--- title: Andrew Rannells Will Replace Neil Patrick Harris in Hedwig and the Angry Inch description: The "Book of Mormon" star will attempt to fill the "How I Met Your Mother" actor's giant platform shoes starting Aug.17 canonical: https://time.com/2867044/andrew-rannells-neil-patrick-harris-broadway-hedwig-and-the-angry-inch/ author: Alexis Hauk article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-12T22:11:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:23:55.420Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Andrew Rannells Will Replace Neil Patrick Harris in Hedwig and the Angry Inch og:description: The "Book of Mormon" star will attempt to fill the "How I Met Your Mother" actor's giant platform shoes starting Aug.17 og:url: https://time.com/2867044/andrew-rannells-neil-patrick-harris-broadway-hedwig-and-the-angry-inch/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc845ab7faac1f701/6986977aadae441fa7543adc/andrew-rannells-actor-hedwig.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Andrew Rannells og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Andrew Rannells Will Replace Neil Patrick Harris in Hedwig and the Angry Inch twitter:description: The "Book of Mormon" star will attempt to fill the "How I Met Your Mother" actor's giant platform shoes starting Aug.17 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc845ab7faac1f701/6986977aadae441fa7543adc/andrew-rannells-actor-hedwig.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Andrew Rannells Will Replace Neil Patrick Harris in Broadway's _Hedwig and the Angry Inch_ by [Alexis Hauk](/author/alexis-hauk/) ## Alexis Hauk Jun 12, 2014 10:11 PM CUT  Andrew Rannells attends the "Violet" Opening Night at American Airlines Theatre on April 20, 2014 in New York City. Andrew Rannells attends the "Violet" Opening Night at American Airlines Theatre on April 20, 2014 in New York City.Chance Yeh—Getty Images by [Alexis Hauk](/author/alexis-hauk/) ## Alexis Hauk Jun 12, 2014 10:11 PM CUT Broadway megahit _Hedwig and the Angry Inch_ has announced that Tony nominee and _Book of Mormon_ star Andrew Rannells will take over as its title character, [Entertainment Weekly](http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/06/12/andrew-rannells-neil-patrick-harris-hedwig-broadway/ "undefined") reported Thursday that Rannells will replace current star Neil Patrick Harris as the transgender singer from East Berlin whose onstage persona flits from risqué to funny to poignant in the much-acclaimed revival of the John Cameron Mitchell/Stephen Trask-penned tale. The former Doogie Howser M.D. puts his wig [back on the shelf](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuItUNFw07g "undefined") on Aug. 17. Rannells already has plenty of Broadway clout, having earned a Tony nomination as Elder Price in 2011’s _Book of Mormon_. But he’s probably best known at this point for his recurring role on HBO’s _Girls_, as the snarky gay friend/roommate/ex-boyfriend of Lena Dunham. John Cameron Mitchell, who originated the role of Hedwig, was also a recurring character on _Girls_. This also won’t be Rannells’ first time occupying Hedwig’s skyscraper-high heels, EW reported. The actor previously played Hedwig in a 2001 production in Austin, Tex. the same year the movie version won the Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival. So don’t try and tear him down. _Hedwig_ took home Tony Awards Sunday for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Actor for Harris, and Best Featured Actress (Lena Hall). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2867044/andrew-rannells-neil-patrick-harris-broadway-hedwig-and-the-angry-inch/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2867044/andrew-rannells-neil-patrick-harris-broadway-hedwig-and-the-angry-inch/"},"headline":"Andrew Rannells Will Replace Neil Patrick Harris in Broadway's Hedwig and the Angry Inch","datePublished":"2014-06-12T22:11:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:23:55.420Z","description":"The \"Book of Mormon\" star will attempt to fill the \"How I Met Your Mother\" actor's giant platform shoes starting Aug.17","url":"https://time.com/2867044/andrew-rannells-neil-patrick-harris-broadway-hedwig-and-the-angry-inch/","keywords":["Theater"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc845ab7faac1f701/6986977aadae441fa7543adc/andrew-rannells-actor-hedwig.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexis Hauk","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexis-hauk/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc845ab7faac1f701/6986977aadae441fa7543adc/andrew-rannells-actor-hedwig.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Andrew Rannells","caption":"Andrew Rannells","creditText":"Chance Yeh—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2867044/andrew-rannells-neil-patrick-harris-broadway-hedwig-and-the-angry-inch/","name":"Andrew Rannells Will Replace Neil Patrick Harris in Broadway's Hedwig and the Angry Inch"}}]}] ```