June 18, 2013 | Arts / Entertainment

Neil Patrick Harris to star in 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch'

Neil Patrick Harris has played a teenaged doctor in Doogie Howser, MD, a drugged up version of himself in the Harold and Kumar movies, and a womanizer in How I Met Your Mother. His next big role: a transgendered songstress in the 2014 production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

"I am simultaneously ecstatic and terrified to be stepping into Hedwig's heels," Harris said in a statement. "It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime role and I can't wait to begin the journey."

Hedwig was first produced in 1998 by John Cameron Mitchell - who wrote the show and starred in both the stage and film versions - and won several awards. Mitchell approved of Harris' casting for the role.

"Who better to pass the wig to but the finest entertainer of his generation?" Mitchell said.

Composer Stephen Trask added, "It's like you're putting together a fantasy rock band and Paul McCartney agrees to play bass."

Harris has already worked on Broadway in Assassins and in the New York Philharmonic production of Company.

Of course, if Harris is every suffering from a few angry inches in real life, I'll help calm them down!