John Cameron Mitchell Says 'Hedwig' Sequel in Progress, Will Reprise Role in Provincetown

Kevin Sessums had coffee with John Cameron Mitchell this week who told him all about the sequel he's working on to Hedwig and The Angry Inch. He's also going to reprise his role on September 16th at a special performance at this year's Afterglow Festival in Provincetown, Massachusetts. And now Kevin's teasing us on his Tumblr:

He then went on to tell me in detail the narrative of the sequel for which Hedwig's original composer Stephen Trask will write the music once more. There was such sweet excitement in his voice as he told me scene after scene, much like the sweetness and excitement he first had when so many years ago we sat in another coffee shop and he shyly admitted he was writing the role of a transgendered rock'n'roller so he could play it himself."

Adds Sessums:

I'll never forget the night I first saw him perform Hedwig in one of those first performances of the show at the theatre at Westbeth. I had never seen that side of John. Hell, I'd never even seen him with a wig on. But he was able to combine his innate sweetness with Hedwig's hellacious swagger to create one of the most original theatrical characters I had ever seen. He bowled me over and broke my heart all at the same time. His brilliance that night still burns in my memory.

As for the sequel? Let's just say it's something that could only happen to Hedwig - a phantasmagoria with dollops of brutal reality interwoven into its multi-media narrative.

Said Mitchell about the new Hedwig plot: "We spend so much of our early lives trying to figure out who we really are. And we spend the rest of our lives preparing ourselves to let it go."

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Movies: "Waking Sleeping Beauty" and The Return of Hedwig

NATHANIEL ROGERS
...would live in the movie theater but for the poor internet reception. He blogs daily at the Film Experience.

YOUR FEATURE PRESENTATION
Though it might be hard for anyone under about 30 to contextualize, Disney was once in very real danger of losing its entertainment superpowers. You couldn't catch teenagers at animated films unless they were forced to go and the theme parks were essentially going the museum route, merely living off of past glories. WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY, a dizzying study of a tumultuous decade in the life of Disney animation investigates how the studio went from its sleepwalking nadir (The Black Cauldron, 1985) to its joyous rebirth (The Little Mermaid, 1989) and world domination (The Lion King, 1994). 

This story is the stuff of showbiz legend. The film has super-powered egos battling for control (Jeffrey Katzenberg vs. Michael Eisner) unassuming but formidable heirs to a family throne (Roy Disney) and it's peppered with cameos from showbiz giants (Tim Burton appears in his gangly youth as an intern!). Waking Sleeping Beauty benefits enormously from its insider feel. The director Don Hahn shares abundant home movies shot on the job which lends the documentary an authentic you-are-there vibe. The clip heavy nature indicates that Disney gave it their blessing but for a film that's decidedly pro-Disney, there's a surprising amount of candor about their fumbles .

The most enjoyable and emotional section in the movie is undoubtedly the period from 1988-1991 when the late lyricist Howard Ashman (pictured below) arrives, spreading fairy dust on the animated film again. A "we can't believe this is happening!" giddiness settles over the animation department. 'They can fly, they can fly, they can fly.'

Continued AFTER THE JUMP...