Cooper Howell and HEDWIG director Jerry Rapier

Cooper Howell is an aspiring director and choreographer in his junior year at Utah Valley University.

I’m not sure what I did exactly to deserve this. The stars aligned and some very giving people (namely Jerry Rapier) gave me the go-ahead to intern with Plan-B Theatre Company on HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH. My responsibilities were assistant director and choreographing a few moments during some of the musical numbers.

Hedwig tells of Hansel, an East German “slip of a girlyboy” who loves philosophy and rock music and is stuck in East Berlin until he meets Luther Robinson, a U.S. soldier. Luther falls in love with Hansel and the two decide to marry. This plan will allow Hansel to leave communist East Germany for the capitalist West. However, in order to be married, the couple must consist of a man and a woman. Hansel’s mother, Hedwig, gives her child her name and passport and finds a doctor to perform a sex change. The operation is botched, however, and her surgically constructed vagina heals closed, leaving Hansel – now Hedwig – with a dysfunctional one-inch mound of flesh between her legs, “with a scar running down it like a sideways grimace on an eyeless face.”  As told in its cabaret, rock-and-roll form, this show genuinely rocks!

This is the third time Plan-B Theatre Company has staged this show so a lot of the pieces just fell into place. Aaron Swenson gives his third performance as Hedwig after originally doing it in 2003 and 2005. Dave Evanoff came back as the musical director and keyboardist/guitarist in The Angry Inch band as well as Van Christensen the drummer.  Same stage manager (the incredibly professional and lovely Jennifer Freed), same Projections Designer (Greg Ragland) and same Set Designer (Randy Rasmussen).  Because this is Plan-B’s third HEDWIG, some of the “creating” and “discovering” process of a production were not available for me to observe.  Everything seemed to fit like a puzzle.  The new elements of the show were the space it was being performed in (The Egyptian Theatre in Park City), Latoya Rhodes as Yitzhak, Hedwig’s drag queen/king husband and back-up singer, Camden Chamberlain on guitar, Adam Overacker on bass, Jesse Portillo as the Lighting Designer and Aaron Swenson also assuming duties as Costume Designer.

Dave Evanoff, the musical director, keyboardist, guitarist and all around badass. He is very professional and can play basically every instrument I saw laid in front of him. His skills include sight reading, vocal coaching and band organizing and teaching others how to have stage presence as a musician. Jerry told me, "When you work with a musical director like Dave you just dont worry about the music. Ever." He's a genius.

But I do not feel like I was denied anything in a the creative process of theatre.  I learned so much.  Jerry at one point leaned over and asked me if I was “bored to tears” watching them rehearse.  I can truthfully say that nothing about this production can possibly be boring.

One of the things that I learned is that some people’s overall natural awesomeness cannot be coached but must be used.  Whether Aaron Swenson realizes it or chooses to admit it, he has a following. Everyone I talked to about this show said almost immediately “Please tell me Aaron is doing it again?” or “I’ll only come if Aaron does it again.”

And there is a reason.  He is amongst the most talented people I’ve ever met.  His singing voice is very unique and very high in the tenor range.  He is a gifted mover.  He totally understands stage presence and uses it to his advantage to further the story of his character (how do you teach that?).  And let’s not forget that he makes a very beautiful looking woman as well as a man.  Jerry would just hint at suggestions and Aaron would take full advantage of them.

Latoya Rhodes and Aaron Swenson after Hedwig judged the Miss City Weekly Pride Pageant.

Let’s not forget Miss Latoya Rhodes who stepped into the role of Yitzhak and in two and a half weeks of rehearsal fleshed out a very believable and well-rounded character of her own.  Not to mention learning all of the music before the rehearsals even started.  Her dedication was key.

It was so interesting being able to learn from Jerry.  I didn’t just get to learn from his directing skills but I was able to learn about all sorts of different types of theatre management as well.  He is the Producing Director of Plan-B Theater Company.  He surrounds himself with experts who don’t need to be babied or pushed to do their jobs.  His confidence as a director is very apparent and easy to see.  He really knows his craft; its history and also its effect and influence.  I also got to watch Jerry do PR and advertise the show through the “Radio From Hell” show on x-96 and also KPCW in Park City.

Latoya and Aaron really committed to the little choreography I taught

The thing I learned from Jerry the most however is trust. He truly trusts the team that he surrounds himself with.  A lot of directors love to micromanage every aspect of their productions but he really puts his faith behinds the people on his team.  Even when he allowed me the opportunity to choreograph a few moments in some musical numbers he stood behind what we came up with.  He even offered suggestions.  It was very inspiring and encouraging.

I really feel like an intenship should have been harder (Ha! Ha!)  I mean I had a blast.  I learned so many things about the qualities of theatre.  I was expecting that I was just going to sit in a corner and take notes.  And I did take a lot of notes.  But I was allowed to be involved.  But mostly I just enjoyed the ride.

Plan-B’s award-winning production of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH gets a 10th-anniversary re-boot at Park City’s Egyptian Theatre through June 17. Click here for more information and tickets.

Latoya Rhodes getting braids/extensions in preparation for HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH

Latoya Rhodes has previously appeared in two SLAMs and two Script-In-Hand Series readings for Plan-B.

In the beginning, Plan-B Theatre revived HEDWIG… Again!

“I cannot believe it has only been 2 weeks that we have been rehearsing this show!” I told Aaron yesterday while walking back from Pride, still completely on a HEDWIG high from our performance. Rewind with me to the audition for HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH in February 2012. It was a Sunday, and I was asked to learn “Tear Me Down” and belt the crap out of “I Will Always Love You.” I was so nervous. I mean, I had already worked with both Dave Evanoff and Jerry Rapier on HAIR at the Egyptian in 2010; however, I wanted to really impress them and, of course, land the role of Yitzhak! I completely forgot that Aaron Swenson would also be coming into the audition so that I could actually sing with him and Dave. Singing “Tear Me Down” with them for the first time was pretty magical. I was like, “Alright, that was kind of sweet.” I remember looking at Aaron while singing the song, and I am not sure if he felt anything, but we already started connecting though the song, acting, and sending out this kind of energy to one another. I thought it was really something unique. I remember singing a couple of other songs (“Wicked Little Town” and “Exquisite Corpse”), and I kept looking at Jerry to read if he wanted me for the show or not. Now, I love me some Jerry, but I cannot read him . . . I couldn’t tell if he was like, “Yeah, we’re going to give her the part.” or “What the hell was I thinking?” Ha ha. Not until he was talking like I was in the show with Aaron, and then he looked at me and said, “Oh yeah, the role is yours if you want it.” Fast forward to the present, and I have not regretted one moment of this experience. It was kismet I think.

Here are some of my thoughts on my process of this experience. Excuse the scatteredness.

Latoya Rhodes, Camden Chamberlain, Dave Evanoff and Aaron Swenson as Queen II

NEW KID IN TOWN
HEDWIG  was first produced by Plan-B Theatre in 2003 and then revived in 2005, and now revived once again in 2012, which is my first time being part of the production. I am one of the new kids in town. My experience thus far with stepping into a show that has already been a runaway train – twice.

I remember feeling completely overwhelmed and thinking, “What if I don’t bring the same energy as the original Yitzhak has? What if Aaron and I do not have the same connection? What if I don’t push Aaron enough to get to his emotional peak?”  When I began to think that way I thought, “What did I get myself into?!” Let the actor demons in me begin to completely vamp up the fears in my mind.

Some great advice from Aaron and Jerry calmed me down: they said that because of their experience with the show, they can move forward faster, take out what has not worked in the past, and that we are creating our own new show . . . I mean automatically it was going to be a different show because there are new people involved. Add to that the element of personal growth and it changes the way someone looks, portrays and perceives a character. So even though some moments are the same as in the past, it does not mean the moment is created in the same way. Everyone brings new energy to the piece. Insert sigh of relief here.

As I am slowly becoming less overwhelmed, there are three key elements that have served me well:

1) Breath
2) Be flexible
3) Stay open

Latoya Rhodes and Aaron Swenson a la Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks

AARON SWENSON
Who is this genius I get to work with?! Seriously, I never knew how brilliant he was until this show. I first met Aaron when I was in last summer’s production of RENT at Pioneer Theatre Company. He was such a very nice guy, and introduced himself to me, and said “I loved you in HAIR and I loved the show.” We chatted for a little while, and we caught each other once in a while when I would come in for costume fittings and such. One night the cast and some crew of RENT went out to celebrate one of the cast member’s birthdays. We went karaoke-ing, and Aaron got up and sang. That was the first glimpse I got of the humble brilliance of the one and only Aaron Swenson. I was like, “What? Who are you? Your voice is amazing!” and he humbly took the compliment. Then someone told me that he played Hedwig in past Plan-B productions of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH. Fast forward to 2012 . . . um, every single time we run the show, or sing through a song, I am literally blown away. I learn so much by just watching his performance. His effortlessness on stage, his storytelling ability, his continued growth… I am like a student in a master class with a tour de force! He’s probably reading this right now (Hey Aaron!) saying “Nah” but don’t let him fool you. It has been an honor and privilege to work with him.

Latoya Rhodes

LATOYA & AARON VS. YITZHAK & HEDWIG
Both Aaron and I had a desire to start connecting before we started rehearsals so we could find the things that make us, as Aaron and Latoya, click. It was important to us as actors to find that connection so that we could develop a truth, honesty, depth and rooted relationship as our characters. So we found out who we are as individuals, what our stories are, what makes us each human beings on this earth. Then, of course who are characters are, what their back stories are, and how do they relate and not relate. Because this process has been so fast-paced, our work outside of rehearsal has been essential.

WHY HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH?
I actually get that question a lot. “What drew you to this show?” I reply, “Why not?!” I love shows that make you question and think outside of the realms of what we were taught by our parents, or by our teachers, or by society. I love stretching my mind, and answering those questions in my own way through experiences or observations. A lot of the questions that come up in this show are about gender. What is gender? Why is gender so important or not important? Is there more than one gender? Gender is a pretty interesting topic.

I love that HEDWIG goes far beyond what gender is. Here is Hedwig, neither a man, nor a woman . . . and then I, Latoya, am a woman, playing Yitzhak, a man, who identifies more as a drag queen. Very Shakespearean eh? I can talk about this topic forever . . . and I could answer these questions about gender, gender identity, what gender is in the context of the show, etc.

However, I am not going to do that in this blog. I challenge the audience, each person who sees this production, to seek their own questions, and find their own answers. It is easy for me to get on my soapbox and tell you my opinion . . . but where’s the fun in that?

Onstage at Utah Pride 2012

FINAL THOUGHTS:
After performing in front of an audience at Pride yesterday, I am anxious to open. We open Friday – here we go!  It was the feeling I have been waiting for. I mean there is still work to be done; we still have a couple more days of rehearsal. The work does not stop, and finding out new things with our characters, and within the script and score is still happening. But I am excited to add the final element – the audience – to the show. It is going to add and elevate all of us like it did at Pride. Just watching people sing along to the songs, the cheers, and the excitement . . . I know we all felt it because once we all stepped off the stage . . . it was electric.

I love what I do . . . I love this show . . . and I really hope you all will come in your best “head wig” and join us on this adventure. The band (Dave, Van, Camden, Adam) is unreal amazing, and you will feel the pulse of the music in your chest. You will regret it if you miss it. You will get to “ho down” with us (my finest work), you will get to laugh, sing, enjoy a beer, and feel our “gummi bear lovin” oozing off the stage all the way to your seat.

Peace, love, and wig power.

Plan-B’s award-winning production of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH gets a 10th-anniversary re-boot at Park City’s Egyptian Theatre June 8-17. Click here for more information and tickets.

Kay Shean, HEDWIG Groupie

Kay Shean has been a member of Plan-B Theatre’s board since 2001. She has participated in nearly every SLAM and directed THE END OF THE HORIZON in 2008.

I am a self-proclaimed HEDWIG groupie…

I saw Tim Curry as Frank-N-Furter in the original production of THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW at the Roxy in Los Angeles in 1974 and wondered if I’d ever have that much fun again. Then, in 2003, I attended opening night of Plan-B’s production of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH and watched Aaron Swenson play Hedwig. He blew the roof off the theatre and I was hooked!

I went to the show over and over again… as often as I possibly could. Then, when Plan-B remounted the show in 2005, I spent almost every night at the theater reliving the joy of Hedwig. I am absolutely an Aaron Swenson/Hedwig groupie. Aaron’s performance took me on an emotional rock-and-rolling rollercoaster ride I never wanted to end. Now I’ve got tickets to ride again!

As soon as Jerry announced that for the production’s 10th anniversary Plan-B would reprise the show at Park City’s Egyptian Theatre this summer with Aaron as Hedwig, I started playing the CD, singing each and every song as loudly as my limited vocal abilities allow. I bought tickets the minute they went on sale and I can’t wait to see what Aaron will do this time as the mixed-up, sexy, sad, hilarious, off-the-wall, amazing, down-and-out transgender rock-and-roll-star wannabe . . .

The new HEDWIG t-shirt

Those of you who have excellent math skills may have figured out if I was at the Roxy in West Hollywood seeing THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW in 1974, I am not a 20-something now . . . or even a 30-something. To be absolutely clear, I’m a member of the demographic group buying senior tickets at the movies and super-senior ski passes. And… I’m counting the days to the opening of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH! As I said at the beginning… I’m a self-proclaimed Hedwig groupie and proud of it.

Welcome back Hedwig!  Here’s to one more wild ride!

Plan-B’s award-winning production of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH gets a 10th-anniversary re-boot at Park City’s Egyptian Theatre June 8-17. Click here for more information and tickets.

Dave Evanoff in HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH

Dave Evanoff has been a huge part of Plan-B over the past decade.  He has musically directed two previous productions of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH and several installments of AND THE BANNED PLAYED ON, as well as composing/performing original music for RADIO HOUR: FRANKENSTEIN and RADIO HOUR: ALICE. 

Why revisit HEDWIG for a third time?

First:  the work itself.  This one never gets old to me.   I will enjoy the book and music until the day I die.  It contains a powerful message in its words and wraps them up in a brightly colored box of kick-ass music.

Second:  It’s an honor to put on another Hedwig with Aaron Swenson.  You many not know this, but Aaron – as well as being a gifted actor and a brilliant singer – is a super genius!   He truly is.  It’s so much fun to sing songs with him.  But at the same time I’m secretly hoping that the radioactive Stephen Hawking that bit him and gave him his powers of brilliance  may one day pass its super powers on to me.  I just pray that Aaron continues to use all of his genius super powers for good.   Though, if he chooses the dark side, what ever he comes up with will be very, very clever.

Dave Evanoff

Third:  I get to dress up like a rock star and play and sing, like I once did for imaginary crowds in my parents’ basement.

Fourth:  It’s another chance to work with Plan-B.  I love these guys.

Come see HEDWIG.  Its funny, poignant, silly, touching  and it will rock your face off!

Plan-B’s award-winning production of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH gets a 10th-anniversary re-boot at Park City’s Egyptian Theatre June 8-17. Click here for more information and tickets.

Aaron Swenson as Hedwig, the hostess-with-the-mostest at Plan-B's 9th Annual SLAM (May 12, 2012)

Aaron Swenson has previously played Hedwig in HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH for Plan-B Theatre Company in 2003 and 2005.  He won awards from Salt Lake City Weekly, SLMetro and QSaltLake for his performance. In 2012, he’s also assuming costume design duties.

This blog post is late. Even though I am starting this a full week prior to the due date, I feel confident in asserting that it will be late. I wrote the first sentence with the tragic certainty of Cassandra, and I am nothing if not familiar with the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies, but still the outcome remains the same. This blog post is late.

Here is the current state of my union: I am tired and sore. I spent the majority of Saturday [hosting SLAM] in brutally non-ergonomic heels. My Achilles tendons have shrunk six inches; my buttocks have moved upward to make their home somewhere above the small of my back. I have bruises on my ribs from wearing a bra and two shapers over three or four pairs of tights. Black goo continues to work its way out of the corners of my eyes – a gruesome compound of eyeliner, eyelash glue, and good old-fashioned eye crud. My arms and torso appear to have been attacked by angry weasels; sequins are sharp. The last dress I wore onstage during SLAM lies in the passenger footwell of my car, where I took it off as I hastily changed into a new dress in the parking lot of Pioneer Theater Company so I could show my co-workers what I’d been doing for the last six hours, i.e., transforming my youthful half-breed male aspect into that of a middle-aged Aryan rock goddess. My habits have become those of a slattern, and I have lost my last vestige of bodily shame or modesty.

Aaron Swenson shopping for costumes

Right now I am writing this in bed, sitting braced against a pile of mismatched pillows on the half of my bed that is not occupied by costume renderings, laundry, makeup products, receipts, reference photos, a half-eaten box of Dots, a fingerless black lace glove, and a digital camera with a dead battery. Any of this and all of this would make a perfect, tangible metaphor for my brain. I maintain a space in it just large enough for the day-to-day processes of living, but the rest is devoted equally to work and to the avoidance of work.

I am not here. I am elsewhere, all the time, not only preoccupied but pre-preoccupied. I am never actually having a conversation with you; I am merely using a small fraction of my traitor brain to transcribe a sort of conversational voicemail to be relayed to the central processing center at a later time, via a game of Telephone/Chinese Whispers where every sentence winds up as some variant of “purple monkey dishwasher.” I am fully aware of this as it is happening, as if I had a neurological disorder that forces me to bear witness to the decline of my faculties from some unaffected crevice of brain-folds. This sanctuary is sadly disconnected from the part of my brain that tells my hands that my cell phone or car keys belong in the fridge – why not? –  because I am mentally composing an email or working out a to-do list for my lunch break.

Case in point: I heard about that diet that crazy people are using to lose weight for weddings and reunions where someone inserts a feeding tube through their nose that administers a constant drip of just enough nutrients for the body to continue functioning while causing it to go into ketosis and basically start DIGESTING ITSELF and all I can think about is how much time I could save if I didn’t have to feed myself every four hours or so.

Aaron Swenson as Hedwig with Dave Evanoff on guitar (2003)

In summary: I am on the verge of a mental/nervous breakdown. HOWEVER, I want to make it very clear that, while I may be complaining, I am totally at peace with this, with all of this. My deteriorating sanity is essential to my process. I would not give it up for the world. I’m about to play a role for the third time in a show that set the tone for the last half of my twenties, for better and for worse. No other role I’ve ever played comes with higher expectations attached, and I’ve spent most of my theater career in shows and circumstances that allow me to sort of dick around in rehearsal until I figure out how to make it funny.  I am terrified and exhilarated and basically disembodied, and it is just this sense of hovering above myself, vibrating like a plucked string, that has dislocated me enough to see the world through another character’s point of view, for real, for the first time.

It’s not always a pretty picture. Hedwig and I have armored ourselves in sarcasm and facile charm. Sincere moments are all the more precious for their rarity. We keep a distance from everything out of respect, out of fear, out of a desire for a clinical understanding of things that can’t be rationally apprehended, out of convenience so that loss leaves fewer marks on us. Distance, irony, wit – all of these sharpen our understanding while simultaneously making us question whether anything matters at all.

The hardest part of my experience as an actor is always the isometric tension between my utter faith that what I am doing is essentially human and fundamental to the continuation of a sacred species-wide tradition of storytelling, and my absolute conviction that acting is not only frivolous and selfish but also that my specific contribution to a project will confirm the naysayers’ perception that theatre is dumb and boring (when it is not actually offensive and borderline pornographic).

Hedwig's Mugshot (2003)

There’s that Fitzgerald quote where he basically says that the mark of a first-rate intelligence is being able to hold two opposing ideas in your mind and still be able to function. I am still functioning, but I don’t think that says anything about my intelligence. Two opposing ideas in your mind often do nothing but pull the weave tighter, like a fishnet under tension, closing every space where good stuff might pass through, where bad stuff might fall out. Tension becomes stasis, and stasis is death for creativity. The answer is not stasis, but stillness. Pomposity and nihilism will both always lurk on the outskirts of any artistic endeavor, but they are the extremes, not the living center. The center is motion, discovery, opportunity, confidence in one’s abilities, courage in one’s convictions.

People ask how I, a lifelong procrastinator, get things done when I am working on multiple shows. Here is the secret: Over-commit, then spend all your days in terror, fleeing your responsibilities. But here’s the secret: THERE IS NO ESCAPE. As you flee from one task, you have surrounded yourself with obligations that are playing Red Rover with your attention span and waking hours. You run at them, full speed, and try to break through their linked arms. Nine times out of ten you cannot get through to the Internet, the TV-looky-box, or the places that sell pretty clothes you want to wear. For the ten percent of successful efforts to distract myself, I find that Post-it Notes with guilt-inducing messages go a long way toward steering me back on task.

One by-product of my constant preoccupation with the production and performance aspects of this show is that I am basically that friend in a new relationship who can’t stop talking about it. Anywhere I go, any conversation I have, Hedwig is there like an un-Holy Ghost. She refuses to be ignored. We have begun to overlap like the visual static of a Magic Eye picture, and a three-dimensional shape emerges when I cross my eyes just right.

Aaron and Hedwig (Courtesy Chris Detrich, 2006 and Dave Evanoff, 2012)

Hedwig and I have much in common. Music saved both our lives on multiple occasions. We both weathered a childhood fraught with questions about gender-appropriate behavior and sexual identity. We both have the hands of a beautiful forklift operator, the hands of a heavy equipment operator who likes to treat herself. She likes to feel like a lady, but the elements, you know. And the drug use. By the end of the story, we both – I hope – realize that our regrets will not save or help us.

Hedwig wants people to respond to her with either empathy or awe. Preferably both: her audience needs to understand where she’s coming from, then either worship her or get the fuck out of the way. These imperatives are my polestar, my guiding principles for every choice I make between now and June 17^th when I climb down from the heels, scrape the goop out of my eyes, retrieve my slutty dress from the passenger footwell of my car, and coat my entire body in Aspercreme before sleeping for 72 hours straight.

I started Tweeting as Hedwig on January 7^th, six months to the day before the show goes into previews. Forcing myself to tweet for the last half-year as the character has encouraged me to spend time EVERY day thinking about her. What is her sense of humor like? How does she spend her time? What is the distance between how she presents herself to the world and how she behaves in private? And, to be honest, how many of these decisions really need to be made? I could fill the time between now and the heat-death of the universe asking myself character questions, trying to fill in the blanks intentionally left by the playwright.

Aaron Swenson as Hedwig (2005)

I am going to find the truth of the character in the space between spaces; in the alchemy that comes of treating each piece of the process with the respect it deserves, and always remembering that you only have to see far enough ahead to keep moving forward. I am a self-fulfilling prophecy, and I am surrendering to the belief that everything – every single thing – is going to work out.  In the meantime, please know that I love and miss you. And if I forget what I was saying in the middle of a sentence, or if my eyes go vague and drift off to the left while you are talking to me, I can only offer a cliché so hoary that is must have some truth to it: it’s not you. It’s me. And also her.

Plan-B Theatre Company’s 10th anniversary re-boot of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH runs June 8-17, presented by the fine folks at Park City’s Egyptian Theatre.  Click here for tickets and more info (use promo code “planb” to get $17 tickets)!  You can catch Hedwig judging the Miss City Weekly Pride Pageant on May 31 and opening the Main Stage at the Utah Pride Festival on June 3.