Dissenting opinion on Hair — Page 2

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#26

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 3:54pm

Mister Matt-

Perhaps you are right about the direction. Maybe it is that "Frank Mills" and "Black Boys/White Boys" simple aren't shocking any more and they had to something to pull them off. I guess what was done just wasn't working for me.

Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco. Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!

#27

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 3:54pm

She did sing at one point, RentBoy. I can't remember what song. It was in Act 2.

#28

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 4:39pm

I think Galt MacDermot needs to seriously consider reviving VIA GALACTICA before he dies.

I would LOVE that! But then, I would love to see revivals of Dude, The Human Comedy and Two Gentlemen of Verona as well. It's too bad the Two Gents production at the Delacorte didn't transfer. Even though I aboslutely adored it, my dream is to have the Delacorte cast with a new director and choreographer who could beef up the choreography and tighten the book scenes. But that cast was heaven.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#29

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 4:41pm

Hair is somewhat overrated. It has fun songs, but barely any overarching thoroughline or message other than "be free, blah blah blah", which was edgy 40 years ago but now could be found in a Gap ad. The war protest stuff is still relevant, but most of the stuff that was genuinely groundbreaking in the 60s is now old hat.

Formerly SirNotAppearing - Joined 3/08

#30

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 4:43pm

The second act is very flawed. I find the first act to be pretty strong.

This is a fantastic production though, I'm sorry you guys didn't love it as much as I did.

#31

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 4:48pm

Perhaps you are right about the direction. Maybe it is that "Frank Mills" and "Black Boys/White Boys" simple aren't shocking any more and they had to something to pull them off. I guess what was done just wasn't working for me.

Yeah, like Grease, it sounds as if the more common approach to the show is to abandon its concept and turn it into something more commercially appealing and generic. The best production of this show I've ever seen was in a little storefront theatre in Dallas in the late 80s. The only element they added to the show was setting the opening and finale in the Vietnam War Memorial in DC and the show was a flashback into the memories of the characters. The rest of the show played as is. It was small, simple and completely magical.

By the way, does this revival include Dead End? It is inexplicably my favorite number in the show and I hate it when it is often cut from the show (usually because it's not on the OBC and the music director can't wrap their heads around the arrangements in the score). Everything about that number just works for me.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#32

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 4:52pm

"Dead End" is not in it.

#33

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 5:04pm

That sucks. So far, nothing about this revival sounds of interest to me.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#34

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 5:59pm

It gives the audience time to celebrate and unfold our charismatic side. Some people only realize the greatness of some experiences ,till their gone.

Herbie: "Honey, Don't you know there's a depression?"
Rose: "Of Course I know, I Watch Fox News"
-(modified)Gypsy
Broadway Schedule
December 5th- Hamilton, On Your Feet
December 19th- Noises Off, Edith Piaf Concert at Town Hall

#35

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 6:12pm

I am actually looking forward to seeing this having seen it five times in the park. I connected with the show, I guess because I grew up in the era and was a part of a group (tribe) that would hang out in the park. So many of the songs do in fact capture the stereotypes that were to be found. Quite a few of our friends went to war and came back in a flag draped box, others just O.D.'d.
Perhaps I am more the demographic this show is geared toward.

Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!

#36

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 6:48pm

I think "Frank Mills" done right is sweetly funny. And the numbers in Hair that, for me, suffer the most these days are the ones that were purely meant to be shocking at the time, like the "Hashish"/"Sodomy" duo. But given a great production - which I think it did get in Central Park - the show is still pretty sensational, and "The Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In)" a genuinely moving final number, not just rousing but terribly sad. It's a show about a time when kids really thought they could change the world with sit-ins and protests. (And actually didn't completely fail at it.) In today's world...yeah, that's a really poignant thing to watch.

#37

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 6:59pm

Will Swenson is in general such a phenomenal performer and the reason I think he is so excellent is because in rehearsal especially he is very soft and contained but this is so his energy and charisma explodes when live on stage.

Current Avatar:The sensational Aaron Tveit in the soon to be hit production of Catch Me If You Can.

#38

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 7:01pm

Am I the only one who finds this thread absurd?
You either like a show or you don't. That's the beauty of opinions!

2008: Feb. 18- Rent, Feb. 19- Curtains, April 18- Xanadu, April 22- Wicked, April 26- Legally Blonde, May 31- Wicked, June 13- The Little Mermaid, June 28- Wicked and Young Frankenstein, July 2- The Little Mermaid, July 6- A Chorus Line and Legally Blonde, August 16- Xanadu, September 13- Legally Blonde and 13, September 28- Xanadu and Spring Awakening, Oct. 12-GYPSY and [title of show], Oct. 19- Hairspray & Legally Blonde, Nov. 9- Wicked and 13, Dec. 14-13, Dec. 26- Billy Elliot, 2009: Jan 1- Shrek, Jan 2- 13 and Wicked, Jan 4- 13, Feb 17- In The Heights, Feb 19- Billy Elliot, Feb 22- Sweeney Todd (tour), March 28- Mary Poppins, April 4- Mamma Mia!, April 15- Jersey Boys (on tour), April 25- next to normal & 9 to 5 May 1- Billy Elliot, May 3- Spelling Bee (tour), May 8- Chicago, May 21- Wicked, June 6- Everyday Rapture, June 23- The Wiz, June 25- Hair July 15- Shrek, August 9- Wicked, September 7- Rock of Ages, October 11- Next To Normal, October 23- The Marvelous Wonderettes, November 7- Ragtime November 29- Dreamgirls, December 25- Billy Elliot, December 30- Finian's Rainbow, 2010: January 9- Bye Bye Birdie, January 16- Memphis February 17- The Phantom of The Opera, February 18- God of Carnage, March 7- Billy Elliot, March 31- American Idiot

#39

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 7:03pm

No one's getting hostile, WishingOnlyWounds. It's a discussion. If someone isn't a fan of 13, wouldn't you defend it?

#40

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 7:15pm

WishingOnlyWounds2, it's called an intellectual discussion.

What is happening in this thread is the purpose of this message board.

Imagine if critics' reviews were a check list reading A) liked it or B) didn't like it, with no further detail.

Would that offer much insight into the production of the show being performed?

WishingOnlyWounds2, you can learn a lot about critical thinking from reading this thread, and I guarantee you good critical thinking skills will be what allows you to do well and learn more in school, and will be what make your adult life exciting and interesting.

"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad

"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)

#41

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 7:26pm

I agree that this is one of the best discussions we've had going here at BWW in quite some time. People just TALKING and listening. (Well, reading and writing.) SEE? It CAN be done without being nasty...and I love it!

I haven't yet seen the b'way production but loved it in the park this summer.

I have to admit, I was never too big a fan of this show before this summer. One of the most amazing things I feel about the show is the direction: how Diane Paulous (sp?) was able to make this "free love, anti-war, hippie" show into something meaningful today.

Watching in the park, I found that she was able to change the focus from ANTI-war, to making decisions and standing behind them, regardless of your initial alliances....basically: truly finding out WHO you are. (This is a theme I love in SITPWG, as well -- finding your soul.)

Yes, the free love and rampant drug use are still there...and I tink THAT pays homage to the "time"...without glorifying it.

Thanks to all here for sharing their opinions: pro AND con!

If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it? These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.

#42

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 7:42pm

Those sit-ins and demonstrations by young people in the 60's did change the world- they ended Jim Crow Laws and gradually turned public opinion against the war in Vietnam and the draft. They helped the passage of the Constitutional amendment giving 18-20 year olds the vote. Did they fix the world? No.

#43

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 7:56pm

I'm just saying... people like a show, or they don't.

#44

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 7:58pm

And I'm saying, fortunately, life is not that simple.

#45

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 8:05pm

and I'm saying when you gotta go, YOU GOTTA GO!!!

#46

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 8:07pm

But whats wrong about discussing both sides? If we all just agreed (good or bad) there is no discussion.

#47

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 8:19pm

If the show is as good as it was in the park, I know I will be going back a couple of times. Got my tickets for the 22nd.
When is it scheduled to open?

Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!

#48

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 8:26pm

The second act is very flawed. I find the first act to be pretty strong.

Act 2 also possesses a completely different structure than Act 1. While I agree that act 1 is by far the stronger act, it also has a much more forward story line to it. A good chunk of act 2 is spent on Claude's hallucination, which I admit, while interesting, I'm still not sure I understand all of the subtext at play, but that's because I've seen Hair exactly twice- once in the park, and once on Friday night. Act 2 descends into the metaphysical, much the way Passing Strange (a show I absolutely loathed, by the way) does in the second act.

Updated On: 3/9/09 at 08:26 PM

#49

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 8:46pm

I agree with every single word you just said. Even about PASSING STRANGE.

#50

re: Dissenting opinion on Hair

Posted: 3/9/09 at 9:31pm

I'm just saying... people like a show, or they don't.

And they have reasons why they like or dislike a show. Which are far more interesting to discuss than the drive-by "I hated that piece of crap" sort of replies that people post (usually as a result of an inferiority complex in a vain effort to sound subversive and edgy without having to reveal they are unable to form an articulate opinion). And amazingly enough, and this is really out there, some people may not like a show, but liked elements of the show. For example, I liked the set to Desire Under the Elms, but I hated the play. I thought there were some good performances, but I felt the direction was overwrought. I liked a couple of songs and the choreography in Spring Awakening, but I didn't like the show. See?

You like squares. We like cubes.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

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