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A Hairy Mess

The poignancy of the iconic musical Hair is lost after decades of removal from the turbulent 1960s.
An Advocate.com exclusive posted August 8, 2008
A Hairy Mess

Aside from the complete works of the Beatles and the Motown catalog, there is no more iconic pop music from the 1960s than the original Broadway score of Hair , “the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical.” The opening lines of the show, which quickly spread from the Broadway stage throughout the world thanks to the 5th Dimension’s Top 40 radio hit version, entered the culture so quickly it’s as if we were born knowing them:

When the moon is in the seventh house
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius!

The music of Hair was phenomenal. It was the first and last time in the rock and roll era that a Broadway score would take over the pop charts, yielding four hit singles and a multimillion-selling original-cast album. As theater, Hair was a different story –- not a structured narrative but a “happening”: a naive, amorphous mess of a show that dazzled its way into the audience’s hearts through the sheer charisma of the performers (including two of the creators, Gerome Ragni and James Rado), the shock of seeing beautiful young multicolored bodies briefly naked onstage, and the novelty of seeing youth culture and sociopolitical engagement reflected back from the conservative bastion of the Broadway stage.

Now Hair has been revived in a free production in Central Park by the Public Theater, the same institution that first staged the musical 41 years ago in its pre-Broadway incarnation. The score is still fantastically tuneful. And the audience has a ball –- what’s not to love about a free show full of songs you probably already know by heart? But the performers are not especially charismatic; in the leading roles, Will Swenson as Berger seems to enjoy himself running around in a leather fringed loincloth flashing his beefy butt, but Jonathan Groff, who was scorching as the male star of Spring Awakening , seems bland and a little embarrassed as his sidekick Claude. The spectacle of naked people onstage has long since lost its novelty, if not its power to titillate. And despite the superficial parallels between one unpopular war and another, the hippie-era ethos of “tune in, turn on, drop out” doesn’t speak to the social issues that face young people in 2008. Which leaves Hair, as a theater piece, just a big amorphous mess.

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Reader Comments

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  • Name: anna o.
    Date posted: 2008-09-22 8:09 PM
    Hometown: nyc

    Comment:

    You're completely, positively, utterly wrong. You said that the show has lost it's feeling, but I disagree completely! It was magical, amazing, and I'm obsessed with it, because of the wonderful performance all of the cast put on. Hair's message will never be forgotten or outdated. No matter what time period we are in, peace, love, and happiness is never an outdated value. And you also said that the 2008 community cannot relate to it. I can fully, completely, and honestly say that, as a fourteen year old girl who was obvious not alive in the sixties, seventies, or even the eighties, that I can most definitely relate to the problems and issues in Hair better than any other show I have ever seen. And even if I couldn't, the show would remain as breath-taking as it is. I could not be more excited to see Hair on a broadway stage than I am right now, and anyone who disagrees must have been sleeping during the revival in Central Park.


  • Name: Sheela Lambert
    Date posted: 2008-08-14 6:39 PM
    Hometown: New York NY

    Comment:

    I saw Hair at the Delacorte twice recently and the show is magical, beautiful , energetic, spontaneous euphoric... and more bisexual than any play I've ever seen. Rado and Ragni were ahead of their time. I dont think peace, love, freedom, humor environmental concerns or happiness ever get old and neither does great music--the songs really rock! I was dancing in my seat the whole time. The cast is exuberant, adorable, charismatic and hot--they give a great performance. I talked to people there who had seen the show twice...even six times! You can see my profile of James Rado, Hair's cocreator on this website and my positive review of Hair on AfterElton.com


  • Name: john arellano
    Date posted: 2008-08-13 3:18 AM
    Hometown: Paris, France

    Comment:

    I have not seen this Revial of Hair, but that's what it is ..... a REVIVAL. For those of us that were never around to see the original production, this is a good way for us to visualize the show, after hearing the music for several years (I was only 3 years old, and my parents listened to the soundtrack constantly!). It is true that most revivals never capture and retain the same energy and power as the original. The show, which is based on an ideology of Love, Peace, Drugs and No War, and sparked the populus at that time to react and rebel, will never have the same effect today because Americans have become passive while living under a totalitarian president and the youth of today are focused on What Jesus Would Do. But still, that is no excuse to bash the efforts of talented actors. Let us just enjoy the show and feel its energy, and not let a critic sap that Feel Good Vibe from us.


  • Name: Harry Matthews
    Date posted: 2008-08-13 2:40 AM
    Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

    Comment:

    The notion that the original production was conceived and produced as a "commercial" "shopping mall" view of youth culture in the '60s is utter rubbish. This was the first production mounted at the brand new Public Theatre, Joe Papp's effort to change the New York Shakespeare Festival from a producer of classics in the summer to an all-year showcase for new work. The rock score, the loose narrative structure, the candor about sex, drugs, and race -- all were entirely novel. It was performed in a 299-seat arena-style theatre, where audience involvement was natural and unforced. Tickets cost $5. (Really!) The Broadway transfer was never part of the plan; Papp signed away his share of the rights for a pittance. HAIR's success set the precedent for the now common practice of moving shows from non-profit theatres to the main stem.


  • Name: Terry Floyd johnson
    Date posted: 2008-08-12 3:52 PM
    Hometown: Long Beach, CA

    Comment:

    I have not seen this showing of Hair, but the reviewer saying it is old hat, even if you parallel it with what is going on today, makes it antiquish and totally not pertinent to today is totally gibberish. The Hippie movement was and is about love, peace and getting along with each other. Its drive for drugs, to me, was unfortunate, but the Hippie Philosophy of Love, is not only beautiful, but is a valid philosophy, based on thought and emotion of the social publics. It's also an action to do, psychologically, by each individual and by networks of people acting in solidarity, to create transformation in the world. Being naked may be old hat today, but being naked for a purpose of love, ending war, is a statement, and not simply people being nude on stage. Hippies of the 21st Century will continue to live to be free, to love one another and to present the Hippie Symbol of Psychology and Philosophy- the flower to warmongers and power mongers the world over.


  • Name: Paul
    Date posted: 2008-08-09 12:12 AM
    Hometown: New York

    Comment:

    To see the rave review The New York Times gave this wonderful revival, go to their website and click on theatre.


  • Name: Paul
    Date posted: 2008-08-08 12:17 PM
    Hometown: New York

    Comment:

    Please don't allow this strange review keep you from going to see this moving, powerful and brilliant production. I can't imagine what is up with this reviewer, because the audience I was with the other night didn't see the same show. The singer/actors were fantastic, they brought me (a theatre director) and my friends (professional actors) to tears more than once during the show. There were young people there who were enthralled with the show; there were elderly getting excited about a musical! I hope they move this show to Broadway where a wider audience can see how the brilliance of the music, the (very funny and touching) book and the joy of this talented cast, hold up today. Wow! I can't wait to go back. Ignore this and go have a blast.


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