“I sprang from the womb fully formed in a blonde wig and go-go boots,” says David Colbert, who brings his acclaimed interpretation of Hedwig and the Angry Inch for a second year as a benefit for Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS. This fully costumed and staged event will be presented at newly rennovated Player's Theater at 115 MacDougal Street in the heart of the West Village. Tickets to this eagerly anticipated one night only event can be purchased by going to the BC/EFA website www.broadwaycares.org

To be fair, the go-go boots quote was an off-hand response to a question about his childhood, and, much like East German émigré who becomes a rural Kansas housewife, Colbert knows about small-town life. “I grew up in a very small town in North Carolina. My father was a Marine and our town was close to a military base,” the performer says. “My mother was a music teacher and church organist.”

This musically straitlaced background led Colbert to Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory of Music, which led to a spot in a professional opera chorus in Pisa, Italy. “I only studied classically because I wasn’t allowed anything else. It wasn’t until I left home that I really discovered the freedom of other styles.”

While in Italy, Colbert also performed in a punk band, excellent preparation for this breakthrough role.

Showcasing His Talent

Colbert has been playing Hedwig (off-and-on) for four years now in cities like Milwaukee, Wilmington, DE, and Philadelphia, where he was based for awhile.

“The first time I performed this role, I produced the show myself,” admits Colbert, then a struggling performer looking for a break. “I was living in Philadelphia and working as an opera-singing waiter and singing with Peter Nero and the Philadelphia Pops,” but sizable theatre roles proved hard to come by. “Every time I auditioned, I would get (repeated) call backs for the non-speaking, walk-on singing role, like “Teen Angel” in Grease.”

After hearing the Hedwig soundtrack at a party, “I fell in love with the score, and thought, I want to do this show…to show that I can do this show,” he says. “Before I performed the role for the first time, I hadn’t seen theplay or the movie, only heard the music.”

The Joys of Intimacy

Although he admits “Hedwig has pretty much been the main thing for me the past couple of years,” Colbert has found time to appear in regional productions of Hair and Cabaret.

In addition, he continues to pursue his love of performing solo. “Cabaret (the art form, not the musical) is just another way to perform for me. I like the lack of a fourth wall and the intimate audience,” says the singer, who’s performed New York and throughout the Northeast – at Don’t Tell Mama, Helen’s, Swing 46, and at Odette’s in New Hope, PA among other venues – as well as overseas.

Bringing a Universal Message Back to New York

The annual Broadway Cares Hedwig Hallowe'en benefit was the result of “a few phone calls and a lot of incredible people volunteering their time, space and equipment,” Colbert says. “Since I kept doing this production over and over, I thought it would be nice to do it once up here where I live.” Colbert's instincts paid off last when last year's benefit played to a completely sold out house

While touring with the show, Colbert says he’s been pleasantly surprised by the universal appeal of John Cameron Mitchell’s sometimes shocking musical.

“When we (performed in) Wilmington, we had several matinees in a very conservative town,” he remembers. “All of the sudden I was performing for middle-aged bankers and retirees. Many of them were immediately on the defensive when the show started, but almost every single one was waving there hands in the air by the end of the show. It was a terrific feeling to have little old ladies come up to me at the end of the show that recognize the story of love and self-acceptance. Under all the glitter, saran-wrap and tomatoes, the message is truly universal.”