Theater News

Neil Patrick Harris Will Star in Broadway Premiere of Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Michael Mayer will direct the beloved John Cameron Mitchell/Stephen Trask musical in the spring of 2014.

Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris
(© David Gordon)

Legendary Tony Awards host Neil Patrick Harris will star in the Broadway premiere production of John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s cult classic musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, set to hit the Great White Way in the spring of 2014. Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening) will direct the production, for which a full cast, creative team, and venue will be announced at a later date.

“I am simultaneously ecstatic and terrified to be stepping into Hedwig’s heels. It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime role and I can’t wait to begin the journey,” says Harris, who has appeared on Broadway in Assassins, Proof, and Cabaret. Hedwig is produced by David Binder and Jayne Baron Sherman. 101 Productions, Ltd. serve as executive producers.

The musical tells the story of a fictional rock-and-roll band fronted by an East German transgender singer (Harris). Originating Off-Off-Broadway at the Westbeth Theater Center, Hedwig ran for over two years at the Jane Street Theatre and received the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical. Trask and Mitchell, who starred in the production, won Obie Awards. A film version, directed by and starring Mitchell, won the Audience Award and Best Director Awards at Sundance.

As Hedwig, Harris follows in the footsteps of Mitchell, Michael Cerveris, Anthony Rapp, Ally Sheedy, and Kevin Cahoon, among many others.