Starshines Unite! The official HAIR love thread...- Page 112

[GatorNY]

Posted: 5/26/10 at 9:37am

I took to of our interns from work to the show last night. I was curious to see how the new cast measures up to the original. Well, it's not possible to comment on the 3 leads BECAUSE NONE OF THEM WERE THERE! My first thought was that stunt casting won't work if the stunt people don't show up, but then I realized that the people buying tickets a won't know that all of the NAMES are not going on until they get to the show. Regardless, I left thinking to myself that the show is so good that it doesn't need American Idol's cast offs and yesterday's news. Nicole Lewis and Nicholas Belton were good as Sheila and Berger. Nothing amazing. Just good. Jay Armstrong Johnson was excellent. From what I've read about Kyle, Jay might have actually been preferable. Annaleigh has a new fan in me after last night. Her Jeanie was actually different than Sheik's, and quite a bit more funny. I'd still like to check out Ace...but feel like I'm going to have to move quick if the grosses don't start to pick up a bit.

[sgv123]

Posted: 5/26/10 at 12:14pm

Briana is on as Shiela for both shows today.

[Luv2goToShows]

Posted: 5/26/10 at 12:40pm

Yesterday Diana tweeted she was at the airport on her way to American Idol, maybe Ace and Kyle went as well.

[Blockhead24]

Posted: 5/26/10 at 12:44pm

is Ace back?

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/26/10 at 6:50pm

I'm seeing the show tonight. Very excited to see Briana on as Sheila!

[steven22]

Posted: 5/26/10 at 7:06pm

HeryMeMusic,

Let us know how Briana's Sheila is please.

[Luv2goToShows]

Posted: 5/26/10 at 10:29pm

I have seenm Jay as Claude a few times and he is awesome, would love to see Paris' Claude one day and Nicole's Sheila. Both Ace and Diana were on Idol tonight.
Updated On: 5/26/10 at 10:29 PM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 1:59am

Okay. Tonight's show was epic. And by epic, I mean special. And by special, I may mean special ed. Either way, it was definitely a "make it work"/"the show must go on" performance and one I will never forget.

First of all, all three leads were out. Paris Remillard was on for Claude, Nicholas Belton was on for Berger, and Briana Carlson-Goodman was on for Sheila. Jay Armstrong Johnson was on for Paris's track and Arbender Robinson was on for Antwayn's track.

Somewhere between "Sodomy" and "Hair," my companion and I noticed that Jay was all of a sudden wearing the Woof fur. And was saying all of the Woof lines. That's right, Jay took over the role of Woof shortly after "Sodomy" because apparently Jason was injured during the first act. Everything was adjusted to either cover or remove Paris's original track. Sure enough, the production stage manager came out right before the second act began to make the announcement about the switch. Jay was a complete pro, even singing "What a Piece of Work Is Man," which is part of the track he was originally going on for tonight.

After the trip sequence, I noticed Rachel Bay Jones (Mother, etc.) never came back onstage. She wasn't at curtain call either. So there was yet another body missing onstage.

Also after the trip sequence, Paris's mic quit on him. He went on for the rest of the show until his quick change with a handheld microphone. The audience was very forgiving of the technical difficulty and none of the actors let it hinder their performance. Suspension of disbelief for sure.

It was a wacky show where people literally seemed to be dropping like flies. It was a bit loose (read: sloppy) in the beginning, but as the bad things kept adding up, the concentration and energy increased among all of the cast members.

The performances: Paris was a fine if forgettable Claude. At least he attempted to act, unlike Kyle. He did look kind of funny at the end with his "short haircut." Nicholas had an uncomfortable and almost disastrous opening monologue. The audience didn't respond at all. He got better as the night went on, but he also became more invisible. Jay as Woof was great. And that's not even taking into account that he wasn't supposed to be playing the role tonight. He had a very different take than Jason or Bryce. He played it much more youthful, naive, innocent, and nearly clueless, which made for a very funny Woof, especially during the "folding the flag" speech and Mick Jagger speech. I would like to have seen him perform the entire role. The only thing he didn't do was "Sodomy" and "I'm Black," but we got to hear his lovely voice on "What a Piece of Work Is Man" anyway, so it was a unique performance of the role. Briana Carlson-Goodman was so easy to watch as Sheila. She has a lovely voice and an absolutely lovable stage presence. You could see both her frustrations with the Tribe and her unconditional love for each of them. Of the four Sheilas I've seen (Caissie, Diana, and whoever played her in the Park [I'm forgetting her name] are the others), I thought she had the best acted "Easy to Be Hard." She also had the best characterizations during the trip sequence. She's such a joy to watch, whereas Diana is a very aggressive, manic, scary lunatic on that stage. For those who have seen Briana as Crissy, you know that she's also quite good in that role. She brings that warmth to Sheila while still having the bit of edge required.

Briana straightened her hair for those who are curious.

~Steven

[TMedeiros17]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 3:07am

gross for this past week were 51% ((((

[wdwfreak]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 6:35am

^That is attendence, not gross. It grossed mid- 30%

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 11:28am

The mezzanine was practically empty last night. The last two rows were sold out and some people in the first two rows and absolutely no one in between. It was sad. They ushered the people in the last row further down. I wouldn't be surprised if this show makes an announcement soon.

~Steven

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 3:17pm

I would not be suprised either if its makes an accouncement. The OBC's last performance was a quarter full in the mezz.

[Mark_E]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 3:53pm

Hair closes September 4th in London. Terrible run compared to Broadway. Barely 6 month.

[Amanda15]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 4:56pm

I thought Nick Belton did a terrible job as Berger and, as usual, Paris was just sort of a blah Claude. Briana was good but I still prefer Caissie or Diana. At least everybody should be back tonight. I thought the show was an unenergetic black hole without the three leads.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 5:42pm

Were you there last night, Amanda?

~Steven

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 6:02pm

As far as a 'terrible run' the yanks that went over there only had a 6 month contract. I have no idea if they were hoping for an open end run or not. (I suppose they are always hoping...but I doubt it would have been with this cast.)

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 7:25pm

From Degarmo's Facebook: "For those of you who don't already know, I will be performing my songs from HAIR on the CBS Early Show THIS Saturday, May 29th. Check it out!"

[Piper3500]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 9:18pm

"Okay. Tonight's show was epic. And by epic, I mean special. And by special, I may mean special ed. Either way, it was definitely a "make it work"/"the show must go on" performance and one I will never forget............."


That first sentence made me laugh. you kill me.
I wish i could have been there. I know HUGE shows are full every night, or close to it. I was lucky enough to see HAIR with two very full houses. Also I got to see Gavin, Caissie and Paris and Briana as Claude and Sheila (I liked Caissie a wee bit better) but Will was on both times as Berger. I liked Paris actually. It does seem there will be an announcement soon.


oh, was Emma Sakz (sp?) in it when you saw it too? I

Updated On: 5/27/10 at 09:18 PM

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 5/29/10 at 1:44pm

Diana sounded good on the CBS Early show this morning. I think she's performed the song more passionately on other occasions, though.

[NPHCreel]

Posted: 5/29/10 at 1:49pm

I wouldn't have expected her to sing it the same way as she does onstage. It would have been out of context for the setting. That said, it was a beautiful rendition.

If what I read is true, her two nieces were the girls in pink sweatshirts who she high fived during "I Believe in Love"

[karennnnn]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 5:53pm

FINALLY coming to NYC and plan to see Hair. With 5 folks needing tickets, what's the best way to go about doing it? TKTS? Broadway Box? I'm thinking we need to probably split up the seats if any of us are going to get on the aisle which I really would prefer. In a perfect world I'd like to get a set of seats that were for instance two people in one row, three right behind, unless we could get a row of 5 seats where one is on the aisle. I don't ask for much eh? And by the way, no flames. This is a lot of $ for the family to spend and I want it to be as ideal as possible (if possible).
We'll be up on the 12th/13th and would do any of the 3 shows.
I found a decent code which gives $64 orchestra seating so I'm thinking I'd rather buy them ahead of time than take the chance on TKTS.
Lotto is box seating, yes?
Thoughts or older thread links appreciated.
Thanks!

[wendilin622]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 5:58pm

HAIR has been on TKTS and TDF fairly regularly but if you are that particular about where you want to sit, I would go with the purchasing them in advance. And yes, lotto is box seating.... Have fun!

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/31/10 at 2:18pm

http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/northwest/E8831275321626/Hair+Today%2C+Gone+Tomorrow.html

[karennnnn]

Posted: 5/31/10 at 9:33pm

The title of the last post reminded me of another article I found today, but better news.
I can't wait to get this book! Amazon is doing pre-orders for $19 which is a great price for what sounds like a very nice book.
It would be nice if they included the book from the show. I have a couple of other coffee table show books and they do (Hairspray, Producers). I've actually been trying to find one online but I'm having a hard time finding "Hair Book" or other variations since "Hair" is such a broad term :)
November will be a good month here in D.C. with the tour coming and the book!!!! I'm not crossing my fingers or anything but it would be nice to see a familiar face on tour.
http://www.playbill.com/playblog/2010/05/hair-today-book-tomorrow/
Updated On: 5/31/10 at 09:33 PM

[steven22]

Posted: 5/31/10 at 9:43pm

can you please post the link to the amazon pre order? I can't find it!