Can they just please... please... not ruin this?
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Breaking-HAIR-LIVE-To-Air-On-NBC-Spring-2019-20180524
How can they not? Nudity, a lot of racial stuff they will be squeamish about... may not want to show drug use, heh.
How on earth is a broadcast network going to pull this off in a prime time hour? It’s going to get watered down to nothing.
OK the Apocalypse has officially started.-
There is NO way this can be done live in Prime Time for Middle America without utterly eviscerating the book not to mention the notorious nude scene ( which actually has a purpose in the show beYOND titillation)
Do they want to lose money ? Who is gonna sponsor this?
* goes to lie down with ice pack on head*
I know next to nothing about this show but even I can tell this is going to be a disaster.
Featured Actor Joined: 1/26/08
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/18/17
I actually never seen Hair before but that 2009 Broadway Revival Tonys Performance was wild and crazy to the max. But as for choice of next show, I expected something family friendlier.
Yeah, the second after I started this thread, I realized that the only way they can avoid ruining Hair is by just not doing it at all. It's just baffling that of the entire American musical theatre canon, NBC picked this one to broadcast live?
*sings* LET THE CENSORS, LET THE CENSORS IN...
All joking aside, why not do AIDA instead? Rock musical, big cast with room for stars, Disney affiliation...it's all the fun without the friction!
Featured Actor Joined: 8/25/11
^ I doubt that NBC would agree to do a Disney Theatrical production (nor would ABC probably allow them to... ) With the current tug-of-war between Disney and Comcast for Fox, there is NO love lost between these two corporations.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/18/17
I expected more Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella with the script by Douglas Carter Beane or Guys and Dolls
This is airing on NBC.
Disney owns ABC. Disney produced AIDA.
I don't see how they'd be able to change a word or note of the show without the consent of the authors. According to Wikipedia, one of them is dead, and the other two are very old. Would they really allow their legacy to be permanently changed because of network TV censorship? I doubt it. The sex and drug references are pretty tame by today's standards anyway unless you're the kind of person who homeschools your kids.
I imagine the only thing that will be cut is the nudity in the Act I finale - which isn't really a cut anyway as it's not required in any production. Besides, when I saw the Broadway tour, the nude scene seemed completely gratuitous. Maybe it was radical and defiant in 1967, but in 2012 or whenever it was, it was just awkward. I still remember Steel Burkhardt as Berger really taking his time and being the last one to leave the stage, as if he was trying to make sure every single audience member saw his penis before heading out for intermission.
The Distinctive Baritone said: "... the other two (authors) are very old. Would they really allow their legacy to be permanently changed because of network TV censorship? I doubt it..."
See: Harper Lee.
I just burst out laughing as I imagined them all standing, arms outstretched, in nude colored leotards. This is going to be a hot mess. I'm so excited.
Can’t wait for the SNL parody!!
In the WGI circuit, Pride of Cincinnati put on a great Summer of Love performance several years ago that edited out the nudity and R rated material. You can readily find the exhilarating show on YouTube.
WGI is Winter Guard International. The color guard finalists meet each April in Dayton.
"I imagine the only thing that will be cut is the nudity in the Act I finale."
Just a quick reminder: "Sodomy-- Fellatio-- Cunnilingus-- Pederasty..."
Can't wait to see how they shepherd that lyric past NBC Standards and Practices.
Good point. Yeah, this is going to be interesting.
I'm now actually thinking that it would be amazing if someone wrote a "Forbidden Broadway"-style show where they take shows like Hair, Rent, Spring Awakening, etc. and hilariously edit the most profane songs down to G rated versions. It could be very "meta," like "Welcome to Divinity Christian Church of Indiana's annual Broadway revue!"
Someone needs to get on that.
Funny how censored this should be and considering this was the channel that aired RISE, which was pretty anti censorship
Unplanned pregnancy, racial inequalty, racial sexual mixing, homosexuality, espousing psychedelic drug use, questioning (and resisting!) authority, a "date rape" situation,* living communally ( Communists!) oh an a lil reminder about a war America lost.
Make America Great Again
"The sex and drug references are pretty tame by today's standards anyway unless you're the kind of person who homeschools your kids."
Updated On: 5/24/18 at 07:03 PM
2ndly, who will want to be associated with this travesty? Name me a big name who'd do Berger or Sheila ? Ok name me a medium name? MAy be an unknown ( it is an ensemble show) people do want to work. but I can't think of anyone.
Somehow an elementary school production of hair would be better than this.
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