Photography by Joan Marcus
Is a black male sex symbol in lipstick, heels, and a wig that big a deal? Yup.
Taye Diggs is the first black actor to portray the fictional East German transgender rock star on Broadway, but he's not just any black actor. He is — as author the New York Times's James Hannaham reminds us — the man Ebony dubbed Diggs in 2005 the "black Clark Gable."
Diggs may be the quintessential nice guy, but Hedwig is giving him a chance to finally show 'em what Taye Diggs is made of — besides his quite obvious attributes.
"This is me telling myself, 'O.K., bitch, put your money where your mouth is. You’ve been telling agents and your best friends' — I told Idina — 'I want a chance to show everybody everything. I can dance and I can sing, and everybody knows I can act.' "
Casting Taye Diggs kind of gives the show back some of its street cred. And that's sort of the point, says Hedwig co-creator, Stephen Trask:
"The whole point of many of the songs and much of the subject matter of the show was to break down the walls between different categories that we perceive as being opposites, like male and female or straight and gay."
Catch Taye Diggs in this limited Broadway enagagement this summer. For tickets and more information, visit HedwigonBroadway.com
Peter Yanowitz (drums), Tim Mislock (guitar), Rebecca Naomi Jones Yitzhak, Matt Duncan (bass), and Justin Craig (guitar, music director).
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