Hair Reviews- Page 4

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 7:00pm

There's a whole archive of HAIR photos and memorabilia here:

http://www.orlok.com/hair/holding/photographs/hair/HairPhotoIndex.html

Unless you have a while to spend clicking every link--which you might want to do, because it's a pretty cool archive--it's kind of hard to navigate. I happened to click this particular link just now, and I think these photos in offer a good snapshot of the original Broadway production:

http://www.orlok.com/hair/holding/photographs/hair/PhotosSatEvPost8-10-68.html

There are only four images there, but the first one gives you a good idea of some of the blocking, and I think the third one, of the "Supremes", gives you a good idea of the production's sense of fun (at the end of "White Boys" the three singers all parted to reveal that their three sequined dresses were, in fact, one piece). The fourth one, of Claude being tarred and feathered for "Colored Spade", shows you how far they went to illustrate some of the things they were singing about.

You can read a really fascinating analysis of the show, along with a great description of how the original production was staged, here:

http://www.michaelbutler.com/hair/holding/articles/HairArticles/scottmiller.html

Again, it's long, but well worth reading if you have the time.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 8:33pm

More Opening night photos from BWW:
https://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=30919



Interesting facts : 1969 Tony Awards New musical nominees:

1776 : Book by Peter Stone, music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards
(winner)

Hair : Book by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, music by Galt MacDermot, lyrics by James Rado.

Promises, Promises : Book by Neil Simon, music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David.

Zorba : Book by Joseph Stein, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb.




Updated On: 8/8/08 at 08:33 PM

Posted: 8/8/08 at 11:12pm

thanks for the photos! :)

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 9:11pm

Jeremy McCarter at New York Magazine is Very Positive:

...In deciding to revive a show that so explicitly reflects those darkening days, the Public has given itself a stiff challenge. Anyone staging Hair needs to get the lighthearted stuff in Gerome Ragni and James Rado’s script across without letting the evening feel like a Gap ad—and with a cast as young and attractive and frequently photographed as this one, that danger is omnipresent. You also have to resist the temptation to bang the audience over the head with the show’s relevance to the Age of Cheney: “Let the Sunshine In,” which sounds like a rock anthem but is actually a musical distress signal, a tortured cry for help, could have been written with Mr. Undisclosed Location in mind. More broadly, director Diane Paulus must have wondered if the whole thing could end up looking ridiculous, an artifact from a time when people, like, cared about stuff.

When you’re sitting there in the Delacorte, it’s hard to miss some fits and starts and stumbles. Poor Will Swenson, the handsome, talented actor playing Berger, the show’s emcee, has to sell a fringed loincloth costume, very East Village Navajo. Simulated sex might have looked risqué in 1967; now it’s just faintly embarrassing to watch everybody fake-humping all over the Astroturf stage. The show’s hero, the doomed, soon-to-be-Vietnam-fodder Claude, goes on a long, long acid trip that consumes much of Act Two and most of your patience (self-absorption being another sixties legacy encoded in this show).

Looking back on them now, though, the evening’s problems don’t seem like such a big deal. The reasons all derive from a simple general truth: Hair isn’t a musical that’s meant to be seen and heard like other musicals; it’s meant to be experienced. The Delacorte turns out to be perfectly suited to the energy of this latter-day Happening, and energy turns out to be the show’s great saving grace. “I got life!” sings Claude as, behind him, the other actors jump up and down with their arms in the air and shout “Life!” half a dozen times. Who could resist this?...

http://nymag.com/arts/theater/reviews/49107/

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 9:22pm

So, for anyone too lazy to go over the whole thread to see each review, here's a roundup:

The New York Times from Ben Brantley is a Rave
The Associated Press is Very Positive
Variety is a Rave
AM New York is a Rave (4 Stars out of 4)
Journal News is a Rave
The New York Daily News is Positive (3 1/2 Stars out of 5)
New York Magazine is Very Positive
The New York Observer is a Rave
The New York Post is Very Positive (3 1/2 Stars out of 4)
The New York Sun is Very Positive
The Newark Star-Ledger is Very Positive
Newsday is Very Positive
NY1 is a Rave
Bloomberg.com is Mixed
Talkin' Broadway is Negative
TheaterMania is a Rave

[Ole Chum]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 11:27pm

all i heard from those who have seen it were raves for caren lyn manuel and tons of trashtalking re: groff.

and the critics were the exact opposite. everyone was really tough on caren- this girl is undoubtedly on of the most talented women i have ever seen live on stage... wonder when shell get recognition she deserves.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 11:59pm

I really don't understand the critic's love of Groff (but then I didn't like him in Spring Awakening either). He can sing alright but it's the other stuff, oh yeah acting that, for me he seems to have a problem with. But he isn't the first critic's darling that I don't understand. Perhaps he finally grasped what he is supposed to be doing on stage. Perhaps the character of Claude reached across the book and banged it into his head.
I thought Carel Lyn Manuel was perfect in her role she was Shiela the college Hippy activist... Go figure.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 12:29am

I saw this on Tuesday. Really loved it. ALL of it. Beautifully staged; the music sounded fabulous.

I loved about 95% of Groff...there were a few awkward line deliveries, but mostly spot on, I thought.

I liked the entire cast to be honest with you. I thought it was quite the experience.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 7:26am

Interesting observation on Caren and Groff...I noticed the same thing. Personally, I thought they were both terrific--however, when I read through some of the reviews I did think the critics were a little too easy on Groff. The criticisms of Caren, I think, were mostly fair (I loved how she played Sheila but did think "Easy to be Hard" should have had more emotion)...I think it's just after reading so many similar reviews in a row that it seems as if the critics are overly harsh on her.

I have no doubt she'll use the criticisms to grow into her role even more. I've seen her in Rent as an ensemble member, as Maureen, and as a very last-minute Mimi, and each time she was a completely different person because she knew she needed to be. A lot of actors out there can't do that as well as she can.