Hair: Differences between film and stage show

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 12:02pm

Title speaks for itself

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 12:06pm

Basically: the film is close to awful.

They tried to give the book much more of a story and really changed the focus.

The movie made Claude an outsider from the south, and when the tribe "visits" him before he ships out, Berger shaves his head to "take his place" and gets shipped out instead.

Sheila is also an outsider (Beverly D'Angelo).

However Annie Golden is an absolute delight.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 12:06pm

A few verses from "Manchester, England" and a small portion of "Walking In Space" have been removed. The film omits the songs "The Bed", "Dead End", "Oh Great God of Power", "I Believe in Love", "Going Down", "Abie Baby," "Air," "My Conviction," "Frank Mills," and "What a Piece of Work is Man" from the musical. The latter five songs were originally recorded for the film, but were eventually cut, as they slowed the pace of the film. They can be found on the motion picture soundtrack album, although they were omitted on the 1990 reissue. While the songs "Don't Put It Down" and "Somebody To Love" are not specifically sung by characters in the movie, they are both used as background or instrumental music for scenes at the army base. There are several other differences from songs in the movie and as they appear on the soundtrack, mainly in omitted verses and different orchestrations.
The plot is changed in the film. Many of the songs have been shortened, sped up, rearranged, or assigned to different characters to allow for the differences in plot. Opinions are mixed as to whether the film was an improvement over the stage show.
In the original stage show, the character Claude Bukowski is a hippie who eventually joins the army and is sent to Vietnam. In the movie, the plot was changed so that Claude comes to New York City from Oklahoma after he is drafted and befriends a group of hippies before being sent to Army training camp. They introduce him to their psychedelically-inspired style of living, and eventually drive to Nevada to visit him at a training camp. In the play, Claude is from "dirty, mucky, polluted Flushing," in Queens, but wishes he was from "Manchester, England," which explained why he sang a song with that title. The song remains in the film, though with a joking introduction by Berger - "he just got off the boat" - to make it apply to Oklahoma native Claude.
In the musical, Sheila Franklin is a hippie who falls in love with Berger, not Claude. Jeannie was "knocked up" by a speed freak, not by either Woof or Hud.
Arguably, the most extreme change is Berger's death in the finale. In the original play it is Claude who dies in Vietnam.
Honestly, cartagena, there's this thing called "Google" that will keep you from posting a new thread every time you want the answer to a well-known question.

Updated On: 5/25/09 at 12:06 PM

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 12:09pm

^ Wow, It's funny because I did that too! But never have I trusted wikipedia unless the page is locked.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 12:19pm

Well the film was made in 1978 and offered a late 1970's view of the late 1960's. It is not a direct film of the, but more a film inspired by the show. On stage HAIR is a very theatrical piece borrowing elements of different theatrical style. Obviously this would not work on film, so Milos Forman tried to give it unity by trying to develop a storyline. This is teh least successful part of the movie. There was a lot of carping at the time that Twyla Tharp's entensive choreography was cut by Forman before release. (There was talk of the dance material being reused in a documentary about the film that was never made.)

Also cut were six songs: Abie Baby/Fourscore; Air; My Conviction; Frank Mills; What a Piece of Work is Man; & Don't Put it Down. (All six were included on RCA Victor's soundtrack album.)

Though the film has good moments it doesn't really hold together and doesn't capture the unrest of the era.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 12:31pm

It's comparable to the film version of Cabaret in how much it doesn't reflect the stage version. It's not comparable in terms of quality.

However, I think the Black Boys/White Boys segment is awfully clever.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 12:38pm

The Wikipedia entry is wrong on one point: the first CD of the soundtrack of HAIR (RCA 3274-2-RG) includes most of the cut songs. Two tracks were dropped: the instrumental "Party Music" and Charlotte Rae's track of "My Conviction." The current edition has the complete 2 LP set (79 minutes worth) on one disc.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 1:05pm

For understandable reasons, the authors of the show (Ragni and Rado, though more Ragni) long expressed their displeasure with the film for several reasons. Some quotes from them on the topic of the film over the years follow.

"It seems that Milos Forman regarded the hippies as some sort of aberration. They were portrayed simply as oddballs, without any understanding of their motives, their search for truth, their commitment to the peace-love movement, their efforts to create a world based on human values." - Jim Rado

"Any resemblance between the 1979 film and the original Biltmore version, other than some of the songs, the names of the characters, and a common title eludes us." - Gerry Ragni and Jim Rado

"Forman was not able to come up with a form that matched the play's revolutionary content." - Gerry Ragni

"A film of the play on stage would have been much better." - Gerry Ragni and Jim Rado

"The screenwriters missed the boat on the true message and potential of the original. The film version of HAIR has yet to be made." - Jim Rado

"I call it 'H' because Forman took all the 'air' out of it." - Gerry Ragni

[ggersten]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 1:48pm

Well, I love the film. It blew me away - the audience would be laughing one moment at Berger trying to suit up to get on the plane, but the moment The Flesh Failures (edited because I was in a zombie mode originally)start, the theatre grew quiet and by the end of Let The Sunshine In, people were crying -- and this was in Berkely, California when the film came out.

The film and the play are two entirely different creatures/entities. I don't think Forman felt the hippies/tribe were "oddballs" - he filmed them as people who enjoyed life, knew life and treasured life. I remember writers saying "Hair" was Forman's "love letter" to the United States - and when you see the way he had the vistas filmed, the skylines of the cities, you can see that "love." Forman, it seemed, loved the freedom of America and Berger's "tribe" reflected that freedom.

And, the film has a mindblowing, breathtakeawaying rendition of "Easy to Be Hard"

I saw Hair on stage only once (1974 in St. Louis), but the film had more of an impact on me, while recognizing the two are entirely different.
Updated On: 5/25/09 at 01:48 PM

[RagzJr]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 1:56pm

I've listened to the film recording and the original Broadway recording for decades... So this might sound a bit ridiculous. I'm still not absolutely certain who is singing what in terms of the cut songs from the film.

It's clear Annie Golden is singing "Air" but is she also singing "Frank Mills"? Someone once noted that it was actually Beverly D'Angelo (that same person believed Beverly was singing the top harmony in "What a Piece of Work Is Man"). I question that. Does anyone have a full credit list for the recorded songs?

[Hest882]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 2:23pm

The film is very different, but I always found the Berger substitute more devastating than what happens in the stage version.

[roquat]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 2:40pm

Basically, the film is very awkward and dull during the dialogue scenes. The actors seem to be improvising on camera (and not very well.)

[Marquise]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 3:39pm

"Well, I love the film. It blew me away - the audience would be laughing one moment at Berger trying to suit up to get on the plane, but the moment The Flesh Eaters start...

The Flesh Eaters?!!!...WTF!!!

RagzJr: "Frank Mills" is sung by singer Suzette Charles
Annie Golden sings "Air", Beverly D'Angelo sings "Good Morning, Starshine", Betty Buckley sings "Walking in Space" on the RCA Victor Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 3:52pm

Bwahahah....Zombie Hair??^^

[GatorNY]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 4:43pm

I liked the film...I remember seeing it on this new service that the cable company offered called "Home Box Office". I was probably about 12 or 13 years old and really liked it. I never saw the show on stage until a second tier road show came through DC back in 1995....no where near what we have at the Hirshfeld now. Back to the original poster....I seem to remember "EASY to be HARD' not being sung by Sheila to Berger, but by another tribe member, and she sings it to someone named Lafayette.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 6:52pm

As I recall, David Lasley is one of the voices on "What a Piece of Work is Man," and the other sounds like a little black boy, though I don't know for the life of me what his name was.

[brad3]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 9:51pm

Basically the movie took a show with amazing music but not much of a plot and gave it a really great story.

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 10:12pm

In 1977, the year before the film's release, HAIR was brought back to the Biltmore and had a less-than-successful run, playing only 43 performances after two months of previews. I can see why there would have been a hesitation to reproduce the Broadway show on film.

I loved the original production (saw it many, many times) and I love the current production, which I've seen both in the park and on Broadway.

I also find a lot to enjoy in the film version, realizing that it is a riff on the original.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 10:19pm

LAFAYETTE!
LAFAYETTE!!!
That scene is amazing and got applause when it played first run in NYC.
Cheryl Barnes was her name.

The show and the Movie are two totally different animals.
The Tharp sh#t is incredible, but almost like in a diffrent movie.


Melba Moore and Ronnie Dyson (from Broadway)
sing 3500.
Tony Winner Michael Jeter is seen in a great comedy cameo.
Also on Black Boys is Ellen Foley (ME AND MY GIRL)
and the late great Laurie Beechman (ANNIE, CATS)

[Kad]

Posted: 5/25/09 at 11:34pm

Ellen Foley was part of the Black Girls trio? I did not know that. AKA the original Witch in Into the Woods before Bernadette came onboard... also has a killer rock voice.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 5/26/09 at 1:04am

The real difference between the movie and the stage show is
roughly $115.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/26/09 at 11:23am

I liked the film for what it was, though I understood before I saw it that it was something totally different from the stage production. It does have some strong standout scenes and Tharp's choreography is stellar. I've always felt a remake was in order and I would love to see Oliver Stone's take on the material. But if they don't bring back Tharp, get David Parsons to choreograph the film.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 6/2/09 at 10:35am

^ Oliver Stone? To quote Robin Lamont and Lynn Thigpen in GODSPELL, "Why?!"

[auggie]

Posted: 6/2/09 at 11:09am

The movie to me had a few good scenes but felt like a sanatized version of the story. The ending of 40 Year Old Virgin was a great parody of the feel of the movie.

[Jon]

Posted: 6/2/09 at 11:29am

I just remember dancing horses and a naked Michael Jeter.