'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' on tour with Broadway cast

October 11, 2016

Hedwig and the Angry Inch‘s Broadway run may be over, but the show recently began a tour with the Broadway cast. Darren Criss, who was Hedwig from April through July in 2015, is Hedwig for the majority of this tour.

Lena Hall, who plays Yitzhak, plays Hedwig one performance a week in San Francisco and LA to give Darren a break from the eight-show weeks they’re doing in those cities (they only did seven shows a week on Broadway). After Lena’s first night playing Hedwig, she talked to Playbill about it:

What is your favorite part about being Hedwig

LH: She’s a sassy bitch, and I love that! It’s fun to [have a] punk-rock kind of rawness, but with such a quick wit, and I’ve been told my facial expressions are really funny and make a lot of the character. I love her sense of humor. It’s the way the show is written. There’s something funny in everything. … It’s fun to have a German accent because a German accent is really funny. It’s fun to play all these different characters. It’s fun to play Tommy [Gnosis]! I love Tommy so much. It’s hard, but it’s great to go on her journey and to really break down that and be that vulnerable. It’s just right up my alley.

Read more here. When Lena is in the Hedwig role, her understudy Shannon Conley (of Lez Zeppelin) plays Yitzhak. Darren Criss had considered taking on the Yitzhak role for those nights, but decided against it. Via Playbill: “You know what, I thought about [playing Yitzhak]. I really did! I thought that would be really cool, but then I realized I couldn’t hold a candle to who we do have as Yitzhak, who is Shannon [Conley], who is our amazing understudy for the role. I’m going to stay out of that one, man. That’s for the ladies!”

The band, like it was on Broadway, has the indie-connected lineup of Justin Craig (These United States), Tim Mislock (The Antlers, Holly Miranda’s band), Peter Yanowitz (Morningwood, The Wallflowers, Natalie Merchant’s band, Exclamation Pony), and Matt Duncan. As you may know, that band sometimes plays shows at rock clubs under the name Tits of Clay.

The Hedwig tour is currently in San Francisco and will remain there until the end of October. It returns to the Northeast for a Philly run at Forrest Theater from April 18-23 (tickets coming soon) and a New Brunswick, NJ run at State Theatre from May 19-21 (tickets). All dates are listed below.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch — 2016/2017 Tour Dates
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 10/02/16 – 10/30/16 SHN Golden Gate Theatre *
LOS ANGELES, CA 11/01/16 – 11/27/16 Hollywood Pantages Theatre*
SAN DIEGO, CA 11/29/16 – 12/04/16 San Diego Civic Theatre
DENVER, CO 12/06/16 – 12/11/16 Buell Theatre
SEATTLE, WA 12/13/16 – 12/18/16 The Paramount Theatre
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 12/20/16 – 12/24/16 Eccles Theater
DURHAM, NC 1/31/17 – 2/05/17 Durham Performing Arts Center
DALLAS, TX 2/07/17 – 2/12/17 Winspear Opera House
ST. PAUL, MN 2/14/17 – 2/19/17 Ordway Center
DETROIT, MI 2/21/17 – 3/05/17 Fisher Theatre
CHICAGO, IL 3/07/17 – 3/19/17 Oriental Theatre
SAN ANTONIO, TX 4/08/17 – 4/09/17 Tobin Center for the Performing Arts
CHARLOTTE, NC 4/11/17 – 4/16/17 Knight Theater at Levine Center for the Arts
PHILADELPHIA, PA 4/18/17 – 4/23/17 Forrest Theatre
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ 5/19/17 – 5/21/17 State Theatre
BOSTON, MA 5/30/17 – 6/11/17 Shubert Theatre
WASHINGTON, D.C. 6/13/17 – 7/02/17 The Kennedy Center