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Tag: Hedwig and the Angry Inch

  • Michael C. Hall: From Dexter To Hedwig On Broadway

    Michael C. Hall has left his kill room and knives behind. The former Dexter star returned to Broadway on Thursday as the lead in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. You may remember that Neil Patrick Harris won a Tony Award last year for playing the same titular character.

    Harris left the musical in August. Book of Mormon star Andrew Rannells stepped in as a temporary replacement. Now, it’s Hall’s turn to take on the East German transgender rockstar who survived a botched sex change.

    This is not Hall’s first time on Broadway. He starred in the drama The Realistic Joneses. He also appeared as the Emcee in a revival of Cabaret in 1999. Of course, most people recognize Hall as the funeral director from HBO’s Six Feet Under or as the serial killer with a code from Dexter.

    Wearing full-on drag and dancing around the stage in three inch heels can’t be easy. For the past month, Hall has been involved in what he describes as, “an emotional, spiritual and cardiovascular boot camp.”

    Rehearsing in full wardrobe and makeup did help Hall with his character, “Rehearsing in the rehearsal hall with heels and fishnets and imagining the feel of the wigs or the look of the face is one thing, but leaving it to the creative powers that be to basically be the character for a time and give me my face and my hair, there’s nothing like it.”

    And what was it about playing Hedwig that appealed most to Hall? “The show has a profound and universal message,” he said. “It’s about self-acceptance. We’re all internally stitched up. That’s part of the inevitability of living.”

    If you want to check out Michael C. Hall on Broadway in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, you can get tickets by clicking here. His performance lasts until January 4.

  • Neil Patrick Harris On What Turns Him On

    Neil Patrick Harris spoke candidly recently about being married and what a long relationship can become over a period of time, saying that everyone’s “honeymoon phase” comes to an end eventually. But, he says, if you look for new ways to be inspired by the one you love, you can keep that spark burning.

    Harris and his longtime partner, David Burtka, have been together since 2004 and have two children together, which helped the actor see things in a new way.

    “Having kids was one of those great moments for me. Watching David become another level of person, mastering this other domain, made me look at him with a whole other set of appreciative eyes. That made me re-fall in love with him,” Harris said.

    Harris makes a good point by saying that everyone falls out of love with everything–homes and jobs as well as other people–so the key is to find new things to get excited about.

    “Honeymoon phases end. They just do. I think you have to find new elements that turn you on, and not only sexually,” he said.

    Harris has been busy with the hit Broadway production of “Hedwig And The Angry Inch” recently, which requires him to call up a very different side of himself. He spoke recently about tapping into his feminine side and how wearing heels really feels for a guy.

    “I thought that masculinity equated confidence, and I was struggling to feel confident. Hedwig was a great active departure from that [mentality] because everything that I had known about confidence had to be thrown out the window. Now, all of a sudden, those masculine postures and inflections were tells that I wasn’t doing the job right. I had to be overtly feminine, and it felt totally weird. Initially, walking around in heels is a very challenging thing for a guy to do. But once you’ve done it six or seven times, it’s weirdly empowering. I had to move my hips and legs in a way that guys don’t get to do so boldly – it was fun!”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Neil Patrick Harris Tweets Naked Selfie Post ‘Hedwig’ Show

    On Thursday, Neil Patrick Harris gave his fans a sneak peek of what goes on behind the stage of Hedwig and the Angry Inch by sharing a naked selfie from his dressing room.

    Harris was in front of the mirror holding his phone wearing nothing but remnants of his makeup and dark blue nail polish. The picture was captioned, “Other dressing room. Post show. Post wig. Just did this.” In the Broadway show, Harris plays a transgender singer and he goes through an extensive makeup process before going on stage.

    Before sharing his naked selfie, Harris also shared a picture pre-show with him wearing his full makeup sans wig. He captioned the picture, “Dressing room, Pre show. Pre wig. Let’s do this.”

    Behind the scenes of ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ with Neil Patrick Harris

    Harris has been starring in the production since March and he will continue to play the title character until August 17. Playing the character has earned Harris favorable reviews as well as a Tony award for Best Actor in a Musical. After winning the award he said, “Playing Hedwig is an absolute joy, I was terrified at first but it has changed me and challenged me and exhausted me… The character is so beautiful and the songs are so amazing to sing.”

    The musical is “highly-improvisational” and Harris both impressed and surprised audiences by playing a transgender role. Just last month, Harris was so into his character that he spat water on a woman in the audience. The incident made headlines, but the show’s rep said that it was part of the show’s audience interaction and Harris did it “all in character.”

    After Harris’ leaves the show, Tony nominated actor Andrew Rannells will take over the role of Hedwig for eight weeks starting August 20. This means that Harris fans only have a couple of weeks left to watch him give his Tony-winning performance.

     Image via Actually NPH, Twitter

  • Katy Perry Goes Out For Sushi With Broadway King Neil Patrick Harris

    No one can deny that Katy Perry is a musical sensation. So it makes sense that a star of her caliber may be headed towards one of the most defining locations for music in the United States.

    Broadway.

    Last Friday, Vulture made a report about the director and writer of the movie, Clueless, Amy Heckerling. Her biggest project these days is a musical adaptation of the movie for Broadway. She very interested in having the pop singer to play the lead. “Katy Perry has expressed interest, and I love her to death,” she said.

    What is a pop star to do when you might be headed to Broadway to act and sing in a major musical? Why go out and have sushi with Neil Patrick Harris, of course!

    But afterward you must tweet about the experience. Harris did:

    And so did Perry:

    Speaking of #Fancy. Perry’s biggest competition for the role on Broadway may be the creator of the viral music video, Fancy, Iggy Azalea, who happened to make a tribute to Clueless in the video. “It looked like they had more money for the video than I had for the movie,” Heckerling said when she saw it, “But I was extremely flattered and I thought she was amazing. And whoever did the costumes, I don’t know how they did that.”

    When asked about casting in the upcoming musical, she said “Maybe Iggy wants to do it!”

    The Broadway life may be too big of a commitment for a pop star like Perry. And if there’s anyone who can fill her in on the Broadway lifestyle, it’s the King of Broadway himself, Neil Patrick Harris. Currently he has the lead in a revival of Hedwig and The Angry Inch, for which he won a Tony.

    Image via chefantoniopark, Instagram

  • Neil Patrick Harris Spits On Woman During ‘Hedwig’ Performance, Audience Shocked

    Neil Patrick Harris was so into his character during his performance in Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Thursday that he spat water on a woman in the audience.

    According to a source, the incident happened halfway through the performance. Harris was in full drag costume and leaned down towards the audience and asked the woman “Are you drunk?” The woman waved her hands in the air in reply and the audience assumed that it was all part of the act. Harris then continued to address the woman and reprimanded her for taking pictures. He then said, “I hate you” and walked away.

    Later, Harris was supposed to spit water at the audience as part of the performance, but he spat on the woman instead. “It was all a bit frosty and awkward. His anger was spectacular, especially the ‘I hate you’ bit. The audience went into a stunned silence. You could cut the atmosphere with a knife!” a source said.

    Reports do not indicate how the woman reacted after Harris spat on her face.

    A representative of the show said that in every performance, there is an element of audience interaction. They also said that the incident that happened is “all in character.”

    However, many still think that Harris was serious when he spat on the woman. Others say that he was bothered that the woman was taking pictures in the middle of the show. Taking pictures is prohibited during Broadway shows and other productions.

    This is not the first time that Harris was inappropriate during a performance. According to reports, Harris was the center of attention for swearing at an audience member. However, many people also understand that Hedwig and the Angry Inch consists of lots of improvisation from the actors.

    Harris won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Hedwig in the play.

    Image via YouTube

  • Neil Patrick Harris as ‘Hedwig’ Shares Spit With Audience Member

    Neil Patrick Harris spit water on a member of the audience as he took the stage as Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway on Thursday night. The How I Met Your Mother star was in full drag in his role as Hedwig–a transvestite–when he apparently noticed a woman snapping photos of him from the audience. This is prohibited at Broadway (and many other) productions.

    A source reports that about halfway through the production, Harris “leaned down into the audience and asked a woman, ‘Are you drunk?’ She waved her arms in the air and everyone assumed it was part of the act. Neil then berated her for taking photos, telling the audience she was sitting in seat 3A. He then sniffed, ‘I hate you,’ and turned on his high heels.”

    Later in the production Neil Patrick Harris was supposed to spit some water into the audience as part of the play, but instead “he spat the water straight at the woman,” the source shared. “It was all a bit frosty and awkward. His anger was spectacular, especially the ‘I hate you’ bit. The audience went into a stunned silence. You could cut the atmosphere with a knife!”

    A rep from the Broadway show reportedly told the New York Post that it was a planned spit.

    “There is always an element of audience interaction in each show, and it is all in character,” the rep explained.

    It certainly sounds as though Neil Patrick Harris had about enough of the woman’s incessant photo taking–as well as the fact that she wasn’t adhering to the theater rules. He might have even believed that if she was so enamored with this character that a little spit may have made her feel that much closer to his stage persona.

    Of course Hedwig and the Angry Inch features lots of improv and this actually wasn’t the first time Neil Patrick Harris made news for seemingly inappropriate behavior. Last time it was for swearing at a member of the audience.

    Neil Patrick Harris won a Tony Award for his role as Hedwig–so audience members aren’t that riled up over him swearing at and spitting upon them.

    It’s uncertain how the woman in the audience responded to Harris’s spitting–but after all, what’s a little shared spit among friends? She wanted all those photos–right? Now she even has bona fide DNA.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Tony Awards 2014: Nominees Announced

    Tony Awards 2014: Nominees Announced

    The nominees for the 2014 Tony Awards were announced Tuesday morning by Jonathan Groff and Lucy Liu, with A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Hedwig and the Angry Itch receiving the most nods. Hugh Jackman, who is set to host the awards ceremony which will be broadcast live on June 8 on CBS, made an appearance alongside Liu and Groff, as the stars revealed the Tony field.

    Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak’s comedy musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder garnered ten nominations altogether, and the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Itch, starring Neil Patrick Harris, received 8 nominations. The music and lyrics of Hedwig were composed by Lexington, Kentucky’s own Stephen Trask. Harris was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.

    Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for his work in All the Way, and Tony Shalhoub received a nod for Act One.

    Nominees for productions include:

    Best Play:
    Act One
    All the Way
    Casa Valentina
    Mothers and Sons
    Outside Mullingar

    Best Musical:
    After Midnight
    Aladdin
    Beautiful – The Carole King Musical
    A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

    Best Revival of a Play:
    The Cripple of Inishmaan
    The Glass Menagerie
    A Raisin in the Sun
    Twelfth Night

    Best Revival of a Musical:
    Hedwig and the Angry Inch
    Les Miserables
    Violet

    A complete list of the 2014 Tony Award nominees can be found here.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Neil Patrick Harris Curses Fan, but Not Really

    Here’s a tip: don’t mess with an actor while in mid-performance – unless the actor is in a production that lends itself to improv.

    Neil Patrick Harris has been in a bit of hot water after news outlets reported the actor cursed out a female fan who yelled out “We love you, Neil!” in the middle of a performance of his Broadway show Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

    But it turns out his seemingly nasty response was just a bit of in-character improv.

    After the seemingly rude young lady expressed her thoughts, Harris yelled back in character, “I’m doing something up here, ­motherf–ker!”

    According to Gossip Cop, Harris was only acting in character and didn’t mean it at all.

    A rep for the former How I Met Your Mother actor said the reply, though profane, was all in good fun and in character – playing a German transgender punk rocker named Hedwig.

    “The response to the fan yelling was actually done in character — Neil as Hedwig, not as though Neil stopped the show to respond out of character,” said Harris’ rep.

    “When the fan initially yelled, ‘I love you, Neil,’ Neil (as Hedwig) then responded, ‘Who’s Neil? I’m not Neil.’ He then looked over at Yitzhak (played by Lena Hall) and said, ‘Are you Neil? You better not be Neil’ followed by Hedwig then offering the quote in question,” the rep told the site.“It was all done in good fun, and fully in the context of the show. The audience went crazy and it really was a light-hearted moment…”

    The play is actually a production that allows for improvisation and audience interaction.

    The New York Post reported the moment was met with rapturous applause.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons