Although this isn't its first run in Seattle, I implore all you rock 'n' roll types to check out our local Hedwig, going on now at Re-bar (where you can grab a drink during the performance, just like at rock shows). Running Thursdays through Saturdays and starting at 8:00 p.m. --so you can even catch another rock show later that same night--the play casts Nick Garrison as Hedwig, the sparkling German diva with a botched crotch. His backing band of "Eastern Block rockers" includes members of a couple different local groups--Downpilot's Paul Hiraga and Ruston Mire's John Hollis, among others, as well as the wicked voice of Bhama Roget, whose petite frame belies her gigantic voice. The star of the show, though, is of course Garrison, a former jazz singer/music student who has been embodying Hedwig in three different cities--San Francisco, Chicago, and Seattle--for the past four years. "This production is more rock-oriented than other productions I've been in," he told me over the phone, after taking a minute to finish shaving his legs. "It's still a theater piece but it's much more about the music. And because of where it is, being in Re-bar and having more of a rock-club feel, it can appeal to [more music] people." If you call yourself a lover of theatrical rock in its myriad forms, Hedwig is a little stack of Sunset Strip dynamite right here in Seattle.
And one quick plug for Live Eye TV. The new cable-access show featuring cool local and national acts alike premiers Wednesday, June 16, at 8:30 p.m. on SCAN TV channels 77 and 29 (www.liveeyetv.org).