Hedwig Sequel Put on Hold; Composer Stephen Trask Reveals Plans for New Project 15 Minutes

Hedwig may have to wait a little longer for another show of her own. The sequel that Hedwig and the Angry Inch composer Stephen Trask and book writer John Cameron Mitchell teased earlier this year at the Tonys has been put on hold. In a recent interview with PopMatters, Trask discussed the complications with the Hedwig follow-up, as well as some details of another project, on which he is collaborating with Jersey Boys book writer Rick Elice and Hedwig drummer Peter Yanowitz.

The new piece, currently titled 15 Minutes, will be set in the New York club scene in the 1970s. “It’s a really exciting and creative and interesting project that starts off set in Studio 54 but ends up downtown at the Mudd Club,” Trask explains. The project had been on hold due to rights issues and to Hedwig’s Broadway debut, but Ellis and Trask are now moving forward.

On June 8 at the 2014 Tony Awards, the writing team revealed that they were penning a “much weirder” sequel to the now Tony-winning musical, based around the concept: “I don’t have any time left.” It had first been reported in 2012 that the two were at work on a Hedwig follow-up.

Directed by Michael Mayer, Hedwig and the Angry Inch tells the story of a fictional rock ‘n’ roll band, fronted by Hedwig, a transgender woman from communist East Berlin. Between rock songs, Hedwig regales the audience with both humorous and painful stories about her life, including her botched sex change operation. Andrew Rannells assumes the role of Hedwig at the Belasco Theatre on August 20, taking over for Tony winner Neil Patrick Harris.