It’s a very different world today than the one in which “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” burst onto the Off-Broadway scene in 1998. This critic was tits-deep in queer theory and Judith Butler’s ideas about gender identity formation as a wide-eyed undergraduate, and mainstream culture wasn’t in any way ready for a rock musical/cabaret featuring a heart-broken, foul-mouthed, East German, gender fluid rock star who suffered from botched sex reassignment surgery. But the theater world was — as it always is for a brilliant character with righteous dramatic flair.

One of the most beautiful aspects about live theater is its ability to take people back to a moment in their own lives, a memory that’s ingrained in their brain from long ago or an event that recently happened. With the Wharton Center’s season opener, Come From Away, most members of the audience will probably have at least one memory or two of the event at the center of the musical: 9/11.

The Barn Theatre has a way of playing to its strengths, which turns out to be all kinds of things, from big sweeping musicals to off-color farces to classic dramas to rock operas to family friendly comedies and beyond. They’ve offered much of that this year in their 73rd summer stock season, but to bring this excellent season to a close they’re offering something completely different—that yet also plays to their strengths as comedians, character actors, as well as phenomenal singers and dancers.

A preview of exhibitions and events coming to West Michigan museums in the near future.