Island Fantasy

Directed and choreographed by Nancy Schaeffer (whose husband, Karl, plays the leader of the mice), with original music by Randolph Tallman, The Island of the Skog is everything professional children's theater should be. It's funny, colorful and even a little scary ("Mommy, next time the Skog comes out, cover my eyes for me," said a little girl near me).

Funny, colorful and scary-beautiful describes Hedwig and the Angry Inch, such a hit at Kitchen Dog Theater that it's getting two weeks added to its run. A second visit to the musical finds that it's louder and better than on opening night. Actor Joey Steakley has relaxed into the title role of the lonely transgender East German rocker playing her last concert. His singing voice has taken on a dark Joplin-esque growl, and he's playing off the crowd boldly and directly (if your cell phone dares to ring during the show, get your mommy to cover your eyes). His way with the jokes is sharper, too, and there are several good new jokes added since opening night. Laurie McNair, playing Yitzhak, Hedwig's "husband," also has grown into her role, tearing up the song "The Long Grift" with goose-bumpy intensity.

Best of all, the audience for Hedwig is filled with young faces, some of them pierced like pincushions and several of them made up in sparkly Hedwig drag under towering white wigs. This show is drawing sell-out crowds of kids who wouldn't dream of wasting a night out on a Hamlet or Pajama Game. They scream at Steakley like he's a rock star, and they loiter nervously around the stage door afterward to get his autograph on their programs. Now that's something you never see at local theaters.

Other theater companies should heed what's happening over at Kitchen Dog. Heat up those stages with more shows like Hedwig and put some of that Shakespeare on ice.