Broadway revival of Hair

[washu2002]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 9:16am

Will there ever be one?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 9:21am

Only if they are ever able to completely rewrite the book to make it comprehensible to modern day audiences. When ENCORES and REPRISE did HAIR in the same season, they were rumoured to be combined for somekind of Broadway transfer - but it didn't happen. The show needs a real visionary director to work as a theatre piece opposed to a concert.

[joshy]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 12:24pm

The recent London revival at the tiny Gate Theatre was stunning. It was updated to be about the Iraq war. It was really affecting, it got great reviews and there was lots of talk of a transfer but nothing materialised.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 12:29pm

I saw the original as well as the overlooked film, which was a gem. In today's world, people don't need to be worried about being forced (drafted) into military service as they did back then. I'm not sure if the show would have the same impact for today's audiences because they don't know what it's like to have that threat hovering over you when you turn 18.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 12:53pm

There was a Broadway revival in the 1980s, which shuttered after just a few performances, and the film -- which I think is marvelous -- was not a financial success. I think the best way for it to be revived IS in concert form, a la ENCORES and REPRISE.

[fiyero8132]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 1:10pm

Can you imagine having to perform that nude scene? It's awkward to be naked in front of your colleagues, let alone an audiences of a thousand plus people. How weird.... I saw the national tour in Minneapolis a couple of years ago and my question is how do the guys stay... well you know!

[sabrelady]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 1:21pm

We have a production running in Toronto now. I will be posting a review hopefully this wkend. Final analysis -Problematic and flawed but still the music connects.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 1:25pm

The Hair nude scene is nothing as far as nude scenes go -- it's typically dimly lit, behind a scrim and lasts less than a minute. Compare it to Take Me Out or Love Valour Compassion or Equus where the nudity is well lit and goes on for 5 minutes or more.

I agree that the only way to revive this show would be in concert form. Get a smart and imaginative director and a cast of great singers and it might fly. But for god sakes, toss out that book.

[DAME]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 1:27pm

Isaw the revival out here in Los Angeles at UCLA. The nude scene was spectacular. I went twice. Rick Negron. YUM!

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 1:30pm

Who's going to the NYU production? The cast has to shave their heads! If you said you wouldn't do it, you didn't get called back.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 2:16pm

Now, I think the show can work as a book musical Margo, but the book would have to be strengthened and given a more clearcut character/plot driven story.

Clearly the show is a period piece now, though apparently James Rado is obsessed with trying to make the show relevent to modern audiences by constatly attempting to update it. It will never work again on that level.

But if they went back to the original Off Broadway script, for starters and fleshed out the characters wants/needs/fears it could be a powerful story about characters torn between the cause of the hippie movement and their obligation as the youth of 1960s America.

[fiyero8132]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 2:42pm

Hmmm... Margo, when I saw the national tour the nude scene was not behind a scrim. It was not dimly lit either. The lights were rather vibrant. The cast stood in a line at the edge of the stage, somewhat reminiscent of the 'Seasons Of Love' number in Rent, while actor playing Claude sang 'Where Do I Go?'. The people at the front of the orchestra section got an eyeful...

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 2:47pm

From the descriptions I've read of the original staging - the actors went behind some kind of canvas drop cloth and took off their clothes and during the final "Freedom" of "Where do I Go" - the clop was dropped and the cast was revealed fully naked. They weren't behind a scrim. In fact there the theatre had been completely stripped to the back wall and celiling. They didn't use fly space at all.

Supposedly on Broadway the actual nudity was dimly lit and lasted about 5 seconds.
Updated On: 5/5/06 at 02:47 PM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 2:47pm

The nude scene was done behind a scrim in the original production, though I haven't ever seen it done like that.

I was involved in a production, and they just stood in a line upstage (on a very small stage in an intimate space), and the lighting was dimmER, but not dim.

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 2:54pm

James Rado worked closely with the production which is currently running in Toronto, in fact, he was there the night I saw it. I'm not sure what he did to 'update' it, if anything, it didn't seem at all 'modernized' to me, from what I know of the story.

There was nudity in the opening scene and again, in the usual, scene which closes Act I. There was definitely no scrim, the lights were in no way dimmed, and the entire cast was there in all their respective glory.

The show has some flaws, which may possibly be inherent, not sure, but it is a very enjoyable evening of theatre, and a talented cast. The audiences have been loving it, with most shows running at 100% attendance, which is predicted for the entire three month run.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 2:58pm

Munk' did you whip it out?

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 3:08pm

The nudity in HAIR has also always been non-obligatory too if I am not mistaken. I've done nudity on stage several times and In all honesty after you get through the first time doing it on stage it is very easy to do. Don't get me wrong, I have no desire to do OH!CALCUTTA! but I have no problem flashing the goods on stage.

[Kringas]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 4:33pm

I've done Hair twice and the nude scene was no big deal. It was non-obligatory when we did it. Some of us did it every night, others varied from night to night whether of not they'd completely drop trou. It wasn't the first or the last time I appeared nude onstage, but it was certainly the most un-self-conscious nudity I've done.

People who go into Hair for the nude scene are really missing the point. I always believed the nudity was in effect saying, "We've got something so important to say that we're going to stand here naked if that's what it takes to get you to listen."

[sabrelady]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 7:48pm

There were some issues w the Toronto production. The original director left (no reason I know of) and supposedly Rado was not happy w the final version tho again I don't know if he wanted more, ( there was additional dialog, scenes, and songs) or less.One of the Tribe was actually dressed as an Indian warrior (Apache) but looked more like an escapee from the Village People.

I always felt that the nude scene was emotionally appropriate, humanity naked , vunerable, asking for direction.

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 7:55pm

when Theater Under the Stars did it a couple of years ago it was simply PHENOMENAL. it was the most amazing show i've ever seen (i've seen 30+ broadway shows as well)

the cast was talented, the book was the original- and it only felt somewhat dated- but i didn't notice it until after the show. I loved every minute of it.

For the nude scene, there was a huge flowing white sheet and the cast emerged from it- completly nude while Claude sung downstage center with a spot on him. You could see the cast in all of their beautiful glory but no details since there was light shinning from behind them.

oh my gosh- i could go on and on and on about how amazing that production was.

[Lamc16]

Posted: 5/5/06 at 9:08pm

I was thinking about this just the other day, and I came to the conclusion that you cannot revise this because it is such a product of its time. I really wouldn't care to see it if it were re-written and re-worked. It's kind of untouchable.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 9:13am

A lot of what was added in the TO production was really unneccessary. An occ reference to clarify the real seriousness of burning your draft card was ok. But so many other odd things were done. The Tribe "conjures" a missing Claude who descends doing Cirque de Soleil type rolls in a harness. Jennie sings a song cld "Claude is My Acid" REEALY didn't work. The actress playing Sheila sang "Abie Baby". Three Five Zero Zero was now titled "Ripped Open By Metal Explosion". And one of my fav moments "What a Piece of Work is Man" was moved into the action of the War sequence instead of being this quiet almost Simon & Garfunkel contemplative commentary on the mayhem.
Updated On: 5/6/06 at 09:13 AM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 4:05pm

what's the significance of the nude scene? just shock value? And why would a college make their students shave thier heads, especially the girls? I mean these kids aren't professionals yet, many of them might have summer jobs, etc. That's stupid.

[blaxx]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 4:29pm

If they're on the road to be professionals, they better start doing it now.
No one is making them, it is their choice if they want to try for this specific production of the musical or not.
Nudity onstage goes way beyond shock value, it makes a powerful and strong statement, especially in Hair - they are not strippers, it is strong and one of the most celebratory numbers.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 4:29pm

Yeah the hair shaving in a show called "Hair" is just odd.