photos + story / Bri Ng Schwartz
I climb three flights of stairs backstage at Broadway’s Lyceum Theater, the home of Cole Escola’s Oh! Mary. I catch my breath as I approach a pastel pink room at the end of a long hallway, the dressing room of John Cameron Mitchell. Mitchell is the current Mary Todd, Escola’s grotesquely comedic picture of the elusive first lady to Abraham Lincoln. As I settle into the dressing room of my dreams, John reveals that the stunning space was designed by comedian Amy Sedaris for Cole Escola at the start of the Broadway run. Coincidentally, Mitchell ran into Sedaris on his walk over to the theater.
“I told her, ‘I’ve been adding a few things to your dressing room.” Mitchell points behind me to sets of candles on the wall. “I put up these candles and that flower lamp. There’s a drawing of Lincoln getting shot up on the wall.” We reflect on ghosts of green rooms and dressing rooms past, where he shares tales of green room hookups from his younger days on TV and having unconventional theatre dressing rooms. “I was an understudy for the Huckleberry Finn musical in the 80s. It was such a big cast that the understudies had nowhere to be. They had no dressing rooms. So we hung out in the Chinese restaurant next door and the bar, which made me think, ‘oh, understudy means drunk.”
We talk more about the unique quirks of the Lyceum and performing in the old Broadway theaters over the years.
“I like these theaters. I like how old they are. This is the oldest theater still working on Broadway, and they’re kind of falling apart. Look at the carpets. They’re nasty, but we love it. We love how much has happened here. We love all the shows that have been through here. And you just try to come and soak that up for the show itself.”
I look down at the carpet, and back up into the large vanity. I was transported into the mind of me at 11 when I decided I wanted to pursue theater as a career, and dreamed of a dressing room like this. Looking back at Mitchell, preparing a cup of tea, I am transported to the Belasco Theater only a few blocks away, where I saw the Broadway revival of Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch at 17, months before I would move to Chicago to pursue a BFA in theater.
I flash forward 3 years to an afternoon in a grimy Chicago tattoo shop getting a tattoo of artwork from Hedwig and the Angry Inch’s beloved power ballad “Origin Of Love.” I had seen the touring production of the show at Broadway in Chicago the night before, and I was, once again, feeling so moved by the musical that I had to have a piece of it on my body. The tattoo, poorly placed on my wrist, faded after a year, and I would eventually cover it up when I moved to New York. I debate sharing this fact with Mitchell, as I don’t know if it will make the case for me as a fan or be seen as an insult, having covered up imagery from what I believe is one of the best love songs ever written.
As I bashfully flash my wrist to Mitchell, we get into a discussion about the times I have seen Hedwig, and actors who have played her over the years, including past Mary Todds like Jinkx Monsoon and London’s Mary, Mason Alexander Park. The end of Mitchell’s time as Mary Todd coincides with the 25th Anniversary of the film version of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I ask Mitchell what he thinks Hedwig would make of Mary Todd, and vice versa, seeing if he will indulge me in the fan fiction of my dreams.
“I think they would see each other as sisters, but also perhaps rivals. You have your friend who’s loud and crazy, and you’re like, “Oh, you’ve got to meet my other loud and crazy friend.” But that never works out, does it? Because they want a low-key friend. They don’t want the same thing. But Hedwig and Mary have a lot in common. They’ve been forced into obscurity by society, by a number of closet cases. Both of them are deviled by closet cases. They both want to be seen. They both want to perform, and they both, in the end, create space in order to do that.”
I couldn’t help but think of Hedwig as I watched Mitchell front and center that evening, slaying Mary Todd’s physical comedy and vulgar line delivery. The connection between Mary’s cabaret aspirations and Mitchell’s rich history on the stage is surreal to see as the play progresses, especially during Mary’s cabaret moment at the end of the play. We’re graced with vocal performances of songs like Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana” and “She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain When She Comes”. Mitchell as Mary Todd is head to toe as a vision in white and silver glitter, singing along with only a piano to accompany.
That’s when it hit me: I am watching one of the greats in his natural habitat, and I am so lucky to be here.
I looked up at my wrist, holding onto a subway pole on my way home. I see the “Origin of Love” iconography peaking through my newer line work. It is a stark reminder that Hedwig, and the work of John Cameron Mitchell, lives in my body as a theater artist, music lover, and a forever angsty teenage girl. I am still pinching myself after spending time in that iconic pink dressing room with one of my heroes.
As John Cameron Mitchell puts one wig on the shelf, another gets put back on his head. You can catch him as Mary Todd in Oh! Mary until April 26, and then on the road for the 25th Anniversary of the Hedwig and the Angry Inch film.
CONNECT WITH JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL
INSTAGRAM // HEDWIG 25