The pairing of Yoko Ono and Yo La Tengo leads the all-star list of contributors to Wig in a Box: Songs From "Hedwig and the Angry Inch", a charity collection of covers from the movie due in October from Off Records. Other contributors include Rufus Wainwright, the Breeders, Cyndi Lauper, Jonathan Richman, the pairing of Sleater-Kinney and the B-52s' Fred Schneider, and the trio of Ben Kweller, Ben Folds and Ben Lee (performing as "the Bens"). More artists are expected to participate.

The Sleater-Kinney/Fred Schneider collaboration is a direct extension of Hedwig co-creator Stephen Trask's original vision. "When I wrote the spoken section of 'Angry Inch,' I didn't just envision Fred Schneider," Trask says, "I did an imitation of his voice and spoke those lines out loud. That was part of my writing process, pretending to be Fred Schneider. And when I wrote 'Exquisite Corpse,' I was specifically attempting to write a Sleater-Kinney song."

Proceeds from the disc will benefit the Hetrick Martin Institute in New York, home to the Harvey Milk High School for gay, lesbian and transgender students. "Over the course of any year, more than one third of all gay kids report being physically harassed," says Trask. "That can mean being beaten to a bloody pulp or being shoved inside a locker for twenty-four hours. That's why you need to have Harvey Milk . . . It's all gay, lesbian and transgendered kids, and it's an accredited program that can deliver a diploma."

Trask and Hedwig co-creator John Cameron Mitchell are working on two new songs, "The Water Song" and "U.F.O's," for the collection. "I would call them alterna-rock ballads," says Trask. "I mean that in the Pavement/Elliott Smith way, not in the 'Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated' way."

Wig in a Box began as the brainchild of Off Records' Chris Slusarenko. "I really loved the movie and play so much, I thought it would be nice to hear people pay tribute back to the album and the show," he says. "We wanted to find a like-minded cause, something that mirrored the optimistic and positive scope of the project. To have those guys working on new Hedwig numbers is really amazing. They're creating a whole other history outside of the show."

Director Katherine Linton is filming that history as part of a documentary tentatively titled Hedwig: Follow My Voice. "The idea is to follow five or six kids from the Harvey Milk School, and interweave their real life stories with the music and the lyrics of the recording," she says. "The kids' own stories are filled with identity issues, longing for love and trying to find their other half. We're using the music to underscore that."

Wig in a Box's completed tracks:

Rufus Wainwright, "Origin of Love"
Sleater-Kinney and Fred Schneider, "Angry Inch"
Ben Folds, Ben Kweller and Ben Lee, "Wicked Little Town (Tommy Version)"
Yoko Ono and Yo La Tengo, "Hedwig's Lament/Exquisite Corpse"
They Might Be Giants, "The Long Grift"
The Breeders, "Wicked Little Town (Hedwig Version)"
Jonathan Richman, "Origin of Love (Reprise)"
Cyndi Lauper, "Midnight Radio"
Bob Mould, "Nailed"

COLIN DEVENISH
(March 31, 2003)