HAIR synopsis

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 2/2/05 at 10:39pm

okay, this might be a stupid question, BUT who cares? I've never seen a production of HAIR, only heard some of the music, what's the plot? Just curious...

[Justice]

Posted: 2/2/05 at 10:41pm

It's actually a vignette. There is no actual plot. It's just about young people acting out their agression towards the war.

[rKrispyt]

Posted: 2/2/05 at 11:30pm

Justice that's hardly true.

While the writers (and I dont' say this jokingly) were obviously on MAAAAANY drugs (when I did the show my director was tripping on acid, pot, alcohol and something else when the sun started to rise and he finally felt at that moment he truly understood Hair - see what I mean?) when they wrote it and it takes a lot of tweaking and cutting to make sense of it, there is a semblance of a plot and storyline.

It is, as you said though, mainly inside looks into the relationships the kids on "teenybop island" share and their acts against the war.

It mainly follows Claude in his journey from being against the war to receiving his draft notice and being too much of a chicken to fully stand up and refuse to go, to burn his draft card, to think of something that will basically make him ineligible to be drafted...to the point that in the end he ends up going because he's too afraid to really fight it and he ends up dying in Vietnam.

Besides that it's about the love triangles/squares/octagons, etc. - Jeanie (did I spell that right?) is in love with Claude who is in love with Sheila who is in love with Burger who's in love with himself basically. There are hints that Wolf may have a thing for claude but I honest don't remember if that was a director's choice we did or if it's really written in...

There are vignettes showing their lives outside of this colony of hippies - how they relate to their parents, their teachers and other authority figures, etc.

It's not a terribly intricate and clear storyline/plot - but if the show's done right, it's pushed to the forefront and makes the show that much more powerful.

Hope that helps.

Prolly not.

Drop some acid then try to figure it out, lol.

[Justice]

Posted: 2/2/05 at 11:33pm

The show still falls under the Vignette style.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 12:23am

Krispy didn't say it wasn't a vignette, he actually used the word vignette to describe it. He was responding to you saying that there is no plot...

And I think HAIR is one of the most brilliant shows ever written. I'm involved in a production right now that starts rehearsals in a couple weeks here in NYC and I can't hardly wait. We need a Broadway revival of this show, it's so brilliant and moving and so ironically relevant to our current situation here in the US.

[Marquise]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 12:42am

I <3 HAiR

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 12:45am

I <3 Hair, 2!!!

[mikeonbroadway]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 12:47am

When and where (in the city) is your production?

[rKrispyt]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 9:55am

Munkustrap - thanks for that - yeah, it's completely episodic but you had said, Justice, that there was no plot and I was just saying that there kinda is, that's all.

I also loooooooove Hair and want more than anything next season for there to be a revival on Broadway. It's so perfect with the state of things - plus it's just a kick-ass show.

My only problem is that too many times I've seen the show done poorly because the director has tried to just rely on the book as is. If you do that with this show, it's determined to fail - you need a smart director who ties it all together to make sense of it, picks up on all the little things and small referneces that make that happen, and conceptualizes it.

When that is done, I think this show is one of the most powerful there is.

munkustrap178 - good luck with your production! :) I definitely bonded with my fellow cast on that show more than any other - we're all still incredibly close and that was almost 6 years ago.

Who are you playing?

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 11:27am

I directed this show in the winter of 2003, if done well, it's quite amazing.

Munkustrap - are you involved with the production at Marymount? I know people in it. I hope it's a great learning experience for everyone.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 12:27pm

I love HAIR so so so so so so so so much. <3 <3 <3