"Hair" At the Hollywood Bowl

Let's hear your thoughts if you go!

Just got back from a great night at the Bowl! Huge energy and great polish onstage, and Adam Shankman mounted one of the best musical stagings in the last several years. Standout raves go to Amber Riley and Jenna Ushkowitz, who both made their material fresh and alive, Sarah Hyland as a surprisingly well-cast Chrissy, a stunning turn by Kevin Chamberlain evoking Bert Lahr in his rendition of "My Conviction", plus some superb scenic and lighting choices (you should see what gorgeous video art they project on the Bowl's giant proscenium arch).

Benjamin Walker seemed a might miscast as the Alpha male Berger, but injected great energy into the opening scenes in his damn sexy loincloth (yum). Sorry his pants went back on so soon. Hunter Parrish was not in great voice tonight, (and suffered from a lame-o wig), but came into his own in his final solo on The Flesh Failures once that damn wig was gone. The show's band and choral work were really terrific for the short rehearsal time the Bowl casts get. Did it achieve some of the character-to-character heart-ache and catharsis of the last Broadway revival? Well, no, not by a long shot. But who can expect that from these stagings?

Why haven't I mentioned Kristen Bell? Er.... the less said the better. I'm sorry but that was the BLONDEST rendition of the part we've ever heard. And someone should just point out to her that the song is not called IT'S Easy To Be Hard-- who the hell added that first word to the lyric????

And while we're on the subject of rewrites-- well there's no sugarcoating the fact that the nude scene was cut tonight. Huh??? Made no sense why they'd omit it when the show was clearly for adult sensibilities throughout the rest of the evening anyway.

These small reservations aside, we left exhilarated, and proud that the Bowl can still nail a show like this. Hope those going to the Saturday and Sunday shows get an equally thrilling night!

Updated On: 8/2/14 at 03:05 AM

I thought it was a beautiful evening. WAS the nude scene cut? I was up too high to see, and because they blanked out the monitors, I figured at least some of the actors were naked.

I thought Hunter Parish did a great job with Where Do I Go and The Flesh Failures. He made me cry. And he's so f*ck ing hot.

Updated On: 8/2/14 at 03:33 AM

I think that the book to Hair is problematic. Those kinds of vaudeville type vignettes- they just don't work anymore because no one gets what they're based on. But many of the songs worked beautifully in that setting, I thought.

I thought White Boys was excellent. Easy to Be Hard was nice. Walking in Space was just beautiful. The music washed over me. Where Do I Go was very moving as was The Flesh Failures and Let the Sunshine In. I was impressed and I thought the choreography was fantastic.

BTW I understand that tonight they only sold 9,000 tickets for last night and tomorrow they sold 17,000, so obviously it will be a much fuller audience tomorrow.

I have a question for people who are familiar with the original Hair. In tonight's performance, the drug they were using before and during Walking in Space was pot. Was it suggested or said outright in the original version that they were using heroin or LSD? I know the original lyric was "Tripping from potsville to mainline" and that was changed tonight to "Tripping from potsville to starline". Frankly, what the song describes sounds much more like an LSD trip or the high from shooting heroin than pot.

Hunter Parish was achingly beautiful, I have to say.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D83EPndxHqQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj9ltoTBE6I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBFoj0bCaUs

My videos were better, but wish someone had better than mine

Thanks for clearing that up, Bwaymusicalman! I Was just too far back to see, but I figured the cut the monitor feed for a reason.

"None of the leads were naked, but the rest of the ensemble was very much naked during the act one finale."
Thanks for that heads up. We saw the show last night from section M. We always bring binoculars to the Bowl, even if it's just to see detail on the video screens better. Guess there was too little light to even realize anyone was disrobing during the finale as we had expected. Next time we'll figure out what the abstract designs filling the video screens mean sooner than we did.

Just watched the clip of AQUARIUS - - - they are using the movie orchestrations/arrangements instead of the original ones.

lovebwy, it's a joint laced with LSD, I believe.

"Not much disrespect intended but reading this thread it strikes me as so stereotypically LA. "

Ouch, Namo, you've cut us to the quick.

I think we just have healthily low expectations when it comes to theatrical presentations at the Bowl. Forget character development, nuanced shading and surprising dramaturgy here. "Just tell us if anyone fell off the passarelle or took their clothes off." Let's face it, the place is a theme park with 17,000 spectators, which now and then will stumble onto sublime music-making or thrilling stage movement if you're lucky. Last night we got both, plus some hot bodies. Worked for us.

Thanks FlowerChild67!

Unless I missed it that wasn't mentioned last night. It was just a comically oversized joint. Entirely possible that it was mentioned and it went over my head.