John Cameron Mitchell is bringing his cult classic back to Cleveland. The writer, director and star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch will host a screening, Q&A and acoustic music performance at the Mimi Ohio Theatre inside Playhouse Square at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 13, marking 25 years since the film first hit theaters.
The stop is part of Hedwig and the Angry Inch: The 25th Anniversary Movie Tour, which according to Cleveland.com has Mitchell crisscrossing cities with the film he once convinced Killer Films producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler to let him direct and star in. Per Deadline, the tour is traveling across the United States and Canada with a 4K restoration of the 2001 movie musical. The Playhouse Square event listing describes the Cleveland stop as including a 4K screening of the film, followed by a live Q&A and a mini acoustic performance by Mitchell, and tells attendees to arrive early for a pre-show costume contest for a chance to win prizes.
A Stage Musical That Became a Cult Film
Hedwig and the Angry Inch began as a stage musical that opened off-Broadway nearly 30 years before this year's anniversary, per the same Cleveland.com report, and won two Obie Awards and an Outer Critics Circle award. The show follows the life story of genderqueer rock performer Hedwig Robinson and includes songs such as Tear Me Down, Angry Inch and Midnight Radio. Mitchell co-created the musical with songwriter Stephen Trask, and the story was loosely inspired by a babysitter in the Mitchell family in Kansas who was a sex worker, the outlet reports.
The film adaptation, directed by and starring Mitchell, premiered in 2001 and won the Audience Award (Dramatic) and Directing Award (Dramatic) at Sundance, according to Deadline. Mitchell received a Golden Globe nomination for best actor for his performance. Cleveland.com reports the film grossed $3.6 million against an $8 million production budget.
From Box-Office Struggle to Word-of-Mouth Hit
Mitchell has said the film did not find its audience right away. “It took word-of-mouth, home video, people passing it one by one to their friends and lovers to get it around the world,” he told Deadline. That slow build eventually turned Hedwig into something bigger than a box-office number, and Mitchell has credited the story's staying power to the people who saw themselves in it.
“It sort of gathers community around itself of just anybody who doesn't fit in,” Mitchell told The Morning Sun ahead of the tour's Detroit stop. In a separate interview with BroadwayWorld, he said audiences keep bringing him their own connections to the work: “everyone seems to have a story about HEDWIG after 25 years.” Cleveland.com reports that Mitchell has described Hedwig overall as an amazing gift in his life and career.
A Production With a Long Theatrical Life
Hedwig has had a long life on stages beyond its original off-Broadway run. A Broadway revival starred Neil Patrick Harris in 2014 and won four Tony Awards along with Drama Desk Awards, Drama League Awards and Outer Critics Circle prizes, per Cleveland.com's reporting. The production also played London's West End and toured the United States in 2016.
On this anniversary run, Mitchell performs a mix of film songs, David Bowie covers and original material, according to the Cleveland.com account. He co-wrote the song Daystar with Linda Perry, and the outlet notes his broader career includes credits on Shortbus, Rabbit Hole, Joe Exotic, Shrill and How to Talk to Girls at Parties. Mitchell, 63, was born in Texas, studied theater at Northwestern University, and began acting as Huckleberry Finn in Chicago in 1985 before moving to Broadway that same year.
Other Tour Stops Across the Country
Cleveland is one of several cities on the itinerary. Mitchell appeared at Boston's Boch Center Shubert Theatre on Oct. 1, according to The Boston Globe, and the tour stopped at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles on Sept. 17 and 18, with 4K screenings, conversations, audience Q&As and acoustic performances, as reported by the Los Angeles Daily News. The Fillmore Detroit hosted a screening, Q&A and performance at 7 p.m. on Oct. 21, and the tour is scheduled to reach New York's Beacon Theatre on Nov. 16 for a 4K screening followed by an in-person conversation with Mitchell, per amNewYork. Mitchell also brought the film to the Melbourne International Film Festival on Aug. 21 for a screening with live commentary, according to ArtsHub.
Beyond the tour, Mitchell has kept busy with other projects. He performed in Oh, Mary! for a 12-week Broadway run earlier this year, hosts the podcast Anthem: Homunculus, and recently launched a new Patreon site, Cleveland.com reports. He is also planning an orchestral concert presentation and has projects in development including films about Allen Ginsberg and Peter Staley, a memoir he plans to title A Heart Held Outside the Body, and a play, Cleveland.com reports.
