Hair Reviews — Page 2

PEACE OUT my Hippie Friends.
The sky is doing it's own JOSHUA Light show to celebrate.
And "the beauty is" they can take any smaller wiped out Bway House.
I think the Neederlander is the perfect high but I hear it's taken.
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna
Krisha Krishna
Mary Wanna (sic)
See ya in the Park.

The Newark Star-Ledger is Very Positive:

...The shaggy ringleader of the flower children, Berger, is portrayed with infectiously high spirits by a charismatic Will Swenson. "Spring Awakening" idol Jonathan Groff gives his relatively innocent Claude a wide-eyed appeal. Caren Lyn Manuel isn't much of an actress, but she styles "Easy to Be Hard" powerfully. Bryce Ryness' gangly Woof, Allison Case's sweet-faced Crissy (who sings a wistful "Frank Mills") and Patina Renea Miller's jubilant, full-throated Dionne are other standouts. Megan Lawrence vehemently depicts several disapproving adults.

And, yes, practically everybody sheds their clothes as the first act concludes.

Undulating through Karole Armitage's choreography, which often looks ritualistic in its mass motions, the company invests the show with much youthful heat, which helps to override a strangely tedious patch during the second act when Claude hallucinates about Vietnam.

After the bows, the audience is invited onstage to dance in a frenzy with the performers -- although why everybody is so festive when one of the lead characters has just been killed is puzzling.

Well, as a lyric from "Let the Sun Shine In" declares, "Life is around you and in you." So perhaps the in-the-moment thrill of sharing "Hair" with the performers means more to people than reflecting on its serious message.

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2008/08/fresh_hair_lets_the_sun_shine.html

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Let the sun shine! Let the sun shine in!

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John Heilpern (a very funny guy) at the New York Observer is a Rave:

The Public Theater’s smashing new revival of Hair (1967) in Central Park is a joy from beginning to end. It’s just the best, though fans of South Pacific (1947) might not agree with me.

I felt about Lincoln Center’s loving revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific that while the audience seemed to be in heaven, I was in a retirement home. But Hair is different. Hair is my South Pacific.

“The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical”—to give its glorious subtitle—was the first show I ever saw with performers onstage who were my own age. It’s the musical that spoke directly to my 1960s generation, though there’s another particular affection I have for it: For reasons nobody’s ever been able to figure out, Hair’s stoned hero—Claude Bukowski from Flushing, Queens—likes to pretend he’s from Manchester, England.

As readers of this column may recall, so am I...

http://www.observer.com/2008/arts-culture/let-fogies-fawn-over-south-pacific-hair-revival-rocks

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Seems it is straight across the board a hit (well except that narc on Talkin' Broadway who probably got some crappy shrooms' or crabs from his girlfriend)

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THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!

Thank goodness I've seen it already, because these are clearly going to be the hottest tickets in-town!

HOLY LOVE! It's so elating!
TERRIFIC WORK, AND CONGRATULATIONS, PUBLIC THEATER!!!

These reviews only validate the reception the show has received all summer.

Congratulations to the cast and crew on a sterling piece of work.

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Updated On: 8/11/08 at 12:05 AM

Anybody go to the opening/opening night party?
Wondering if any of the OBC were there, such as Ronnie Dyson, Melba Moore, Steve Curry, Shelly Plimpton, Diane Keaton?
---To gregj63: really enjoyed reading your review the other day. I, too, spent hours upon hours, days upon days memorizing the OBCR! What fun. I never knew what 3-5-0-0 mean, though, till years later..... (so apropos now, unfortunately).

I confess that I was never a huge fan of HAIR, though the only production I ever saw was a student production in college. I think the current production is great and has an outstanding cast. However...I think a lot of it's charm comes from being at the Delacorte. I'm not sure I would have been as "into it" if it hadn't had such a perfect setting - outdoors under the stars.

But hey, what do I know? Perhaps it will end up on Broadway and have a healthy run.

Updated On: 8/8/08 at 02:05 AM

Joe- If it rains. they will reschedule your tickets thru donations (but that does not apply to the people who got their ticket free thru virtual line and central park)

Make sure you check the weather before you leave boston. one more thing~ the real question is AFter you made your donations- what IF they have no available seats for the days you want. you know they have Corp sponsors too that they gave the bulk of their donation tickets. are you willing to see it on the weekdays? if not... I guess your DONATION is a DONATION. meaning you will end-up with NO tickets (if your schedule is not flexible)

Remember : when you make a donation to the Public Theater~they gave you a ticket as a token of gratitude to your donation. and the show is only running 2 more weeks with the rave reviews-it will really be hard to get tickets!

Hence the name PUBLIC THEATER - Shakespeare in the Park - its a FREE theater for the PUBLIC- its a first come, first serve basis! Its not meant to be SOLD or for commercial.

Unfortunately... our (non- new yorkers) great cahnce is thru virtual line- check the weather and if you win it.. GO! or else we might waste the trip to NYC.. There's really NO guarantee~even to the people who fall in line!

It's Public Theater!

Good Luck on Virtual Line/ Donation tixs- May you get it too! I am trying everyday now.. we are on a stand-by~ if we get it. we'll drive to NYC and take a day off the next day from work! I guess.. that's the price we pay for not living in NYC!

J*

Updated On: 8/8/08 at 08:59 AM

I'm really suprised at how positive the reviews are. No reflection on the show - I haven't seen this mounting but I saw and enjoyed the concert very much last summer - but because generally when Hair comes up it's "mumble mumble DATED" or whatever.

It will be a smart move to move this on Broadway! WSS will really have a serious competition for BEST REVIVAL..

With Brantley's rave review--this show is a guarantee hit! plus you know? you have this (latter) baby boomers that wanna reminescence about the 60's - like the early baby boomers who flock to JERSEY BOYS which is the sound of the 50's-the soundtrack of their youth!

AND- It will be a great opportunity for us too (who never saw HAIR) btw.. is this the 1st revival of HAIR? (if ever move to Broadway)

joe- good luck- btw- i forgot to tell you.. i spoke to the box office... and according to them- Delacorte (they will be the one that will be calling you, if there's available)
box office will call you TWO DAYS before youre requested day.. example if your 1st choice is Aug. 16- you wont get a call now , but on Aug. 14- "IF" there's an available reserved seat for you...remember they also have to save seats for their corp sponsors, that's when you will know- if you have a seat! IF not- they will find you another dates- but you have to be fLEXIBLE with your dates...

Hope that helps!

J*

Updated On: 8/8/08 at 09:43 AM

I went and did the standby line (sat there for 6 hours) for the Opening Night, and it was absolutely amazing. I'm really bad at recognizing people, and I didn't get my ticket until about 15 minutes before it started, so the only people I know who were definitely there was Rado and Stew. There's a couple of pictures on gettyimages of the cast during the finale and Rado.

I'm not going to go into a review of the show, we have plenty official ones to read, but one thing that made last night even more amazing was the rain. There had been flashes of lightning all night, but it held off until the very end, when it started lightly raining right as the cast raised their arms and started singing "Let the sun shine..." It was spooky how perfect the timing was. lol. The audience pretty much went crazy and a lot of people started dancing in their seats once it started to rain. ****POSSIBLE SPOILER****.........And then the rain slowly got heavier as the cast left the stage and all that was left was Claude's body in the single spotlight, with the rain streaming down within the light. It was amazing.****END****

And then it started absolutely pouring, but that didn't stop anyone from jumping up on stage and dancing. If anything, I think more people went up. They only did the reprise of Hair, though, not Let the Sun Shine In, since it was raining so hard. I found out later that they weren't checking tickets to the after party, because it was raining, but I had to catch a train, so I left. It was an absolutely wonderful night, one that was completely worth the 6 hours in line, and one that I'll never forget.