Christopher J. Hanke to take over for Groff in Hair

[i*heart*fame]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 10:59am

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/120062.html

That explains why he has been spotted multiple times at the Delacorte.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 11:00am

Ahh, interesting. I like Hanke.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 11:01am

Hanke was in the audience last night...I enjoyed Groff's performance though. Now I guess I'll have to see it again with Hanke.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 11:22am

At this point, I will pay the Public any amount of money it takes to buy out Groff's contract and put Hanke in for the rest of the run. Groff is just not getting into the material or delivering a believable performance...at this point, ANYONE could do better than him.

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 11:42am

I can't see him in the role but who knows stranger things have happened.

[Dancin Thru Life]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 11:45am

Interesting that Groff won't even make it to opening night!

Sound slike Hanke's first perofrmance will be the "official" opening night of the show - How cool for him!

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 11:47am

Um... No Hanke is taking over the 17th not the 7th

Updated On: 8/4/08 at 11:47 AM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 11:48am

yeah the 17th was the original CLOSING night, not the opening.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 12:13pm

"Due to scheduling conflicts for a forthcoming film, Groff is unable to remain with the production through its Aug. 31 extension."

This is a classic example of "death by wig". Had that wig not made him look like a woman, he would have turned in a competent performance.

Other performances cut short from "death by wig": Ruth Williamson in "The Music Man".

[dannilupone]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 12:29pm

I wish I hadn't seen it yet, Groff was just awful. Well the whole show fell at the mediocre level of theater anyways, but Groff stuck out from the pack as the worst of the fake hippies.

[winter_sky]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 1:06pm

Oh snap, I'm so amped. He is going to be fantastic and looks closer to the age of the rest of the cast.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 1:11pm

I saw the show again last night and I seriously have to say that although still wrong for the role Groff is better then two weeks ago. Seems the has stopped the inane pointing at the audience and someone told him he has to actually act while singing! Better, but still not right!
Swenson still rules the show with strong support from the other featured cast members. Far from being mediocre, this show has the potential to shine through. I have never seen an audience so pumped up leaving the theatre in a long time!

edited for typo

Updated On: 8/4/08 at 01:11 PM

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 1:39pm

Groff 'stuck out from the pack.'

That's the point. Claude really isn't a hippie, and his heart isn't in it. That's why he doesn't burn his draft card. He's conflicted. That's why he sings 'Where Do I Go?' That's why he doesn't stay with the hippies & goes to Vietnam.

If you don't like Groff's acting or singing, that's one thing. But he's playing the role. Claude is wrestling with his conscience, not unlike Hamlet, and it's a tricky part. The night I went, Groff got a great hand when he joined the final bow.

I also wish Hanke good luck and hope to catch him, too.
Updated On: 8/4/08 at 01:39 PM

[EugLoven]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 1:55pm

Well THAT explains why he was feverishly taking-notes from the back-row when I saw HAIR last week! Good for him. He's so damn cute though, can he play grungy? Does he need a hand getting "dirty" ? Haha

[Contributor]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 2:06pm

More tales from the cast:

https://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=30625

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 2:10pm

If they wanted him to stick out from the pack, or at least make it intentional, they should have kept him in short hair ala the film.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 2:18pm

Groff didn't until recently start showing any kind of conflict. Even last night which was a lot better then the first time I saw it, there were signs of some. Miles from where he was two weeks ago.
Mildred, I agree his wig could have been longish, just not as long as it is now. Claude is not a committed Hippy at all!

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 3:47pm

I get back home to NY on the 18th. I was happy enough being able to see the show with the extension. While I would've liked to have seen Groff, I think Hanke is a better singer and should be great in the part. I'm very much looking forward to it.

[burnsy]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 3:55pm

Groff sure has some die-hard fans on this board.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 3:56pm

I find it funny too that some one would refer to the cast as Fake Hippies! Of course they are fake! The real Hippies are all in their 60's. 1776 was filled with Fake Revolutionary leaders. Sunday in the Park with George; with fake French artists (who spoke with English Accents) from the 1800's.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 4:41pm

Yes, but you're not supposed to be consciously thinking of how fake they are while you're watching the show...

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 5:50pm

Hmmm the only one I was thinking consciously fake during the two and a half times I have seen the show was Groff. I found most (I said most) of the cast to seem to embody the period. Although clean, the costumes are pretty period accurate. I saw someone wearing an identical vest to the one I wore in High school and Some were even wearing the "Fake Bell Bottoms" We used to wear (you took the straight legged jeans your parents bought you and you added a triangle of paisley fabric).
They have been working on the moves too it seems to make them seem more period accurate.
Seriously if they just dirtied and distressed the costumes a bit it would definitely help a great deal...Oh and get Claude a new wig.

[Judas]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 5:51pm

I don't get Groff's appeal. I find him very boring and a passable singer. Sure, he was in a great show (Spring Awakening), but that doesn't give him free will.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 6:06pm

People seen to have a thing for guys with cute butts who like to show them on stage Judas. With an ass like that he's got to be good!

[Robert Taylor]

Posted: 8/4/08 at 6:29pm

I find Groff extremely charismatic actor and an excellent singer, and I intend to see him perform in the show before he leaves.

I'm also an Hanke fan...perhaps I'll go back to see it again.