Starshines Unite! The official HAIR love thread...- Page 64

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 10:19pm

I believe it was LSD that really opened up the drug culture of the sixties. Yes, there was pot and speed, those had been around in the 40's and 50's. The desire of expanding consciousness did not necessarily come about because of the war but sort of happened simultaneously. There was a questioning, a search. Eastern practices found their way into the youth culture.
All one really has to do is lay the Beatle Albums out and you will see exactly the point in time they discovered LSD!

[kryst22]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 10:30pm

I always took "How dare they try.." to be about The Draft.

[wendilin622]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 10:35pm

I see it more as the government/society of the time trying to regulate "stifle" the hippy movement because of a lack of understanding what it was truly about.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 10:36pm

"I'm evolving, I'm evolving with the drugs, that you put down." Not only the Draft but society as a whole.

Updated On: 8/9/09 at 10:36 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 10:41pm

So what's REALLY interesting to me, SNAFU, is going back into online archives for what the Beatles and their management were saying about The White Album as it was about to be released in late '68. Their management talked about how the double album set was devoid of psychedelia as if the band were sick of that aspect of their work and that whole scene and in New Musical Express George Harrison kept saying how The White Album was "really heavy" and that he had a hard time listening to it all the way through.

The release history went from Rubber Soul to Sgt Pepper to the Magical Mystery Tour project and the The Beatles (aka The White Album). George Harrison also detailed a disheartening visit to the streets of San Francisco during the famed Summer of Love. He was really turned off by the dirty hippies who lacked any ambition as he felt British psychedelia had been about looking really cool and being really creative and artistic.

So their response was the heaviness of the White Album. The group's tribal vibe was gone and their compositions were mostly done individually even though it was released as a group album. And it was THAT album that spoke to the madman and his drug addled followers who misspelled Helter Skelter on the walls of their murder victims in the victims' own blood.

It's interesting how that "heavy" album played out. And how heavy things got very quickly.

[singalongsong2]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 10:53pm

I agree with those who said that drugs were considered a good thing by some people during the hippie movement. As previously mentioned, LSD, in particular, was used to increase and expand one's consciousness. Timothy Leary (who is mentioned several times in the show) was a big proponent of the benefits of LSD. According to his research, people would have mystical, spiritual, and life changing experiences as a result of taking LSD.

[Leia947]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 11:26pm

I have no idea where to jump in with this discussion. From the Beatles and British psychedelia to the summer of love and "dirty" hippies. Considering all I know of this time period comes from my parents.... they considered themselves hippies, but they didn't do any drugs past pot, they didn't engage in the "free love" like what is depicted in HAIR and my dad actually went to Vietnam (not by choice, obviously). To them, being a hippie was peace, love (as in accepting everyone) and rock and roll. They rebelled in ways, sneaking out to go to concerts, smoking pot, dating people their parents didn't like. And aside from my dad being in the war, they've never really talked about it, whether or not they were against it or protested or anything like that. He didn't see battle, so he learned a lot about the culture and environment while he was there.
So, really, I have no idea where I'm going with this. I guess I agree with some things about the hippie movement and disagree with others. Like any movement or revolution, there are good aspects and bad aspects.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 11:36pm

Yes it is interesting Namo, I have often marveled how that album in particular played into the twisted views of Manson and his followers. I have always found the Manson Family an interesting study of the creative being perverted for evil and destruction. After the summer of Love and the Woodstock in 1969 it seemed to me that the climate changed rather quickly. The mid seventies began the reign of apathy. I was in college at that time and being an artist, Hippy wannabe was distressed over the complacency I encountered.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 11:41pm

I'm with Leia on this one, and I think one of the things (like I've said before) that HAIR does is to show people the other side of these 'Dirty Hippies'. Even when they were wrong, they still did many great things that need to be remembered.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 11:42pm

I think it was complete and utter disillusionment. The assassinations of the '60s, Nixon, drug addiction. The fact that people felt so utterly powerless against a monolithic system.

Manson and Altamont were just nails in the coffin.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 12:08am

Just out of curiosity, FindingNamo...do you or do you not like HAIR? I'm not trying to be rude in any way whatsoever, but I'm just rather confused. You have brought up some important topics that really needed to be discussed on this thread...and while some of them sound like criticisms, some of them sound like praises as well (at least to me), and your avatar of the backwards HAIR logo has always baffled me.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 10:04am

I LOVE the production because I think the team found a way to make it so much more than the shallow vaudeville it could so easily have ended up being.

My criticisms in this thread have come from the fact that I was disappointed the show was not inspiring discussion any deeper than the usual "how are my seats?" and "so and so in the cast is soooooo nice" thing. Because I think the production is exceptional I was disappointed the discussion was not.

The photo was taken in a mirror.

[Bee2]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 4:26pm

Was wondering if someone could help me with seating advice for Hair. I seem to have a choice of around row F or H but somewhere in the middle of the side blocks. Or further back (row O) in the middle block. Anyone have any advice as to which is better? (Bearing in mind I generally like to see things reasonably close up).

[claudioislove]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 5:41pm

Someone said in this discussion that drugs are now taboo. I kind of have to completely disagree. Granted, I don't think too many people are into LSD, but marijuana use is wide spread both in real life and in pop culture. Perhaps it's not as revered or open as it once was, but it's still happening.

But in the end I think Leia said it best. Like anything there was good and bad. Just look at Woodstock. Remembered as the one of the greatest music festivals of all time. Though every almost starved. I guess the important thing is to keep it all together in one big picture.

Updated On: 8/10/09 at 05:41 PM

[wendilin622]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 6:20pm

I believe I was the one that said drugs are taboo now. While marijuana use is very common now, its also very much kept on the down low. While its expected that high school and college student will use marijuana at one point in their life...I know most adults (or even people my age who use--and I'm only a few years out of college) who still smoke are viewed as "bums". Maybe it was the same perception back in the 60s...I don't know.

Maybe taboo was the wrong word to use--but I just think its absurd that a 30 year old can go out and get plastered every weekend, but if he were to smoke a bowl every so often--he's perceived as some low life.

I hope this was coherent. I'm multi-tasking like crazy.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 6:22pm

Ha, I know the guys who were responsible for the food shortage at Woodstock... Or one of the reasons why there was a shortage. They ran Food For Love. Lots of money never made it to the concessions! Instead there were shady deals and funds intended for supplies tucked away. Even the Hippy Era had it's Madoffs!

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 8:14pm

It is true that marijuana is very common in today's society. I've never smoked anything before in my entire life, but I remember being shocked when I saw my peers smoking pot right in front of my face. It's interesting how pot is common, but not socially acceptable (if that makes sense); however, I think the fact that it is illegal does contribute to that factor.

[wendilin622]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 8:43pm

Absolutely. And if you look at the actual health effects of marijuana vs. alcohol--alcohol is way worse. A person is way more in control of themselves after smoking a bowl rather than drinking.

I wonder how alcohol was perceived during this hippy era. From what I gather--marijuana was a lot more prevalent. It'd be interesting to research the actual drug usage during the hippy era.

[yay_gerb]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 9:21pm

i always thought pot should be legal and liquor shouldn't. pot doesn't make you black out or stumble all over the place. alcohol does. they can't do that tho because of the same reason they won't make cigarettes illegal. tax money and not to mention all the businesses that would shut down(alcohol companies, bars etc.)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 9:35pm

First off, here's the thing that is the real problem now. It's taboo to say out loud the following thing: recreational drug use is fun. (I would add the following caveat: at first, anyway). Thanks to the cultural backlash against the '60s, talking about pleasure in almost all forms is something that it is definitely stifled. And there's a problem with that. Because it's only acceptable to say "drugs are bad, there's nothing good about them at all, and if you use them you're morally bankrupt," when somebody does try them and realizes they feel good, the lies are revealed.

It's a shame that the backlash has silenced honest discussion about what drugs are like, what they do, and what the downsides because now it's almost impossible to talk honestly with people. Thanks to the useless war on drugs, heroin is now significantly cheaper than the far more benign marijuana.

Of course large numbers of people use marijuana. It feels good! And it doesn't give people hangovers. I think the reaction to pot smoking really varies depending on where you live, your community, and your friendship circles.

Druggy young people in the '60s made a lot of noise about how much more harmful alcohol is than drug use, so among that set there was a sort of anti-alcohol point of view because drinking was seen as square and something old people did. But of course, PLENTY of hippies drank too. Did Janis Joplin ever perform without a bottle in her hand?

Updated On: 8/10/09 at 09:35 PM

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 9:37pm

Kind of off topic.

I will be seeing the show next Wednesday from row P in the orchestra. I am so excited even though I have seen it before!!

I was just wondering, what is the overhang like in the orch? I know the overhang starts in row L...

[TreyKenyon]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 10:04pm

CS--- I sat in Row M and the overhang wasn't even noticeable, so I think you should be good.

[yay_gerb]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 10:21pm

that is true, that some hippies did drink, but that was a great thing about being a hippie. there was no certain rule you had to live up to. some thought drinking was bad. some drank their kidneys away. both were still hippies. where i live pot smoking is basically socially acceptable here, but the drug use stays at mary jane. if anyone mentions any other drug form people start freaking out. they really should just make it (MJ and only MJ)legal and get it over with. do they not see the hefty amount of tax money they would make from it?

CSonBroadway: don't even worry about the overhang. it wont be a problem to you and nothing happens up high anyways. a few quick entrances and thats about it. i think you should still be able to see them tho.

[sgv123]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 10:24pm

cs- Are you sitting center orch?

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 8/10/09 at 10:25pm

I'm sitting on the right side.