The Origin of Love. The songs and stories of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Devised and performed by John Cameron Mitchell. Songs by Stephen Trask. Musical direction by Andrew Worboys. Presented by the Canberra Theatre Centre and David M Hawkins. The Playhouse. Wednesday, July 4.
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Lift up your arms! Lift up your arms! Fans and novice alike leapt to their feet in rapturous applause at the refrain from Midnight Radio, the closing number of cult rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Direct from the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, actor, writer, director, filmmaker and post punk rock 'n' roll singer, John Cameron Mitchell was in Canberra for one night only with his show, The Origin of Love-The Songs and Stories of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. He was accompanied by fabulous and feisty cabaret singer Amber Martin and a band under the musical direction of Andrew Worboys.
With a book by Mitchell and songs by Stephen Trask, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is about an East German transgender punk rocker whose operation to transition has been botched.
Mitchell’s show is a collection of songs from Hedwig and the Angry Inch, interspersed with anecdotes about the musical's development from a drag show at New York City’s Squeezebox to a triumphant Broadway hit and Tony award winner. He talks of his early years as an army brat, his life in Junction City, Kansas, his coming out during the AIDS epidemic, and his love for Jack Steeb, the bass player who died from addiction.
Mitchell relates to his audience with lackadaisical ease, occasionally interacting with the front row, or joking about “Tuggeralong”. Gradually, he discards parts of Erik Bergrin’s cubist art/Sydney Opera House-inspired outfit, until Martin eventually helps him to remove Mike Potter’s elaborate chromium wig, revealing the true self, a slight and mercurial man with an irreverent sense of humour, a wicked smile and an extraordinary talent.
As the evening draws to a close, Mitchell exits, leaving Martin to sing her rendition of Bermuda, from Mitchell’s 2017 film adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s How to Talk to Girls at Parties. The singer with a voice that could cut through steel in Midnight Radio or wrap a rock in velvet with Bermuda has the audience soothed by the soulful lyrics of her sad love song.
Erupting with energy and abandonment, Mitchell finally launches into a wild rock 'n' roll number with swinging mike in hand and striding the stage in a frenzy of liberation. Before the number comes to an end, the audience is again on its feet and applauding an electrifying artist and his affirmation of self.
