I don't know if it will do well, but if there is any show that could speak to the younger generation in the time of an unpopular war, it would be Hair. It all depends if the younger generation cares or is willing to listen. Exactly. The idea that younger audiences need everything to be updated to their era is a bit condescending...the children of the baby boomers are perfectly capable of understanding that
Hair is a product of its era, even if they weren't around to understand the time period firsthand. If anything, I think the productions that attempt to bring
Hair into the present day have been the least successful and least resonant (an "official" updated version, with references to Iraq written in by James Rado, was apparently a failure, and a recent modern interpretation at NYU was considered interesting overall but didn't seem to connect with too many people). Leave the show the way it is...younger audiences will make the connections themselves.
We shall see how today's audiences react to a high-profile revival of
Hair this summer, one that by all accounts looks like it will remain faithful to the time period. The baby boomers will be out in force, sure, but I have a feeling we'll see a lot of "boomlets" flocking to Central Park, too (and not just for Jonathan Groff). I know I'll be one.
"If there is going to be a restoration fee, there should also be a Renaissance fee, a Middle Ages fee and a Dark Ages fee. Someone must have men in the back room making up names, euphemisms for profit."
(Emanuel Azenberg)
Updated On: 5/4/08 at 07:05 PM
