Riverdale Meets Hedwig and the Angry Inch in “Wicked Little Town” Preview

The CW has released a preview for “Chapter Seventy-Four: Wicked Little Town”, the upcoming seventeenth episode of Riverdale‘s fourth season. The installment will be the show’s third-annual musical episode, after previously putting on productions of Carrie: The Musical and Heathers: The Musical in Seasons 2 and 3. This time around, the beloved The CW series will be taking on Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the musical and later film that has been an integral part of queer culture since 1998. Given the show’s proclivity for twists, it actually won’t be around a standard musical but will involve the ensemble putting on a controversial variety show.

“Musical episodes have become a yearly tradition on Riverdale, but this year, we wanted to try something different,” series creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa said in a statement. “When we heard that Stephen Trask was a fan of Riverdale, we thought—is there a way we can do ‘Hedwig’ and still have it tie into the stories we’re telling? Doing a deep dive, we figured out a cool way to use classic songs like ‘Wicked Little Town’ and ‘Midnight Radio’ that made total sense and are just amazing and iconic. And bonus, ‘Hedwig’ is literally Cole’s favorite musical!”

Given how things shook out in the previous musical episodes – with Carrie ending with the gruesome death of Midge Klump (Emilija Baranac), and Heathers secretly being an operation to help The Farm indoctrinate new followers, it’s pretty safe to assume that something will go wrong with this newest installment.

You can check out the synopsis for “Chapter Seventy-Four: Wicked Little Town” below!

“After the previous debacles of “Carrie” and “Heathers,” Kevin Keller has decided to revive Riverdale High’s tradition of hosting a Variety Show! But when Mr. Honey forbids him from performing a number from “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” Kevin and our gang rallies against their principal—by each performing a number from “Hedwig,” turning the Variety Show into a full-fledged musical that, as always, reflects our characters’ inner lives and struggles. And amidst all the drama, one forbidden “showmance” begins to blossom…”

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW. “Chapter Seventy-Four: Wicked Little Town” will air on April 8th.