Despite confirmed discussions with film star and former Brat Packer Ally Sheedy to take the title role in the Off-Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the next Hedwig will not be the "Breakfast Club" and "High Art" star. When current Hedwig Michael Cerveris leaves the show Aug. 7, understudy Kevin Cahoon (who already plays one show a week) will take over Aug. 9.

A production spokesperson at the Richard Kornberg press office had no comment on the Sheedy discussions and did not know the length of Cahoon's intended stay in the show.

To date, only male actors have filled the role of the transsexual German American singer Hedwig: the show's creator, John Cameron Mitchell and current star Cerveris, who took over the lead Jan. 4. Nevertheless, a show spokesperson did confirm that the producers had been holding discussions with Sheedy, who starred in such mid-80s teen comedies as "The Breakfast Club" and "St. Elmo's Fire." Her career was long on the down side, however, when the 1998 art film "High Art" brought her back into the public eye. In that movie, Sheedy played a lesbian, drug-addled, has-been photographer.

Hedwig was written by its star, Mitchell (book), and Stephen Trask (music and lyrics). Cerveris plays the title singer, an obscure and tortured transsexual rock singer, who tells her darkly comic story while ostensibly performing a concert. The Angry Inch, her back-up band, is Trask's rock combo Cheater, a staple at such downtown New York clubs as CBGB's and Mercury Lounge. The musical has been playing at the Jane Street Theatre since Feb. 14, 1998. For tickets call (212) 239-6200.

-- By David Lefkowitz
& Robert Simonson