Chris French as Hedwig. Photo by Will Abner.

Many people I know have been urged to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch at one point or another with this endorsement: “You’ll like it, it’s like Rocky Horror!” With all respect to the cult classic, it’s just not a fair comparison. Sure you’ve got the rock opera score, some sexually-explicit lyrics, gender-bending themes and glam costumes. But to label Hedwig a campfest is to sell her short – this is a show with real soul.

The off-kilter story was made into a well-received indie film awhile back, but works much better in the milieu of live performance. It features the victim of a botched sex-change operation (hence the “inch” in question) who’s touring tiny venues throughout the country (D.C.’s Warehouse proves the ideal stand-in), performing right next door to an ex-lover. The ex, Tommy Gnosis, is filling arenas (like, say, the Verizon Center) as a successful rock star – trouble is, he totally stole all of Hedwig’s material to do it. Along the way we learn about the pair’s improbable love story and Hedwig’s fascinating, disturbing bio as well.

The show is propelled by the swelling rock chords and inescapable lyrics of Stephen Trask – it’s one of those musicals that follows the viewer out of the theater and keeps tugging away at the mind. Some songs are notable for their little snippets of poignancy : “The fates are vicious and they’re cruel/You’ve learned too late you’ve used two wishes like a fool,” Hedwig croons at one point to the lost adolescent Tommy. Most prove wholly satisfying as stand-alone songs, whether they be storytelling ballads or sensitive, tortured anthems. “The Origin of Love” takes a Greek myth and transforms it into an entirely modern quest for a soul mate. “Wig In The Box” might be musical theater’s most convincing ode to escaping into a manufactured identity.