Neil Patrick Harris in Hedwig and the Angry Inch
(©Joan Marcus)

The colorful title character of Hedwig and the Angry Inch can be described as many things, but loveable is not usually one of them. That is, until now. Starring in the new Broadway production of John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s award-winning musical about the East German transgender lead singer of a rock and roll band is none other than Neil Patrick Harris. Late of the hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother and beloved on the Rialto for his virtuosic hosting of the Tony Awards, this multi-talented performer is indeed a Hedwig you’d want to bring home to meet your mother.

For those of you who’ve somehow missed both its 1998 hit off-Broadway production and the 2001 film version directed by and starring Mitchell, the show takes the form of a rock concert performed by Hedwig and his hard-driving rock band, the name of which refers to a botched sex change operation which left him with, well, you know.

Originally presented in the seedy ballroom of the then run-down Jane Street Hotel, the show has been given an expensive facelift for this first Broadway outing flashily directed by Michael Mayer. Julian Crouch’s elaborate set design amusingly recreates the bombed-out environs of an Iraqi city, complete with the wreckage of a car. The joke is that Hedwig and his band—led by his cross-dressing lover Yitzhak, here ironically played by Lena Hall, wearing men’s clothing-- are performing on the set of Hurt Locker: The Musical, which has recently opened and closed in one night. Fake programs for that fictitious production, which doesn’t seem all that unthinkable in this era of endless musicals adapted from movies, are littered throughout the theater.

Making a spectacular entrance by being slowly lowered onto the stage from the rafters, Harris’ Hedwig has the audience in the palm of his hand from the first moment to last. In between singing the numbers of Trask’s glam-rock influenced score, he delivers a running monologue detailing his tortured past, including his ill-fated relationship with a rock star who happens to be giving a concert in nearby Times Square. Periodically opening a door at the rear of the stage so he can hear the screams of the crowd, his pained expression speaks volumes.

He also delivers a brief history of the Belasco Theatre and makes a plug for his new fragrance, dubbed “Atrocity.”

“We’re not quite sure about the catchphrase yet,” he explains.

Harris works the crowd like a master, spontaneously riffing improvisations and giving the patrons in the front rows an uncomfortably up close and personal experience by, among other things, thrusting his crotch in their faces and even licking a hapless audience member’s bald head. He leads the audience on a sing-along for one song, instructing us to “follow the bouncing balls” which, as the accompanying projection demonstrates, is meant quite literally.

Making a dazzlingly quick costume change from the hood of the car and donning a series of increasingly outlandish wigs, Harris doesn’t quite mine the darker aspects of his character in the way that such predecessors in the role as Mitchell and Michael Cerveris did. He’s so inherently likeable that the evening inevitably takes on the air of a celebration, which is not exactly the intention. But the upside is that Hedwig is far more funny and entertaining than ever before. It’s a pleasure to have him back.

Belasco Theatre, 111 W. 44th St. 212-239-6200. www.Telecharge.com. Through Aug. 17.