2003-08-05 - 12:03 a.m. - theater-theater: I love Wade McCollum!

I think I shall call this the weekend of the arts. I’ve attended two plays, written two poems and went attended my biweekly dinner/poetry reading. One poem was my rap (see previous entry) and the other was my assignment from our last poetry gathering. I’ll type it up on a separate entry, but I want to first talk about the plays.

On Sat. night I attended "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" for the second time this year – the fourth time total. I had an extra ticket left over from the June performance my friends and I attended, and when I checked on ticket availability for the end of the run, I found out they were selling out. Fortunately they were able to fit me in for the last performance, but I had to go by myself. I brought a newspaper to read while I waited in line, but fortunately I didn’t need it as I met a wonderful couple who had seen it multiple times as well. The woman even shared half of her Krispy Crème donut with me – it was quite tasty, but I still don’t know why people wait in line for over five hours just to buy some. A shop opened up in Portland last week and another one is opening in Beaverton within a couple of months. They’re good but I’m not quite sure what the hub-bub is all about.

Back to Hedwig. The show was fabulous (yet again!) At one point when Hedwig puts on a fur coat, he jokes that he could be an owl and starts flapping his wings like he’s flying. He says, "that J.K. Rowling stole my name. I could deliver letters. That owl probably makes more money than I do!" It was just too funny. Then at one point when Hedwig is introducing his band, he states that his guitar player doesn’t speak much English – he only knows this one line that Hedwig taught him. Hedwig then calls up the guitarist’s girlfriend who was in the audience, and the guitarist says (with a fake German accent), "would you be my wife", as he presents her a ring. The girl was shocked, and Hedwig asks, "and your answer is?" With tears in her eyes, she said "yes". Everyone was clapping and hooting and hollering. Wow – what a surprise. Then they went right back into the show.

I had sat with my new friends whom I met in line and hung out with them afterwards as we waited for Wade McCollum – the star of the show, to come out. It’s amazing how much smaller he appeared when he wasn’t in costume and on stage. As Hedwig, he’s larger than life. And the character of Hedwig is so sexual despite having had a botched-up sex operation that made him neither man nor woman.

My friends gave Wade a jar of pickled baby corn – it’s a line in the play where Hedwig goes on and on about baby corn. I gave him a package of Gummy bears - (I’ll be your sugar mama, Hedwig!!) Yeah, I know – most people give stars of the show roses, but not us! Regardless, Wade was appreciative of the gifts. We told him how he was really "on" tonight, but he said for him, on the inside, it was his worst show. He had some really close friends who were sitting up close on these chairs that were brought in and placed right in front of the stage. He said when he’d look out into the audience he couldn’t help but see them and it was hard for him to stay focused as Hedwig since they know him so well as Wade. Well, from the perspective from an audience member, you certainly couldn’t tell he was having an internal struggle. It was interesting, though, to hear his viewoint.

Someone had asked Wade about the tattoo he has on his back and he told a really interesting story. I don’t remember what he called his tattoo – it’s a symbol of something that is carved in rocks and despite the weathering of these rocks, the engraving is still there since it was so deeply etched in. I looked it up on-line, and I think it has something to do with Ogham – an early form of Celtic writing. He said when the woman at the tattoo place was etching his tattoo, she almost passed out twice. She said she had to go outside to get some air. When she returned, she asked what on earth she was drawing on his back. He explained it to her and so she took a deep breath to ground herself and was able to finish the artwork. I thought that was such a wild story – so much mystery in this world!!!!

Wade has also written a rock musical called, "One" which is loosely based on the story of Siddartha but set in modern times. He wrote the story, lyrics, music (along with a collaborator), directs and stars in this play. It was playing for the fourth time on Sunday night. I just had to go because I was really curious to see Wade in another role. There was a wait list for tickets, but I had them put my name on the list and decided I would take my chances. Once again I went to the theater with some reading material that I didn’t end up reading. This time, I ran into a couple of friends of mine as I waited in line to see if I’d get in. Well, I got in and really enjoyed the show. It starts out with the lead character, Sid Arthur, and his friend, Grover, dropping out of school to join a peace movement. Sid’s moms (yes – he has two lesbian moms) try to talk him out of it (well, one of them does, but the other is more encouraging), but he says he can’t be caged in but has to find himself. The play goes on to show the explorations of Sid’s self-reflection. Some scenes are dreams and other scenes made me wonder if they were dreams or reality. I didn’t know if I was awake or sleeping. The way I explained it is that it was like an alarm clock for my soul and I needed to wake up and smell the lotus!

My only criticisms were: 1) it was too long - about 2.75 hours – a little too long for what it had to say, and 2) this one scene which was thought-provoking, was troublesome in terms of the transition from the previous scene – it just didn’t work for me or make sense. They had a 20 minute post-performance gathering to give the cast feedback. I didn’t get a chance to speak during the gathering so I emailed them what were the highlights for me and what didn’t work for me.

The actor who played Grover was interesting; I believe he is a transgender individual. I’m pretty sure the person had been born a she and now identified herself as a he. And the funny thing is that I was attracted to him and wondered what it would be like to be his lover. Wow – where does that place me on the sexual orientation spectrum?? I don’t know, but I do love Wade McCollum - he's got more talent in his little pinky than Hedwig has sparkles in his glittery eye-liner and lipstick!

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