Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Hedwig and the Angry Inch follows the powerful and poignant journey of Hedwig Robinson, a genderqueer East German rock singer, as she tells the story of her life during a raw and electric concert performance. On a makeshift stage in a gritty venue—shadowed by a larger stadium where her former lover and protégé, now-famous rock star Tommy Gnosis, is playing—Hedwig bares her soul to the audience.

As the show begins, Hedwig bursts onto the stage with fierce energy, introducing herself and her band, The Angry Inch, in a blistering rock number that sets the tone for the evening (“Tear Me Down”). She is accompanied by her assistant, back-up singer, and husband, Yitzhak. A Jewish drag queen from Zagreb, Yitzhak has an unhealthy, traumatic relationship with Hedwig. Hedwig verbally abuses him as she is threatened by his natural talent. Hedwig describes how she married him under the agreement that he would never perform as a woman again. (To further the musical's theme of blurred gender lines,