On nights like this, when the world’s a bit amiss,

And the lights go down across the trailer park…

I get down, I feel had, feel on the verge of going mad

Then it’s time to punch the clock…

I put on some make-up,

Turn on the tape deck

And put the wig back on my head…

Tonight, we worship at the altar of the Angry Inch, bowing down before the feet of Neil Patrick Harris, and flipping our sausage curls in homage to the big wig, the blonde wig, the one and only Hedwig. I’ve seen this a few times, including once during its original Off-Broadway run. I must say, I haven’t been this excited about seeing a specific performer in a role since Kristin Chenoweth descended in her ‘Wicked’ bubble and Glenn Close walked down the stairs of the floating mansion in ‘Sunset Boulevard.’  Doogie, don’t let me down!

I look back on where I’m from, look at the woman I’ve become

And the strangest things seem suddenly routine

I look up from my vermouth on the rocks,

A gift-wrapped wig still in the box

Of towering velveteen.

‘Hedwig’ has deservedly developed a cult-following as the representative for “the misfits and the losers” – someone who has been dealt a sorry hand by life, but somehow retains a resilient spirit of survival, and, against all odds, a certain celebration of what she has gone through. Like most of us, Hedwig is searching for that one other person who will fulfill her – yet it never reads as co-dependence or weakness – it’s the simple search for love. That journey is grounded in the darkest humor, but it’s often laugh-out-loud humor that both pierces and warms the heart. Make no mistake, Hedwig is always in on the joke.

Some girls they got a natural ease,

They wear it any way they please

With their French-flip curls and perfumed magazines

Wear it up, let it down

This is the best way that I’ve found

to be the best you’ve ever seen.

Tonight, she storms the Belasco, and I only hope my Mom is ready. I certainly am.

Sausage curls, chicken wings
It’s all because of you!

By the time this is posted, the surprise will already have been revealed. For a pre-Mother’s Day treat, I got my Mom tickets to see ‘The Bridges of Madison County’ while we’re in New York – a bit of heterosexual love thrown in amid the midst of so much gayness. We are catching it just in time, as ‘Bridges’ is already set to close on May 18. It seems a shame, as many have indicated that it is one of Jason Robert Brown’s strongest works, and some of the most gorgeous music on Broadway at the moment.

This same thing happened when we tried to do a Broadway trip in January many years ago, only then it didn’t end quite as well. I’d gotten really good seats to ‘Side Show’ and ‘Triumph of Love’ (second and third row respectively!) and a few weeks before we were set to attend, they announced the closing of both shows. While heartbreaking, it was nothing compared to finding out that ‘Sunset Boulevard’ was closing a month before the performance for which I had front-row tickets (I don’t care if I had seen it three times by that point.)

This time around, it seems our luck has changed, as we’ll be able to see ‘Bridges’ before it shutters. It also packs this weekend with three theatrical experiences – a first since our Broadway tradition began way back in 1997. That’s a lot of drama for a couple of days, but as long as it stays on the stage we’ll be fine.