We're thrilled to welcome Nicolette Montana to Stageworks! You can see Nicolette on stage this month as Yitzhak in Hedwig and the Angry Inch!
Hedwig and the Angry Inch opens on Thursday, October 19th for 6 shows only! Get your tickets for Hedwig and the Angry Inch tickets today!
Nicolette Montana (she/they) is pumped to be making their debut with Stageworks Houston. Regional Credits: Columbus Children’s Theatre, Available Light, CATCO, The Contemporary, Dayton TheatreLab, Seattle Fringe Festival, The Fisher Ensemble. Favorite roles other than Yitzhak: Jenny/Edna (MR. BURNS, A POST ELECTRIC PLAY), Olivia (SEX WITH STRANGERS), Leeann (A PIECE OF MY HEART), and Christmas Eve (AVENUE Q). Thank you, Rygu, for everything - most especially our friendship. Matthew: I am so lucky. You light up my life. Always have; always will.
Welcome to Stageworks! How long have you been performing and what have been some of your favorite roles?
Other than Yitzhak, Alice in Alice in Wonderland is a favorite role - 7th grade & baby's first play. Jenny/Edna in Mr. Burns, A Post Electric Play, and Olivia in Sex with Strangers are additional faves. Tell us about your character in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Yitzhak is the band's roadie and Hedwig's husband. He is the ultimate scapegoat for misdirected aggressions and misplaced agony coming down from the dynamics at play in Hedwig's relationship with Tommy & everything Tommy represents.
Yitzhak is a survivor. He's a natural showman with a ginormous capacity to love. He is broken, consumed, and he is also a fighter.
How are you like/not like your character?
The original conceit for Yitzhak was a cis male character played by a cis female to provide another layer in the "annihilation of gender concepts" while supplying a female vocal range for the intended harmonies (https://youtu.be/QZmQlz--qcs?si=B53hwP9XGEIBAfT9). I am a cis female playing a cis male, so there is that difference. I am gender non-conforming and feel powerfully grounded in drag, so there's some overlap and essential understanding.
Why is it important to do Hedwig today?
I think Hedwig, especially with its queer punk rock roots, provides an opportunity to sit with the scary discomforts of cognitive dissonance, and then, through its brilliant structuring, we can come out the other side individually whole, collectively empowered. I think it's crucial to embrace experiences that exercise and access the parts of our humanity that think, connect, and love beyond the binary, the status quo, and a scarcity mindset.
What is going to be unique about this specific production of Hedwig?
This is the third time I'm playing Yitzhak to Matthew's Hedwig. There were distinctions in the second production vs the first, naturally, because we were both older with more life experience. Another thing that comes to mind-- the unique qualities between those two productions that were informed by the differences in performance spaces. I can't yet specify what will be unique about this production...but I'm excited to find out! And because the audience is such an integral part of every performance, each moment from one night to the next is truly unique!
When you’re not onstage, how do you spend your time?
I like reading non-fiction, bubble baths, listening to podcasts or music, going to the movies, Earthing, and spending time with my cats, Junior and Percy. I also like doing nothing and eating snacks, not necessarily at the same time.
