faux HAIR: Gavin Creel's wig
faux HAIR: Gavin Creel's wig
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#1faux HAIR: Gavin Creel's wig
Posted: 4/10/09 at 11:53am
To my surprise, I much enjoyed Creel's Claude. He sings the songs gloriously, and has even supplied the character with a more aggressive pan-sexuality than was there before, and makes the "story" arc, such as it is, more emotional.
But that wig. Jeesh. The show is called "hair," so shouldn't his be among the most impressive? In his clingy white top and truly unconvincing wig (when he's tossed around the stage, his locks in turn toss in a most unpersuasive manner)...he looks like a send-up of Christopher Guest in SPINAL TAP.
There's something wrong with a Claude look when you are most appealing in the reveal in uniform. Suddenly, he was given more stage weight in the final moments, 180 degrees away from the intention of "Flesh Failures" (which he sings very effectively, with great passion and placement).
In a show as exciting as this one, a wig lapse is especially disappointing.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
Updated On: 4/10/09 at 11:53 AM
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#2re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/10/09 at 5:03pmfolks complained about the wig big time when Groff was wearing it as well. It seems to be "better" than his....but I haven't seen it at the Hirschfeld yet. (Another torturous week of waiting.)
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
PiraguaGuy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/10/08
#2re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/10/09 at 5:05pm
For a second I forgot Creel doesn't do the nude scene and thought that this was going to be about something else...especially since there was such a fuss over many of the, eh, "bald" ensemble members...
And I suspect I wasn't the only one, seeing as this thread has 2 replies and about 300 views.
Formerly SirNotAppearing - Joined 3/08
Updated On: 4/10/09 at 05:05 PM
#3re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/10/09 at 5:52pmWhat do you mean "bald" ensemble members? I did notice that in the promo shots much of the male ensemble had clipped chests and shaved treasure trails and I thought wasn't that the era of things growing wild and free. Hmmm....
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
PiraguaGuy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/10/08
#4re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/10/09 at 5:55pmThat's what I meant by "bald".
Formerly SirNotAppearing - Joined 3/08
#5re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/10/09 at 6:50pmAre shorter wigs really all that bad? I'd rather they have him keep his long hair for the majority of the show and then wear a short hair wig at the end.
#6re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/10/09 at 7:26pm
I thought it was believable, and the best looking of the bunch! But then again, he is, like, my idol, so I'm not unbiased. 
"He found something that he wanted, had always wanted and always would want— not to be admired, as he had feared; not to be loved, as he had made himself believe; but to be necessary to people, to be indispensable."
-F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#7re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/10/09 at 9:04pmOkay, we'll change this to "wig."
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#8re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/10/09 at 9:29pmThe reviewer for New York Magazine mentioned the anachronistic lack of pubic hair on many cast members. He said his companion whispered, "I didn't know hippies got Brazilians in the 1960's".
#10re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/10/09 at 9:48pm
he looks like a send-up of Christopher Guest in SPINAL TAP.
HAHA i love that.
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#11re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/10/09 at 9:50pm
Yeah, Hilton Als pretty much hated the whole thing, mostly the epiction of blacks and women. To me, the women are very much pre-feminist accessories, groupies to narcissistic male characters in the tribes. It's sort of silly to quibble, however -- they are historically accurate because they were written at a moment when counter culture explored sexuality but still saw the male as the center of the universe. Hell, listen to the lyrics of the title song. It's about men having long hair. "...the male plummage..." nails it, in another song.
But back to the wig -- the wig Creel wears is asexual, does nothing to make him more expressively virile. Berger, the 32 year old high school student in this production (!) has the compelling natural hair, and matching 'tude about it. Creel has to shake his bewigged tendrils, limp and stringy, in the face of many people, and the lank locks are not persuasively threatening or even thick enough to suggest the hippie subcultural aversion to grooming.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
lightguy06222
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/3/06
#12re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/10/09 at 11:29pm
is there nudity in the show? do you see male and female privates?
anyone good?? lol.
dreamz
Stand-by Joined: 10/15/04
#13re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/10/09 at 11:37pmYes there is nudity in the show both male and female
#14re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/10/09 at 11:38pmAnyone good? REALLY? Please, grow up!!!
"He found something that he wanted, had always wanted and always would want— not to be admired, as he had feared; not to be loved, as he had made himself believe; but to be necessary to people, to be indispensable."
-F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise
Byron Abens
Broadway Star Joined: 7/17/08
#15re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/11/09 at 12:21am
In response to the question about short hair wigs vs. long haired wigs: yes, it would be much harder to make a short haired wig on a guy look good, especially when you wouldn't have time to properly pin curl and tuck up his hair if it was naturally long.
And the hippies and Brazilians comment brought a huge smile to my face. You would think that these actors would be a little more committed to recreating the times and forgo the trips to the bikini waxers.
#16re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/11/09 at 11:51am
I have to admit, I've done Hair in the past and I did ponder manscaping vs. wild and free. Not to get too graphic, but it seems that I was more committed than these people on Broadway!
~Steven
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#17re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/11/09 at 11:53am
I'm MORE suprised that production team wouldn't demand it.
Its not a big deal, but it does take you out of the moment...for a moment.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
#18re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/11/09 at 12:05pm
And that's an important moment. That moment is about freedom and rebellion and not necessarily sexuality, so it would make sense for their bodies to reflect that, even (or especially) in today's society of grooming. I mean, those poor actors in the latest Fiddler revival had those awful, but real, beards for the entire run, and that hair was on their face for the world to see. The show is called Hair. A little extra hair never hurt anyone. I too am surprised that it wasn't demanded.
~Steven
#19re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/11/09 at 12:07pmpersonally it didn't take me out of the moment. the first 3 times i saw it i didn't notice it at all. the last time tho i did because of all of the discussions of it on here.
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#20re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/11/09 at 12:17pm
Well, it's just because that's what we're used to. I think if they were really au naturale, it would have been a little more shocking. We're already expecting the nudity, so there isn't much shock factor. That would have been a surprise for some people, and in a good way I believe. Don't you think?
~Steven
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#21re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/11/09 at 1:44pmBy the way, the photo of Swenson and Creel at this very site, currently on display, makes the wig look much more effective than it does during performance. Maybe it's been poorly maintained. It just looks very JOSEPH/DREAMCOAT-ish. In other words, expensive, but not really evocative. What if Creel had just grown his? I recall seeing a black Berger in the old days -- HAIR embraced non-traditional casting in ways CHORUS LINE did not until the revival. Needless to say, he didn't have long locks. (Didn't Andre de Shields move into the role of Berger? I think I actually saw him in the Chicago/Blackstone Theater sit-down, circal 1971.)
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
#22re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/11/09 at 2:14pmAs said before, Creel could not have grown his, for he must have short hair for the end of the show. It is easier to use a long wig and then take it off then to scramble to get a short wig onto a person with long hair. It really isn't that hard to understand!
"He found something that he wanted, had always wanted and always would want— not to be admired, as he had feared; not to be loved, as he had made himself believe; but to be necessary to people, to be indispensable."
-F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise
sparrman
Broadway Star Joined: 2/21/07
#23re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/12/09 at 10:52amGavin Creel's wig looks more realistic than the one James Rado seems to be wearing these days!
#24re: Gavin Creel's, er, 'hair'
Posted: 4/12/09 at 10:54amWorst wig right now HAS to be James Carpinello's in "ROA" !!!
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