Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Delphon "DJ" Curtis Jr. in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Photo by Shawnte Sims.

We went to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Portland Center Stage yesterday afternoon. I didn't much care for it. It's the story of a person from East Germany, child of an east Asian woman and an American GI, victim of a botched sex change operation. What is an American GI doing in East Berlin? I suppose it could have been before the wall went up, but the wall figures prominently in her mind.

She did point out that there have been several, crypto-sexuals I think she called them, that became big musical stars, like David Bowie, Lou Reed and another whose name escapes me. Anyway he/she/it was on her way to becoming a star but then something went wrong and now she's doing small shows in small out of the way places.

There is a bunch of singing. She has a powerful voice, but the music was rock. I used to really like rock music when I was younger, and I still enjoy it sometimes. It's better when I've had a couple-three drinks and something to smoke, but that doesn't happen much these days. Now I'm listening to Quantic, Fat Freddies Drop and Daniel Norgren.

I was astounded by The Rocky Horror Picture Show when I saw it the first time a zillion years ago. I thought it was great. It also featured a transexual, but he/she/it was just another character in the story. I was also able to understand the words in Rocky, I missed about half of the words in Hedwig, probably due to my aging brain not being able to process mumbled dialog as well as I used to. No, I don't need a hearing aid. I've had my hearing checked and technically it is fine. Seems to be a congenital brain thing.  Might explain why my musical talent is non-existent.