lands. On press night, several Native ambassadors were present to address the audience showcasing their music, language and culture and singing the Navaho national anthem.
A terrific cast directed by Michael John Garcés reveals an insider’s guide to American Indian identity and how to become Native as a pastime.
With Costume Design by E. B. Brooks, Lighting Design by Tom Ontiveros, Sound Design by John Nobori, Fight Director Edgar Landa.
Through May 4th at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call the box office at 202 554-9066 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.
A Stunner of a Dramedy at Shakespeare Theatre Company Stars Downton Abbey Patriarch Hugh Bonneville in this Simon Godwin Directed Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya Shakespeare Theatre Company Jordan Wright April 4, 2025 Special to The Zebra
4 The cast of Uncle Vanya at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Photo by DJ Corey Photography.
Simon Godwin’s direction of Uncle Vanya starring Downton Abbey’s patriarch and Royal Shakespeare Company alum and Britain’s National Theatre celebrated actor, Hugh Bonneville, is a once-in-a-lifetime theatrical experience with a brilliantly in synch cast that sparkles like a supernova.
The classic Chekhov play focuses on a dysfunctional Russian family of intellectuals and their closely knit coterie. In a tour de force performance, Bonneville imbues Vanya with engaging depth and larger-than-life passion, ranging in emotional delivery from subtle gestures and unique reactions to hugely expressive physical drama. He is consistently balanced by an experienced cast who readily absorb and match his energy, along with the complex character intricacies called for in these weighty roles.
2 Ito Aghayere and Hugh Bonneville in Uncle Vanya. Photo by Kevin Berne/Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Each character interaction is riveting, dangerously precipitous and yet recognizably familiar. As Tolstoy famously said, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family in its own way.” And this family is no different – both joyful yet tragic.
There are the money struggles, the romantic intricacies, the cheating, the lying, the family celebrations (Are they ever what we planned?), breakdowns and breakups – plus liquor and a gun. A disastrous combination that never goes well.
3 Nancy Robinette and Craig Wallace in Uncle Vanya at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Photo by DJ Corey Photography
Using brief musical interstices from a cellist slightly offstage, Godwin’s clever choice to bring the intensity back to a dull roar prepares the audience for the next familial battle royale. I don’t need to offer up the plot, either you already know it or can readily google it. Another well-thought out directorial choice is to eschew Russian accents. Bonneville keeps his British accent and all others their American accents. It works because the play’s the thing and we don’t need to be distracted by unnecessary stylings. In an unusual opening scene an ordinary stage is set and the actors enter in street clothes. While the audience settles in (You are advised to come early to the theater so as not to miss this change-up.), they move the props around as if readying for the play and suddenly exit offstage. When they reappear, the stage is reconfigured and the actors are sporting the Victorian fashions of the landed gentry.
1 Tom Nellis and Kina Kantor in Uncle Vanya. Photo by Kevin Berne/Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Both humor and pathos in this dramedy keep Vanya’s family teetering on the edge of total collapse. Will they fight to the finish? It’s close. Will they lose their family estate? It’s iffy. Will Yelena (Ito Aghayere) decide to leave her pompous professor husband Alexandre (Tom Nelis) for Vanya or perhaps the dashing Astrov (John Benjamin Hickey)? It’s a toss-up. Can Nana (Nancy Robinette) rein in her son’s madness? “Old people are just like children. They want everyone to feel sorry for them,” she quips in the understatement of the century. They’re an emotionally land-locked duo. Is Ilya aka ‘Waffles’ (Craig Wallace) the observant philosopher, the grounding force? Cue the guitar and some wise words. Is Granmaman (Sharon Lockwood) keeping the peace? Can Sisyphus? Lastly, will the despondent and compassionate Sonya (Melanie Field) rise to the occasion to keep this family’s spinning-out-of-control madness to a dull roar? Thank God, she does, and that’s no spoiler.
Local actors and STC company members Wallace and Robinette bolster this wonderful cast with memorable performances in this co-production with Berkeley Rep.
5 Sharon Lockwood, Nancy Robinette, Ito Aghayere, and Hugh Bonneville Photo by Kevin Berne/Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Adapted by Conor McPherson, Scenic Design by Robert Brill, Costume Designs by Susan Hilferty & Heather C. Freedman, Lighting Design by Jen Schriever, Sound Design by Darron L. West, Dramaturgy by Drew Lichtenberg, Fight and Intimacy Consultant Danielle O’Dea.
This is the front runner of the season. Do not miss it!!!
Through April 20th at Harman Hall, 610 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information call the box office at 202.547.1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.
Hilarity and Highjinks Abound in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing at The Little Theatre of Alexandria
Much Ado About Nothing The Little Theatre of Alexandria Jordan Wright April 2, 2025 Special to The Zebra
Paul Brewster, Amelia Jacquat, Jess Rawls, Tameka Taylor, Judy Rolph Ebner (Photo/Mark Alan Andre)
Pull up a barstool at the Bar Messina. We’re in the courtyard and a duo is playing a jazzy rendition of “A Sunday Kind of Love”. It’s present day in the French Quarter of New Orleans where this unconventionally told love story begins. Surely The Bard never envisioned his classic romcom set in the wilds of NOLA, and neither could we, but this rendition seems, well, just right, which is precisely the magic of Shakespeare – its relevancy to our modern times.
Director Joey Pierce, a New Orleans transplant, gives us all the flair and fabulousness we could ever dream of, plus a tremendous 19-actor cast that keeps the merriment at peak performance. There’s the feisty, clever-tongued Beatrice who scorns all suitors and her wordplay match, Benedick, who sets his cap for her. Claudio and his maiden, Hero, a charmer, who crushes on Claudio much to his amazement until Don Pedro, a swashbuckling soldier (who in this incarnation is gay) and his illegitimate brother, Don John who along with Borachio foments a plot against the lovers. And, lest you forget, there’s Leonato, Hero’s father who with his wife, Antonia (an introduced character), seek to protect their daughter against all slyly invented scandal.
Smithchai Cutchainon (Photo/Mark Alan Andre)
Amid all this undermining, scheming and duly faithful affection, our characters show us a festive time. There’s line dancing – the Electric Slide! – and massive doses of comedic pratfalls, secretive plots, frequent drinking, a madly funny scene with Benedick hiding behind the bar listening in to a men’s convo led by Don Pedro about how Beatrice adores him all the while pretending they don’t know he’s there. It’s the consummate set up to convince him she’s in love with him. When our heroine, Bea, hooks up with her gal pals, to share the exciting news, they all do shots. Well, it is New Orleans, after all. Make me a sazerac!
Later we encounter an ersatz sheriff with his band of nincompoops, aka “The Watch”. In fine comic form they have been deputized to arrest the duplicitous men who are lolling about engaged in a TV show about swamp creatures. Cue the Cajun accents and conjure up the Keystone Kops.
Jaye Frazier, Brendan Chaney, Michael Townsend, Ruth Sherr (Photo/Mark Alan Andre)
The whole play is witty, silly, charming and absolutely hilarious – played to the hilt and beyond. Julie Fischer’s two-level set design is oh-so-clever and Joan Lawrence’s costumes nail the styles with Benedick, Claudio and their cohorts in military camouflage, the ladies in brightly colored dresses, and Hero’s faux funeral scene that has all the hallmarks of a New Orleans’ style homegoing.
With Paul Brewster as Leonato, Amelia Jacquat as Hero, Jess Rawls as Beatrice, Seth Rue as Benedick, Zachary Litwiller as Don John, Michael McGovern as Don Pedro, Lily Larsen as Margaret, Brendan Chaney as Borachio, Smithchai Chutchainon as Claudio, Judy Rolph Ebner as Antonia, Jeff Elmore as Dogberry, Megan Fraedrich as Balthasar Sister/Sexton, Tamika Taylor as Ursula, Michelle Hughes as Balthasar Sister, Dan Lavanga as Verges/Friar Francis, Leo Mairena as First Watchman, Ruth Scherr as Second Watchman, Jaye Frazier as Messenger/Third Watchman and Michael Townsend as Conrade.
Assistant Director Heather Sanderson, Choreography by Melissa Dunlap, Lighting Design by Jeffrey Auerbach and Kimberly Crago (JK Lighting), Sound Design by Alan Wray, Hair and Makeup by Jennifer Finn.
Through April 19th at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For tickets and information call the box office at 703-683-0496 or visit www.TheLittleTheatre.com.
