Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a off-Broadway musical/play (1998) and movie (2001) about a fictional rock band. The text was written by John Cameron Mitchell and the music and lyrics were by Stephen Trask. It has become something of a cult hit. It draws on the androgynous glam rock era of David Bowie, as well as influences from Iggy Pop and the later gender bender fashions of the early 1980s. It also draws on aspects of Greek mythology as well as the New York transsexual culture.

The plot revolves around Hedwig, a transsexual rock star, leader of the band called The Angry Inch. In the story, Hedwig, a German cross-dresser, decides to go "all the way" and have gender reassignment surgery, but the operation is botched leaving her with a dysfunctional one-inch long penis. This disfigurement and disability fuels her anger and frustration, which she finds an outlet for with her band. The Angry Inch refers to both the band and her genitalia. Initially, she is plucked from her native Germany by her sugar daddy, a US Marine, and goes to live in America as his wife. There, she befriends the shy and misunderstood teenager Tommy Gnosis, with whom she shares some of the songs she has written. Tommy goes on to become a huge star singing these songs, while Hedwig and her band are forced to play diners and sleazy bars to make ends meet. Hedwig resents Tommy's success and plagiarism of her material, and sets out to ruin him.