Following speculation, it's been confirmed that stage and screen star Taye Diggs will take over for Darren Criss in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Diggs will assume the role of our favorite internationally ignored song stylist at Broadway’s Belasco Theatre on July 22 for a 12-week engagement. In addition to Criss, the show currently stars Rebecca Naomi Jones, who will continue in the role of Yitzhak.
Hedwig will mark Diggs’ return to Broadway after nearly 12 years, when he briefly played the role of Fiyero in Wicked opposite his wife at the time Idina Menzel (the two separated in 2013). He has appeared in Rent and Chicago (he also appeared in the screen adaptations of both), as well as Carousel and off-Broadway’s The Wild Party. His screen credits include Private Practice, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, The Best Man and Brown Sugar. He is currently in production for the second season of Steven Bochco’s crime drama Murder in the First.
Written by 2015 Tony honoree John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask, 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 stories about her life, including her botched sex change operation. Trask’s score features “Tear Me Down,” “Wig in a Box,” “Wicked Little Town,” "The Origin of Love" and “Angry Inch.” Michael Mayer directs the Tony-winning production.