“Miss Saigon brought me back home to my roots of musical theatre,” says Moore, who trained at WAAPA. “There’s not that many roles out for me, so I had to make my own.”

In Hedwig, Moore sees themselves. “Before Miss Saigon and the legit musical theatre that I just did for the past year, I was a struggling independent artist doing pop gigs in drag bars and dive bars – an exact similarity with Hedwig,” Moore says. “For someone that looks like me to lead Hedwig, it’s never been done … That is a beautiful motherf---ing thing.”

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Born in the Philippines, Moore grew up with performance – they remember their titas (aunties) singing Whitney Houston, Celine Dion and Mariah Carey. As a child, they learnt flute and piano, and tease that the instruments might make an appearance in this show – the possibilities are more boundless than they’ve ever been.

“No one has really seen me in this space – I’ve been an independent artist, but now to have all this fabulous budget and bling, bling, bling behind me is going to be everything I’ve worked for,” they say.

Once a young queer Asian boy who didn’t see a place for themselves in the world of performance, Moore is now leading the way. “I wouldn’t have dreamt it,” they say of their career. “To have this chance is for the community and for everyone that looks like us … To continue to wave the rainbow flag super high, and serve you big Slaysian energy in occupying Hedwig and the Angry Inch, it’s going to be charged with such celebration of being who you are. That’s my purpose as an artist.”

Beyond Hedwig, the future is bright and full of possibility. Moore adopts what they call a “Cardi B mentality”: “You gotta do it all!”

Hedwig and the Angry Inch will be staged as part of the Adelaide Festival from February 18 to March 15, 2025, with Melbourne and Sydney dates to be announced.

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