Like everyone, I have dreams. Some are far-fetched, some are well within reach, and some are kind of hanging out there in the middle. But the one thing they have in common is that something stands in the way of me achieving them. Be it the fact that geographically it doesn't work, the fact that I need more training or any variant of circumstances.
The particular dream I am talking about, the one that came true this week, was seeing Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Ever since the Spring of 2014, when Neil Patrick Harris was announced as the title character in the revival of the show on Broadway, I started to learn more and more. Back then, I was a senior in high school, and the idea of the show fascinated me. I wanted to know what a show like this would be like. That fascination, however, didn't really go anywhere. I lived in Puerto Rico and there was no way I would be able to see it.
A year later, it was announced that Darren Criss would be taking over the role for a couple of months. My mom and I both loved him, and made a half-baked plan to go see the show. It, of course, went nowhere. But my intrigue in the show was ever-growing, and seeing pictures of one of my favorite artists embody the role and hearing him talk about what it meant... it was amazing to me.
And this year, the year of our Lord and savior 2017, I found out that the National Tour of Hedwig and the Angry Inch would be in Chicago during my Spring Break.
My Big had been trying to talk me into going to Chicago to visit her for months. She had recently moved to the city, had a job and a nice apartment and wanted to see me. And I had been mulling it over but hadn't been entirely sure until I realized I could see her and the show and everything would be amazing.
So on a whim, I bought tickets for Hedwig and the Angry Inch and a Greyhound pass, and that was that.
The show was fucking phenomenal.
It was amazing in all the ways I thought it would be, from the music to the costumes. But since I am also a Theatre major, I also noticed how the sound quality was amazing, and how the lights were working (amazingly, by the way). And they had projection working on the proscenium, and oh my god, when they brought down the black scrim and had a whole song just projected there. THE TECH WAS AMAZING AND FLAWLESS AND I WAS BLOWN AWAY.
I don't want to give anything about the show away, because it really is amazing and interesting and so good in all the ways. A lot of the themes the show grapples with are notions of success, femininity, and masculinity, and belonging, along with challenging those and what it means for someone like Hedwig.
The imagery in the show, the metaphors, the jokes and the music are so impressive and pleasing to experience.
It was amazing to have the privilege to see, and a true example that dreams to come true.
