Hair Reviews- Page 3

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 9:30pm

USA Today gives the show 4 Stars out of 4:

"Hair is duly beloved for its scrumptious rock-candy score and for vividly capturing an indelible and pivotal moment in our history and culture. But like its very young, Vietnam-era characters, the story has more energy than focus. In the wrong hands, it can easily become a quaint, cloying mess.

The new Public Theater revival (* * * * out of four), which opened Tuesday at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, not only avoids potential obstacles but finds a resonance in Hair beyond any parallels between the turbulent '60s and our own troubled times. What director Diane Paulus and her flawless cast have achieved is a testament to the indomitability and transience of youth, with all the blissful exuberance and aching poignance that entails."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/theater/reviews/2009-03-31-hair-revival_N.htm

[SNAFU]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 9:43pm

I get your point! The thing is, I enjoy the show for what it is, a snapshot of I time I lived through. Some of the themes are dated but some timeless like indecision, duty to family ideals, duty to society, the search for self, the mere idealism of youth.
Apocalypse Now and others were done after the fact, when the creators were outside the events and could reflect a bit more. HAIR is a post card from the middle of it
I understand that many in the audience will not fully appreciate the receiving the draft card, the abandon of actually burning them in a royal FU to the powers that be. At the time it was Earth shattering. Today, looking back from a far different world it seems more naive but in some way celebrating that naivete.
I like this production because it does present it in it's time. Pull out from it what you will to relate to today's environment or don't and just sit back, watch and join in a celebration of the period. Dated or not, relevant or not, I had a blast the 6 times I have seen it and am looking forward to going back again!

Updated On: 3/31/09 at 09:43 PM

[teka21]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 9:52pm

Thanks SNAFU for articulating the perspective of those who lived it. Saw the original, saw it in the park with Groff 2 years ago, seeing it in 2 weeks- can't wait!

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:06pm

TheaterMania is a Rave:

"There's little question that the quintessential "make love not war" musical Hair, now at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre, can come off as little more than a faded period piece four decades after it rocked the theater world. But in the remarkably sure hands of director Diane Paulus and a committed cast of young Broadway talent, the landmark 1967 work not only retains its political and social relevance, but remains a remarkably joyous and occasionally heartbreaking piece of theater. The result is the year's best Broadway musical revival.

...

In the end, though, nothing captures Paulus' sharp understanding of the material quite as succinctly as her double-handed approach to the show's finale, "Let the Sunshine In." It ends the actual show as a heart-rending plea for light amidst the darkness; but after the curtain call, it's reprised as a singalong and dancealong of sheer ecstasy in which the audience is encouraged to participate. So go ahead -- let down your hair and give into the charms of Hair! "

Full Review

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:11pm

Glad it's getting good reviews! I'm not a huge fan of the actual show, but this production is amazing and everyone in it is exceptional. Happy opening!

[Princeton78]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:15pm

I'm so thrilled with these reviews.
Who will review it from The Times?
Do we think it'll take the revival Tony from West Side Story? (Here's hoping so!)

[Princeton78]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:16pm

I'll answer my own question....NYT review is by Brantley and it is a RAVE.

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/theater/reviews/01hair.html?hp


"You'll be happy to hear that the kids are all right. Quite a bit more than all right. Having moved indoors to Broadway from the Delacorte Theater in Central Park where last summer they lighted up the night skies, howled at the moon and had ticket seekers lining up at dawn the young cast members of Diane Paulus's thrilling revival of Hair show no signs of becoming domesticated.
On the contrary, they're tearing down the house in the production that opened on Tuesday night at the Al Hirschfeld Theater. And any theatergoer with a pulse will find it hard to resist their invitation to join the demolition crew. This emotionally rich revival of "The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical" from 1967 delivers what Broadway otherwise hasn't felt this season: the intense, unadulterated joy and anguish of that bi-polar state called youth."

Updated On: 3/31/09 at 10:16 PM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:18pm

And the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical goes to...HAIR.

And deservedly so.
Updated On: 3/31/09 at 10:18 PM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:20pm

It's already up as one of Brantley's "Critic's Picks"...so thrilled for these well-deserved raves.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:23pm

More from Brantley....
This is really a money review. Could Paulus even be a major Tony contender?

"Yes, I know there was a musical called "13," about being exactly that age, that opened last fall, and that a lyrical revival of "West Side Story" is now playing to packed houses only a few blocks away. But what distinguishes "Hair" from other recent shows about being young is the illusion it sustains of rawness and immediacy, an un-self-conscious sense of the most self-conscious chapter in a person?s life.


She (Paulus) does what Bartlett Sher did for "South Pacific" last year, finding depths of character and feeling in what most people dismissed as dried corn. It's not so much what Ms. Paulus brings to "Hair"; it?s what she brings out of it, vital elements that were always waiting to be rediscovered.

After the show I couldn?t stop thinking about what would happen to Bryce Ryness's sexually inchoate Woof; Ms. Case's hopeful, fretful Crissy; Darius Nichols's defiant, suspicious Hud; Kacie Sheik's pregnant, cheerily adrift Jeanie; or Ms. Allen's taunting, sensually assured Dionne. I could go on through the entire cast list."

Updated On: 3/31/09 at 10:23 PM

[Trish2]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:23pm

Best revival for sure-even without those out and out raves. Hopefully now we can put the posts on WSS to a rest. I loved Brantley's mention of the lyrical revival of WSS- that alone speaks volumes,
Updated On: 3/31/09 at 10:23 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:26pm

. I loved Brantley's mention of the lyrical revival of WSS- that alone speaks volumes,

- He chose both as critic's picks. And that speaks volumes.

I really need to see HAIR. I hope I can soon!

[Trish2]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:28pm

i knew that comment would bring Ijay out of the woodwork. I still don't think he/she gets it.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:30pm

It's Ljay.

It was predictable that you would use HAIR's raves to bash WSS.

I haven't even seen HAIR yet, therefore I have not and will not make any comparisons.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:31pm

Go see it, ljay! If you love the WSS revival, you'll almost surely be blown away by HAIR. To me, there's simply no competition as to which is the better production. And I think these reviews reflect that.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:32pm

Trust me, I really want to see it!

Has anyone tried the lotto for HAIR? How is it?

[Trish2]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:33pm

Precisely. So until you do, you have nothing to compare. HAIR is a fantastic revival and is getting the praise it deserves. WSS was not. It's that simple.
Updated On: 3/31/09 at 10:33 PM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:34pm

Wow, I love it when a reviewer makes sense and gets a great revival as this is. Paulus and her cast are getting the most praise. If not for BILLY, she would be the frontrunner,
If I was a producer I would put Creel and Swenson in Leading category, both are getting stellar notices.
HAIR is gonna get a ganjaload of TONY noms!

[Trish2]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:37pm

Yes, Paulus and Armitage both deserve kudos for the organic, yet exciting work that they actually improved on with the transfer

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:38pm

YEAH for all these raves!!!

And just because a show is dated, doesn't mean it still can't work. Example #2: A Chorus Line.

Updated On: 3/31/09 at 10:38 PM

[DAME]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:38pm

Got my ticket earlier today through the on line discounts. I wonder how long that is going to last now.

[sgv123]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:39pm

Lott really depends on the day I guess. I have been there with 50 people while other times there have been like 20 or less.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:41pm

YIPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:41pm

I'm glad I was able to find those discounts as well($60 bucks for my ticket for last Wed. show). I can't afford to see any show at full price(i.e. WSS, Billy Elliot, Jersey Boys), and with all these raves, I'm sure they'll see a bump in ticket sales.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 3/31/09 at 10:41pm

YIPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!