Hair (musical)
Encyclopedia : H : HA : HAI : Hair (musical)
Contents
History
Hair was written by James Rado and Gerome Ragni (book and lyrics), and Galt MacDermot (music). It premiered off-Broadway, with much fanfare, as the inaugural performance of the Public Theater, on October 17, 1967. It then ran for 45 performances at The Cheetah, an old discotheque at 45th Street and Broadway, before moving to the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway on April 29 1968 where it stayed for 1,873 performances. The West Coast version played at the Aquarius Theatre on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. A fateful Mexican production opened in 1968 for one performance. The show was shut down by the government and the cast members were forced to leave Mexico or else they would be arrested. It opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London on September 27 1968, continuing for 1,998 performances until closure was forced by the roof collapsing in July 1973. Hair also went on to stage productions across the world and continues to be performed today.The Broadway cast album won a Grammy Award in 1969.
A movie version of Hair was directed by Miloš Forman and released in 1979 with a cast including Treat Williams, Beverly D'Angelo and John Savage.
Hair was rather quiet until the early 1990's. A hit production opened in Australia in 1992 with a new sound for the old songs. A big revival opened at the Old Vic in London in 1993. The show, starring John Barrowman and Paul Hipp and featuring a revised libretto, failed. One production member was quoted as saying "The cast was a group of Thatcher's children who didn't understand it". In 1995, another revised script was published. The next large revival would be in 2001, in Vienna. It was radically updated and subsequently successful.
It came tenth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals" (wherein "Nation" refers to the United Kingdom). [link]
James Rado give his blessing to an updating of the musical's script to place it in the context of the 2003 Gulf War instead of the Vietnam War. The new show opened at the Gate Theatre, London in September 2005. [link] However, as of 2005, Rado no longer supports this updating (despite excellent reviews and a sell out run at the Gate) due to reports from former cast members who saw the show that it was not true to the essence of HAIR as they saw it; when Rado saw the show in action, he felt he agreed. (Source: Conversation with Rado by editor)
Amateur and college productions continue world wide.
Political and cultural significance
The show challenged many of the norms held by Western society at the time. It caused controversy when it was first staged, and much publicity was provoked by the Act I finale which included male and female nudity. This became a legal issue when the show left New York on tour. Stage nudity was acceptable in New York at that time but was unknown elsewhere in the U.S. The show was also charged with the desecration of the American flag and the use of obscene language. The case eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court. The show also effectively marked the end of stage censorship in the United Kingdom.Plot
Stage
The musical follows "The Tribe", a group of politically-active, long-haired "Hippies of the Age of Aquarius" fighting against conscription to the Vietnam War. Among them are Claude and Berger; a pair of friends battling against Claude's draft notice, and Sheila, who is in love with both of them, but her politically-active lifestyle leaves her little time to act on her feelings. Together with Jeanie, Woof, Crissy, Hud, and Dionne, among others, they epitomize the hippy days of the late Sixties. Ultimately, Claude and Berger lose the battle, as Claude decides that the tribe life isn't for him and goes to Vietnam.Movie
Claude is divided between his loyalty to the tribe and the pressure he feels to conform to his draft notice. In the end, Claude reports for boot camp. When Sheila receives a letter from Claude, the tribe decides to go to Nevada and visit him. When they arrive the base is under lock down and Berger sneaks in to take Claude's place so Claude can see Sheila and the tribe one more time. Unexpectedly, Claude's unit gets sent to Vietnam before Claude comes back, and Berger goes to Vietnam in his place, where he is killed.Players
- The original New York "tribe" (i.e., cast) included James Rado, Gerome Ragni, Shelley Plimpton, Kim Milford, Melba Moore, Paul Jabara, and Diane Keaton (in a minor role). Keaton did not appear nude in the musical's first act finale.
- The Los Angeles tribe included James Rado, Gerome Ragni, Ted Neeley, Ben Vereen, Dolores Hall, Jobriath Salisbury, Jennifer Warren (Warnes), Doby Gray, Susan Morse, Abigail Haines, Willie Weatherly, and Jerry Combs.
- The original London tribe included Sonja Kristina, Paul Nicholas, Richard O'Brien, Melba Moore, Elaine Paige, Tim Curry, Marsha Hunt, and Alex Harvey.
- The original Sydney tribe included Marcia Hines, Sharon Redd, Reg Livermore, Keith Glass and John Waters. The Melbourne tribe included Chuck McKinney and Michael Caton.
- The original Berlin tribe included Donna Summer.
- A special benefit performance of the show was performed at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York City on September 20, 2004. The tribe included: Shoshana Bean, JM J. Bullock, Liz Callaway, Gavin Creel, Harvey Fierstein, Ana Gasteyer, Annie Golden, Jennifer Hudson, Jai Rodriguez, RuPaul, Michael McKean, and others.
Songlists
Original Off-Broadway Songlist
ACT ONE
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ACT TWO
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Initial Broadway Songlist
ACT ONE
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ACT TWO
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Broadway Songlist
ACT ONE
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ACT TWO
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(**) denotes songs added in the 1995 revision.
London 1993 Songs
ACT ONE
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ACT TWO
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Albums
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Trivia
- The title and lyrics of the song What a Piece of Work Is Man are from Hamlet (act 2 scene 2).
- The 1970 album DisinHAIRited contains earlier songs cut from the 1968 Broadway production.
- Love. It Comes in All Colors, a 1970 US national advertising campaign used a song from Hair, "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In".
- As of 2005, four songs from 'Hair' had been featured in The Simpsons: Aquarius, Good Morning Starshine, the title song and Easy to be Hard. The songs were featured in this order.
- In the 2005 movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the character Willy Wonka welcomes the children with lyrics from the song Good Morning Starshine
- The final scene in The 40-Year-Old Virgin features the cast dancing to "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In"
- The cast of Head of the Class performs the musical during the series.
- The song "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" was number 33 on the 2004 AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs.
- In "Flesh Failures/Let The Sun Shine", the tribe's underlying lyrics "Eyes, look your last!/ Arms, take your last embrace! And lips, O you/ The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss" are from Romeo and Juliet (V:iii,111-114)
See also
- Hair the movie
References
- Clive Barnes. "Theatre: 'Hair'--It's Fresh and Frank." The New York Times. April 30, 1968. 40.
- Barbara Lee Horn. "The Age of Hair: Evolution and the Impact of Broadway's First Rock Musical" (New York, 1991)
External links
- [Website on Hair from Michael Butler], the musical's original producer
- [Official Hair blog from Michael Butler], the musical's original producer
- [Fansite] with a detailed history of the show
- [Fansite] with lyrics
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