The 44-year-old "Best Man" actor will be returning to Broadway this summer in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," the New York Times confirmed.
Diggs will be the first African American to play Hedwig, the transgender East German rocker with a botched sex change, in a limited 12-week engagement starting July 22 at the Belasco Theatre.
"Taye is fantastic. He has theater cred, he has pop culture cred, he can sing, he can act, he can dance, he's smart and he's sexy," David Binder, the lead producer, told the New York Times. "That's why we cast him."
This will be Diggs' first return to the stage since appearing in 2005's off-Broadway production "A Soldier's Play." Diggs made his Broadway debut in 1994's "Carousel," and his stage credits include "Rent," "Chicago," "Wicked" and Andrew Lippa's "The Wild Party."
The "Private Practice" alum will be taking over for "Glee" star Darren Criss, who will play his final performance as Hedwig on July 19. Other actors that have portrayed Hedwig include Andrew Rannells, Michael C. Hall and Neil Patrick Harris, who won a Tony for his performance.
"Hedwig and the Angry Inch" has received four 2014 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival, the Drama Desk Awards, Drama League Awards and Outer Critics Circle Awards. The production is directed by Michael Mayer, written by John Cameron Mitchell and also stars Rebecca Naomi Jones as Yitzhak.
Diggs will headline "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" through Oct. 11.
A photo posted by Taye Diggs (@tayediggsinsta) on May 18, 2015 at 11:06am PDT
