Trivia for
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) More at IMDbPro »

• The original stage version played Off-Broadway at the Jane Street Theatre for over two years.
  
  
• The date that Hedwig and Tommy are arrested for the accident is shown on the arrest photo as 8-13-01, exactly 40 years after the Berlin wall was erected.
  
  
• The footage of Hedwig on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" (1996) was shot when "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" was just an off-Broadway musical as a promotion for the show. When Rosie O'Donnell holds up the Hedwig CD, it is a copy of the original Broadway cast recording.
  
  
• During the "Wig in the Box" song, when Hedwig picks up the photo of herself as a young boy off a book, the books title can be seen as "Edge of Awareness".
  
  
• Maggie Moore - who played the women singing Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" - played the role of Yitzak in the stage version of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" after Miriam Shor left the role.
  
  
• Hedwig's cape in the title sequence mimics the Berlin wall, complete with "Yankees go home" graffiti on Hedwig's right side and "With me" on Hedwig's left side.
  
  
• During one scene, Yitzak comes in wearing a chef's hat with Hebrew letters on it. The letters spell Chef in Hebrew which is pronounced and means the same in Hebrew as in English.
  
  
• Mike Potter, who did Hedwig's hair and makeup for both the stage production and the movie, can be seen in drag in the scene where Tommy picks Hedwig up off the street, as the second call girl leaning against the wall. He was given the drag name "Renatta Options Options" by John Cameron Mitchell.
  
  
• The story depicted in the song "Origin of Love" is from Plato's "Symposium," in which Aristophanes gives a speech about love being a product of the need to reunite with one's other half after being split into two, as punishment for conspiring to usurp the gods of Olympus.
  
  
• The Bilgewaters chain of restaurants that Hedwig and The Angry Inch perform at are decorated with graphics of the sinking of the Titanic. The original off-Broadway production of HEDWIG started in the ballroom of a hotel that gave shelter to the surviving crew of the Titanic in 1912.
  
  
• Yitzhak is seen wearing a "Rent" sweatshirt and later decides to audition for the role of Angel in Rent (2005). In real life, John Cameron Mitchell was originally offered the role of Angel but had to turn it down as he was doing "Hedwig".
  
  
• Unlike most musical films the films musical segments are only partly filmed on playback. John Cameron Mitchell didn't want to have to lip-sync the lines in the music so the band playing was recorded in studio, played back on set and sang live. His vocals were recorded and then mixed later on with the recording of the band, making it sound like they too were performing live. However, on the soundtrack, the vocals were mixed to sound as if they were recorded in a studio as opposed to on set.
  
  
• John Cameron Mitchell was required to wear so much makeup for such long periods of time, that after his daily lunch break, he'd go to his trailer, shave off his growing five o'clock shadow (through the makeup), then go have his makeup touched up and return to shooting.
  
  
• The "Hedwig" logo (as seen on the bass drum head, as well as the poster and video cover) is based on that of percussion instrument manufacturer Ludwig.
  
  
• The aqua and peach track jacket worn by Hedwig's make-up man, Mike, in the call girl in the alley scene shows up several times throughout the film as an inside joke.
  
  
• In the montage of Hedwig giving Tommy his 'rock education', Tommy is seen wearing a 'Hotel Riverview' T-shirt. The Hotel Riverview, NY, was the home of the original stage show for several years.
  
  
• In the scene where Hedwig walks in on Yitzhak wearing her wig, the song on the television in the background is "Random Number Generation", one of the songs from the original stage show.
  
  
• Stephen Trask, who wrote the songs and score for the film, also provides the singing voice for Tommy.
  
  
• Cameo: [John Cameron Mitchell] Keep your ears open when Tommy is being mobbed by reporters after his car accident. Mitchell is the voice of the reporter shouting, "Tommy, what's your relationship to Hedwig Robinson?"
  
  

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