A few months ago a friend of mine, Mike Maas, heard that a theatre production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch was in the planning stages here in Juneau. Having been a big fan of the movie, he immediately made some phone calls to try to find out how he could, in some way, become a part of the show. Just when it seemed like he’d dead ended in unreturned phone calls, someone from Perseverance Theatre called – completely independent of his own inquiries, mind you – to offer him the off-stage role of Music Director and the on-stage role of Skszp. Anyone within shouting distance last November knows how thrilled he was.

Starting in December, Mike met with the cast and crew of Hedwig for many, many hours of rehearsals. Most days it seemed he would leave work and rehearse until almost midnight. On at least one occasion he worked on the play nine days straight without a day off to recuperate. We rescheduled our social gatherings around his new schedule and listened to his complaints about the rigors of 8-hour rehearsals contrasted with his excitement about how well things were coming together.

Much to my disappointment, Mike devoted so much of his free time to practicing that a video project we had planned to shoot was eventually shelved. I had no real desire to see the original Hedwig movie and, besides supporting a friend in his creative endeavors, had no real inclination to spend $44 so Oksana and I could see this show, either. I couldn’t understand why he was so overjoyed to be in a fringe show about a German transvestite with a failed sex-change operation, but we went last Saturday anyway.

You know what? I get it now. Hedwig and the Angry Inch fucking rocked! (Before the show, Mike asked us, “Are you ready to RAWK?!” It’s never “rock” with Mike, it’s always a throw-the-goat, Billy Idol sneer, “RAWK!!”)
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