HAIR Update

I've heard a bit about the upcoming Broadway production of Hair. There will be no astroturf as part of the set. I believe the conception is that they moved from the park and took over a theatre (which is quite literally what this production is doing). Also, I heard that they may be streaming the finale live online daily. Their plan is to do some heavy blogging and get people interested in the show that way. I'm sure this will be the first show to ever do something like that.

No, there's no written source that I can link to, but this is what I've heard from people connected to the production.

~Steven

>Their plan is to do some heavy blogging and get people interested in the show that way. I'm sure this will be the first show to ever do something like that.<

Not really. There was that online journal from the girl who was on the Thoroughly Modern Millie tour. The Pirate Queen had their daily video CastCom broadcasts. Even Jane Fonda is blogging from 33 Variations.

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And there is the guy who blogs for the Legally Blonde Tour... lol

Does anyone know where the audio tracks on Hair's website are from, or who are singing them? It sounds so much like the production from the park, ensemble and orchestration-wise but I'm not recognizing the main singers...

http://hairbroadway.com/media

That is without a doubt the most boring, lifeless recording of "Good Morning Starshine" that I have ever heard. If this is how it sounds live, then I've just lost interest.

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This show looks so weird!!LOL

That's Nick Jonas.

And I've never listened to this show. Is it good?

I missed this production last summer, and I was looking forward to getting to see this but those clips are awful. It sounds like a middle school production. Guys, this isn't PIPPIN, it's HAIR! You are supposed to be unwashed, drugged out, oversexed, dropped out twenty-somethings. No edge, and not really interesting to listen to. Discount vouchers here I come.

Let's not judge yet! These recordings are just demos, at least I believe so! I doubt they would do a cast recording in January.

Want to hear HAIR delivered as it is meant to be heard? Get the Actor's Fund benefit performance.

Ehhh...I'd say Actor's Fund, not so much. Maybe if you want to hear HAIR delivered by a collection of theatre stars all trying to out-riff each other rather than think about the meaning of the show (although it is a pretty fun recording to listen to).

It's pretty hard to beat the Original Broadway Cast Recording. That album is a staple of both Broadway and rock history.

(Also, I agree that it is fair to take the producers to task for putting these clips up for public consumption, but after listening to them they do kind of sound like they're sung over backing tracks rather than live with the band, which I'm sure would give the music more life...so I'm going to reserve final judgment until they put out the full album, but in the mean time these clips aren't great.)

As for this production's concept, I'm glad they didn't try to replicate the park feeling and instead went with "hippies taking over a theater", which was more of less the concept of the original production. Someone on the design team "gets it". Hopefully this will quiet so many of the grumblings about a proscenium staging not working as well as the park's open-air staging.

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Aquarius wasn't bad, but what was up with Hair? How could that have been Will Swenson? It sounded NOTHING like the performance in the park. There was no magic, no spark. And where was the goofiness that he (if that was Swenson) portrayed this summer.

I have both the OBC and the OLC (original London Cast) and while the OBC is mostly superior, I enjoy Hare Krishna more in the OLC, with all the spoken interjections recorded.

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I saw the production in the park this summer and loved it. But I do admit: they were a bit too "clean" for my tastes. Not as gritty.

While I'm very much looking forward to seeing this again, I'm doubtful it will be as stunning as it was in the park....I think just BEING in the park was a huge addition...so organic.

But I agree: the vocals on the website are pretty generic. They could not have recorded for the cd as the whole cast was not assembled as of January. I'm sure it was just for the website, and I'm guessing not that much time went into it.

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