Film star and former Brat Packer Ally Sheedy will assume the title role in the Off-Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Sept. 13, confirmed a show spokesman. It is not known how long she will stay with the role.

Sheedy will be the first female to play the part of the tortured German transsexual rocker. To date, only male actors have filled the role: the show's creator John Cameron Mitchell and current star Michael Cerveris. Cerveris. When Cerveris leaves the show Aug. 7, understudy Kevin Cahoon (who already plays one show a week) will take over Aug. 9.

Sheedy 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 lesbian, drug-addled has-been photographer.

Hedwig was written by its star, Mitchell (book), and 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 Robert Simonson