LOVED it! New to the material. On the train; I'll post soon. NPH is already in total control of the audience and just kills it...and I wasn't an established fan. The standing O was not the requisite, perfunctory sort everything gets by default. Most were up within seconds of blackout.
Just got out and I'm in a cab, but will post more later...long and short: I loved it. NPH is not JCM or Michael Cervaris or any of the previous Hedwigs, but in my mind, he succeeded and will only continue to grow into the role more over the next few weeks and months.
Between this and seeing Cabaret, it kinda feels like 1999 again and for the moment, I'm okay with it.
It was ****ing incredible. I don't know how NPH is going to sustain that intensity for the run; he was running around like Iggy Pop up there. At one point he spat all over the first row. I dearly wished I was in it. Lots of the audience were hardcore groupies, with sprinkles of bewildered folks clutching their 2007 pashminas in horror. Thank God I was surrounded by drag queens and just plain queens in my row - when "Lift Up Your Hands" played, we all joined hands and swayed and sang along. It was GLORIOUS, funny, tasteless, bawdy, and moving.
There are pictures of the set and NPH taking his bow on Instagram under #hedwigandtheangryinch. Ugh, hopefully I'll be seeing this sooner rather than later. Love this show.
The Belasco is obviously an odd setting for Hedwig, but Hedwig tells the audience how she got there for "One night only!" (Blew a producer, obv.) Then she addressed the house right boxes, asking if they'd been touched by the ghost of Belasco (a good omen on opening night). I wasn't expecting Hedwig to talk to the audience so much, but I didn't know the material going in. When the first song began, the live band drowned out the words, and I got worried, but I understood the lyrics to later songs. There was a brief mic failure during "Wig In a Box" - other than that, it was very tight.
Even without knowing the show, there's definitely a lot of new book material. E.G. A running thing about them opening right after (and using the set of) Hurt Locker: The Musical, which closed at first preview intermission.
Lots of people waited at the stage door, despite the fact that it was raining (I hightailed it to the train, but now wish I'd tried for an autograph). And no intermission.
That makes me so happy. NPH is literally my favorite actor and I'm so excited to see him in this. If I were to just wait at the stage door and not have seen the show, will he still take pictures? Was anyone else doing that?
Oh I'll see it sometime. As soon as possible also. Tried my luck at the lottery tonight and didn't work out. If I could swing by after a show though, that'd be cool.