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An open letter to the Tacoma City Council
Education and Action Meeting for Tacoma RESULTS
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Hedwig and Tacoma Pride
The musical "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" just ended its first run in Tacoma at the Horatio Theater. Heather Carawan analyzes the parallels between the story's protagonist and the GLBT community's struggle for equity.
Hedwig, as portrayed by Rusty Jones
How comfortable are you in your own skin? It’s a question that came to mind last week when I attended the Tacoma premiere of the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch (http://www.myspace.com/hedwigandtheangryinchtacoma) at the Horatio Theater (http://www.thehoratio.com ). If you missed Rusty Jones as the East German transgender with the botched sex change operation and Jonnie Monroe as Yitzhak, Hedwig’s drag king lover, I urge you to rent the movie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedwig_and_the_Angry_Inch) and (re)discover the wonder that is HEDWIG.
Human beings are a flawed species, prone to jealousy, greed, insecurity, and judgment. In Hedwig, we witness an individual stripped to the core of these evils. I began watching the tale unfold, feeling that this essentially male character (and actor) was vulnerable up onstage wearing a wig and tottering upon high heels. But actually, her/his most vulnerable, and thus truthful, moment occurs somewhere between the punk rock anthem “Exquisite Corpse” and the heartbreaking ballad “Wicked Little Town” when s/he removes the wig and dress. Left on stage alone singing roughly and quietly, Hedwig is exposed as a lonely soul, making sense of his identity amidst a society overly defined by gender and class roles.
So what does this, you might ask, have to do with building community
and “movement” in Tacoma? Everything.
Hedwig is about building bridges across the murky waters that keep us
divided. One good way to continue that effort on the local level
is to get your high heeled, flip flopped, birkenstocked, shit-kickin’
self out to “Out in the Park”, Tacoma’s 10th annual gay pride
celebration, on July 14th in Wright Park.
“Out in the Park” was one of the first events I attended when I moved to Tacoma two summers ago. What I liked about it was that, at least for that one sunny day on the lawn, burritos and balloons in tow, everyone I saw, young and old, gay and straight, seemed to be comfortable in their own skin. From the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to Human Rights Campaign activists, from the babies in strollers to the Raging Grannies, when we all come together in this spirit, movement is happening.
Heather Carawan is an independent filmmaker and writer based in
Tacoma/Pierce County. Her website is at www.heatcar.com.