Mitchell and Trask's Hedwig and the Angry Inch

John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch opened on Valentine’s Day 1998 in New York City, and ever since, it and its genderqueer heroine have captivated audiences around the world. As the first musical to feature a genderqueer protagonist as its lead, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a darkly exuberant fairy tale about a child that discovers she is one of a kind, but also among her own kind if she dares travel past borders that confine her being and identity. Caridad Svich examines this exhilarating work through the lenses of visual and vocal rock ’n’ roll performance, the history of the American musical, and its positioning within LGBTIQ+ theatre.