Zac Morgan is exhausted.
On an average day, he’ll spend hours at his job before heading to rehearsals in the evening at Yorkdale Central School. As the lead character and director, he’ll run a scene and adjust it as he goes, starting and stopping when he notices a blemish or imperfection.
After working on the show for several months now, Morgan has blocked out the entire play, so his rehearsals now consist of running through the complete, 100-minute runtime of the piece. On top of everything, his play is a musical, so he has a lot of dialogue, songs, and choreography to juggle in his mind.
When he’s not rehearsing or working, Morgan is promoting the play, looking for musicians, or researching one of a dozen other things. “Free time” is a pretty foreign concept for him at this point.
“I’m single-handedly working myself and this show to the bone,” he said.
It’s an intense, break-neck schedule, but for Morgan, who’s dreamed about doing this show since 2015, it’s more than worth the time committment and energy.
“I need to do this show,” he said. “When you have a lot of passion for something, you put everything into it.”
Morgan is staging “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” at the Anne Portnuff Theatre on February 14 and 16. Morgan discovered the musical three years ago and became enamored with it as he learned more about it.
“I found myself relating more and more to this character that I just fell in love with it,” he said.
“Hedwig and the Angry Inch” tells the story of Hedwig Schmidt, a brash rock ‘n’ roll star from East Germany who struggles through life after a botched sex-change operation. The show is structured like a concert, as Hedwig sings to and talks with her audience.
Morgan related to the pain Hedwig suffers in the play, since he’s endured heartbreak and health scares. One year ago, Morgan underwent surgery for a kidney transplant. He’d been struggling with a kidney disease for months. Right before his surgery, Morgan listened to “Tear Me Down,” the opening song from the play.
“I can embody this character and feel all the pain that they have gone through,” Morgan said.
After his surgery, Morgan set out to get the play onstage. He booked the Anne Portnuff Theatre, secured grants, and started rehearsing.
“Getting it off the ground was pure initiative on my end,” he said. “[Having] the will not to give up.”
Morgan stars as Hedwig in the play. He’s joined by Hillarie Pacholko, who plays Hedwig’s husband, Yitzhak.
“[I’m] pretty entralled to be a part of the show,” she said. “[Performing is] what I love to do.”
Morgan will spend the entirety of the play onstage with no intermission or break. He said his relationship with the crowd is crucial for maintaining his stamina.
“I feed off the audience,” he said. “You can see their faces and interact with them.
“As long as you keep your energy up, the audience will [do the same].”
Morgan said that, at its core, “Hedwig” is a love story, which makes it perfect for Valentine’s Day.
“It’s the search for Hedwig’s other half,” he said. “You can feel the love connections she’s trying to make.”
“[It’s] about finding out who you are,” Pacholko said. “I think people will walk out of the show feeling a bit inspired.”
Morgan is excited to finally bring “Hedwig” to the stage, but he’s a little uncertain what he’ll do with his free time once the show’s over.
“I’m going to have to pick up a new hobby,” he said.
Admission to the show is $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Tickets can be purchased at www.angryinch.ca.
