"Hair" with Elaine Stritch and John Cameron Mitchell

Well, almost. It's the episode of the sitcom "Head of the Class" where they do a production of "Hair". For the young'uns around here (since the show seems to have vanished - it's never shown anywhere and isn't on DVD) it was about an out-of-work actor who gets a job teaching Honors English at a NYC Public High School.

They did a musical each year - I happened to tape a rerun of the "Hair" episode about 18 years ago and just found it while going through old video tapes. It's on YT until the copyright police come knocking (but again, the show is not on the air anywhere and not available commercially in any format.)

In this episode, Elaine Stritch plays the head of the English department who is offended by the show and wants to shut it down. John Cameron Mitchell plays a dorky student who unsuccessfully auditions for Berger. Rain Pryor (daughter of Richard Pryor) makes a pretty good Sheila.

It's actually a surprisingly good production, considering it's supposed to be a public high school. I suppose there's some comparison to be made with "Glee"...



Head of the Class does "Hair"

Updated On: 8/22/10 at 01:06 PM

I remember the show....not the episode. But I think this was one from the later seasons. I always thought that Hessman looked like he hated every second of what he was doing, but the kids were having a blast.

For a 1/2 hour tv show...they really did do a decent job. But I don't underestand you comment: considering it's suppose to be a public high school. LOTS of public HS do great theater. And even if they didn't, this is TV.

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Actually, I think it's one of the most realistic AGED school groups -- certainly more believable than Glee. (In fact, I think most of them were age appropriate.)

And it had to be the whole school....because there were only like 8 kids in the Giften and Talented class. (Not just AP.)

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I wonder if they ALL did their own singing...we know Rain did...but Michael DeLorenzo (who I never knew was on the show) has a great voice and makes a great Claude (his "Where Do I Go" is pretty good).

Oh gosh, thanks! I have vague memories of this episode, but I probably remember their Little Shop episode more.

I see they brought the audience onto the stage at the conclusion. I know they did this with the recent revival. Was this part of the original production?

The "inviting the audience on stage to dance" thing began with the original London production when audience members were apparently spontaneously moved to go up and dance with them. To keep things more organized, they began making it an invited thing, and when producer Michael Butler saw it worked, he incorporated it into all productions.

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This would be perfect for a SHOUT! Factory release. Let's start a petition, eh? I remember all the musical episodes and the poltergeist one. The Little Shop.. is particularly memorable to me. Thanks for sharing this! I passed it on to Galt's daughter. =)


EDIT: Found an audio recording of their Little Shop and listening right now. Faboo!

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Updated On: 8/23/10 at 01:22 PM