by LORRAINE CARPENTER

Somewhere between tragedy and comedy, glam rock and punk, lies Hedwig, the scorned East German trannie at the heart of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It's been a decade since John Cameron Mitchell conjured up the emotionally and physically conflicted character on stage at New York City's drag rock bar, Squeezebox, later moulding Hedwig's story into an Off-Broadway hit and a film that rocketed to cult-classic status.

Hedwig is most definitely Mitchell's baby, but countless actors have donned the blonde wig and played the part on stages around the world, spawning an international community of "Hed-heads." Among them is Robert Toms, who first saw the piece (starring Mitchell's understudy) in 1999.

"It was hard for me to understand at first," says Toms. "It wasn't a drag show or a rock show because I was watching the lead peel away the layers between songs, and all this powerful information was delivered with such over-the-top camp and such severe humour and sadness that I felt on-edge the whole time."

After seeing several other stage productions and the 2001 film adaptation, Toms set out to produce, direct and star in Hedwig himself, via his Burlington, Vermont-based company, Shoebox Theatre. With a foot on either side of the border (he rents a Plateau apartment), Toms eagerly tapped into local talent, eventually discovering Montreal singer-songwriter and musician, Antara. She became both the show's musical director and the lead in Hedwig's band, the Angry Inch, which also includes keyboardist Adam Cooper Wood, bassist Chris Cheney and drummer Chris Johnston, while Nathan Jarvis plays Hedwig's husband and band member-at-large, Yitzhak.

As with Mitchell's script, the Shoebox crew is bound to stay true to Stephen Trask's songs, but both leave room for liberties, allowing Toms and Antara to insert an inch of their personalities into the show.

Angry edge

"I wanted a different tone, a little darker, a little edgier [than other productions], which is actually closer to its original roots," says Toms, likening the show's mood to that of a gritty East Village-cum-East Berlin punk club. As for the music, Antara's main influences, after Trask's raw material, were David Bowie, Lou Reed and the New York Dolls, a sound Toms sums up as "dark driving punk that makes you wanna get up out of your seat and dance."

Alongside the comedy, the camp and the celebratory music, Hedwig explores the universal themes of injustice, identity and love. Despite its dark elements - Hedwig's botched sex-change and her vengeful obsession with the ex-boyfriend who stole her act - the show's message is hopeful.

"She's searching for someone to complete her and she makes all these wrong choices along the way, thinking that somebody else is gonna tell her who she is," Toms explains. "Finally, she realizes that you've gotta face your fears and have faith, and you're gonna be left standing alone, yet you're not - God is within you, and that person you're looking for is right inside your soul."

With 21 shows under his belt, including sold-out performances in Montreal last summer, Toms is more than ready for the next round of Hedwig.

"I've been acting for years, but this part is a true gift to anybody who gets a chance to play it. It's bliss."

Hedwig and the Angry Inch, at the Theatre National (1220 Ste-Catherine E.) Dec. 10-11 & 17-18 at 8 p.m., and
Dec. 12 &19 at 3:30 p.m., $20

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