“And the winner in the category for “Lead Actress In A Musical” goes to Miss Lena Hall for “Hedwig And The Angry Inch”!!!! (applause are thunderous) I am so excited to be putting this post up on the PiercingKen.com site because one of the things that I love doing with this blog is to showcase the talented people that I have had the pleasure of meeting during the course of my adventuring. Such was the case with singer/actress Lena Hall who I met when she was fronting a Retro-Rock sensation called “Cocaine The Band”. The music was awesome and the bands individual persona were very well thought out. I greatly enjoyed what this was presenting.
When “Cocaine The Band” ended Lena joined forces with like-minded musicians and began to rock the socks with “The Deafening”. Their sound was more of a straightforward, hit you hard in the jaw Heavy Rock. They have some kick ass tunes and Lena has a great stage presence which I can attest to since I have attended a few of their shows in the past. It was by watching this band that I learned just how loud Lena could belt out a tune. I shot a couple of videos of the band in concert a couple of years ago and I will add them at the end of this little toast.
I should point out that the talented actress was recently a part of the smash hit “Kinky Boots” (which won a Tony Award last year) but then signed onto the cast of “Hedwig & The Angry Inch” which stars Neil Patrick Harris as the main character Hedwig and Lena as his direct lead Yitzack. The play has been receiving rave reviews and I could not have been happier for Miss Hall considering just how talented I viewed her as being. When I learned that she was a nominee for a Tony Award this feeling was multiplied. This all brings us to last nights broadcast of the Tony Awards where Lena’s nomination led to a win, and it was her very first award as well. Thanks to the benefits of the DVR I was able to rewind the announcement and snap a few choice images with the trusty Panasonic Lumix. Enjoy.
Lena’s acceptance speech was terrific. She thanked her Broadway Company of players, her sister for doing her hair and even managed to send shout outs to her BF and band. She is clearly the type of person who appreciates all of the support that she has been given and it was so cool to see this taking place. This kind of happening makes me wish I was that level of photographer and was on point snapping images of the event as it took place. Maybe someday.
You can order the Original Broadway Cast Recording that Lena appears on with NPH with the handy link that I have placed below. I know I am ordering a copy of this.
As promised here are a couple of clips of “The Deafening” which I shot back in 2011 when they were playing The Studio at Webster Hall. Pardon the sound, its not easy to get a super clean presentation in this space with such a little camera. Enjoy.