FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   SEPTEMBER 24, 2026

Waterfront Playhouse Presents the Groundbreaking Rock Musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”

John Cameron Mitchell’s Obie Award-winning musical comes to Key West October 14–23, celebrating 25 years of the acclaimed film

KEY WEST, FL —The Waterfront Playhouse brings one of musical theatre’s most unforgettable characters to the stage this October with “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” the groundbreaking rock-and-roll musical by John Cameron Mitchell, with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask.

Directed by Jeremy Zoma and starring Phillip Cole White as Hedwig and Natalie Rankin as Yitzhak, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” runs October 15–23, with a preview performance on October 14 at the Waterfront Playhouse in Mallory Square.

First appearing Off-Broadway in 1998, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” shattered expectations about what a musical could be. Part rock concert, part outrageous comedy, part intimate confession, the show tells the story of Hedwig Robinson, an East German rock singer who has crossed borders, reinvented herself, and endured a botched operation in pursuit of love, identity, and the elusive “origin of love.”

With a score that draws on glam rock, punk, and classic rock, the musical is as musically exhilarating as it is emotionally revealing. Beneath the wigs, glitter, guitars, and outrageous humor lies a deeply human story about longing, heartbreak, identity, and the search to become whole.

“Hedwig and the Angry Inch” won the Obie Award for Best New American Theatre Work and went on to become a cultural phenomenon, inspiring productions around the world and a celebrated 2001 film adaptation directed by Mitchell, who also starred as Hedwig.

This season marks the 25th anniversary of the film version, making the Waterfront Playhouse production a particularly timely opportunity to experience Hedwig where the character has always belonged: live, loud, immediate, and unapologetically theatrical.

At the center of the production is Phillip Cole White as Hedwig, with Natalie Rankin as Yitzhak, Hedwig’s talented but frustrated partner and bandmate. Under the direction of Jeremy Zoma, the Waterfront Playhouse production promises to capture the anarchic energy of a rock concert while preserving the tenderness and humanity at the heart of Mitchell and Trask’s extraordinary creation.

“Hedwig and the Angry Inch” is not simply a musical you watch. It is a musical you experience—with the volume turned up.Location: Waterfront Playhouse, Mallory Square, Key West

Tickets and additional information are available through the Waterfront Playhouse 

box office and website.

Media Contact:

Patrick New 

305-394-7445
Waterfront Playhouse