Cabaret Scenes Theatre Review

Hair, a runaway hit off- and on Broadway in 1967, is letting the sunshine in with a big ka-ching at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. The new revival of Hair drew an enthusiastic audience last summer in Central Park and now focuses its intensity indoors on Broadway.

Forty-two is the new 18. With a sketch of a plot and no major star turns, Hair is an audience magnet. At this performance, a group of excited 40-somethings in thrift-shop hippie gear, left kids and husbands at home and came out for a look-see at the era of the counterculture. There were also folks who were once part of the dreaded Establishment, others reliving the zeitgeist, and youngsters who weren't even imagined of back then. What does Hair offer to all of them?

It's fun. It's Dionysian, dedicated to love, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Of course, there is also the nude scene, which makes little impact today. The heart and fervor of the young cast is what carries the popularity into the millennium as well as the Galt MacDermot and Gerome Ragni/James Rado's score, which is infectious although heavily amplified.

There is a palpable closeness among members of the cast ("The Tribe"). The focus is on Claude (Gavin Creel), sensitive and confused, anti-Establishment and distrusting everyone over 30, especially his parents. He shuns his prosaic roots in Flushing, Queens and tells everyone he is from Manchester, England. Creel has a beautiful tenor voice, and like many in the cast of 32, has moments to shine. Claude's moment comes when he does not burn his draft card, wondering poignantly, "Where Do I Go" ("Where will they lead me/And will I ever/Discover why I live and die?")

Will Swenson as Berger is an irrepressible bad boy, rambunctious, roaming the stage and audience. Occasionally, his machismo stamping shifts into queenly prancing. Anything goes with Berger. Charismatic and animalistic, he's in love, or something, with ardent protester Sheila (Caissie Levy).

Allison Case is passionate as flower child Crissy. Kacie Sheik (Jeanie) is pregnant with someone's baby but loves Claude. Darius Nicholas is eye-catching as Hud. Andrew Kober and Megan Lawrence are foils as the older folks, Claude's parents, and Margaret Mead.

The songs do not move the plot forward, but there is barely a plot anyway. Ragni and Rado's lyrics, often preachy, reflect the '60s word patterns. Many lyrics, however, were buried in the acoustics, some mercifully, like "Hair" with lyrics like "They'll be gaga at the go-go/ When they see me in my toga."

"Ain't Got No" says: "Ain't got no grass/ Ain't got no acid/ Ain't got no clothes/ Ain't got no grass." And ain't got a lot of other things.

In "I Got Life," Claude celebrates: "I got my neck/I got my tits/I got my heart/I got my soul/I got my back/I got my ass..."

Protests provide fodder for many songs—against racial inequality, Vietnam, and in favor of free drugs and free love. "Easy to Say No" reflects Sheila's spirit with "How can people have no feelings/How can they ignore their friends?" Other songs voice the concerns and hopes of adolescence, like Crissy's crush on "Frank Mills." The optimism of "Good Morning Starshine" has a lullaby calm: "Good morning starshine/The earth says hello/You twinkle above us/We twinkle below."

Dionne (Saycon Sengbloh substituted for Sasha Allen in this performance) led The Tribe in the rousing opener, "Aquarius," which pleads for a time when, "... peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars." Lyrics aside, it's more about MacDermont's melodies, infectious with insistent eclectic rhythms that impose themselves effectively over the orchestrations.

Director Diane Paulus was resilient in her focus and her mission to bring a relevance to this production. Hair is dated, but Paulus keeps the pace moving like a freight train, using the front rows, aisles, and balconies. Flowers are passed out, Karole Armitage's nonstop choreography is vigorous, and the audience is actively drawn into the communal spirit. Kevin Adams' lighting with the punches of sound are dramatically jolting. Scott Pask's set design is simple but effective: a brick wall backdrop and a green carpet, with hanging colored lamps for the "Be-In" protest. Costumes by Michael McDonald are, well, predictably fringe, beads, jeans.

The finale is stunning with a tight ensemble singing "Let the Sun Shine In," urging hope in a dark world. At the end, the company breaks away and Claude is lying on a flag, killed for his country. It is a moment of hard memories of the unpopular wars and political cynicism that followed.

At curtain call, the audience is ready to let their hair down and crowd on stage to party on and groove to the songs that defined the era of rebellion.

(Pictured: Gavin Creel and Will Swenson; photo by Joan Marcus)

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
April 4, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org



	Hair Al Hirschfeld Theatre New York, NY
Hair, a runaway hit off- and on Broadway in 1967, is letting the sunshine in with a big ka-ching at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. The new revival of Hair drew an enthusiastic audience last summer in Central Park and now focuses its intensity indoors on Broadway. Forty-two is the new 18. With a sketch of a plot and no major star turns, Hair is an audience magnet. At this performance, a group of excited 40-somethings in thrift-shop hippie gear, left kids and husbands at home and came out for a look-see at the era of the counterculture. There were also folks who were once part of the dreaded Establishment, others reliving the zeitgeist, and youngsters who weren't even imagined of back then. What does Hair offer to all of them? It's fun. It's Dionysian, dedicated to love, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Of course, there is also the nude scene, which makes little impact today. The heart and fervor of the young cast is what carries the popularity into the millennium as well as the Galt MacDermot and Gerome Ragni/James Rado's score, which is infectious although heavily amplified. There is a palpable closeness among members of the cast ("The Tribe"). The focus is on Claude (Gavin Creel), sensitive and confused, anti-Establishment and distrusting everyone over 30, especially his parents. He shuns his prosaic roots in Flushing, Queens and tells everyone he is from Manchester, England. Creel has a beautiful tenor voice, and like many in the cast of 32, has moments to shine. Claude's moment comes when he does not burn his draft card, wondering poignantly, "Where Do I Go" ("Where will they lead me/And will I ever/Discover why I live and die?") Will Swenson as Berger is an irrepressible bad boy, rambunctious, roaming the stage and audience. Occasionally, his machismo stamping shifts into queenly prancing. Anything goes with Berger. Charismatic and animalistic, he's in love, or something, with ardent protester Sheila (Caissie Levy). Allison Case is passionate as flower child Crissy. Kacie Sheik (Jeanie) is pregnant with someone's baby but loves Claude. Darius Nicholas is eye-catching as Hud. Andrew Kober and Megan Lawrence are foils as the older folks, Claude's parents, and Margaret Mead. The songs do not move the plot forward, but there is barely a plot anyway. Ragni and Rado's lyrics, often preachy, reflect the '60s word patterns. Many lyrics, however, were buried in the acoustics, some mercifully, like "Hair" with lyrics like "They'll be gaga at the go-go/ When they see me in my toga." "Ain't Got No" says: "Ain't got no grass/ Ain't got no acid/ Ain't got no clothes/ Ain't got no grass." And ain't got a lot of other things. In "I Got Life," Claude celebrates: "I got my neck/I got my tits/I got my heart/I got my soul/I got my back/I got my ass..." Protests provide fodder for many songs—against racial inequality, Vietnam, and in favor of free drugs and free love. "Easy to Say No" reflects Sheila's spirit with "How can people have no feelings/How can they ignore their friends?" Other songs voice the concerns and hopes of adolescence, like Crissy's crush on "Frank Mills." The optimism of "Good Morning Starshine" has a lullaby calm: "Good morning starshine/The earth says hello/You twinkle above us/We twinkle below." Dionne (Saycon Sengbloh substituted for Sasha Allen in this performance) led The Tribe in the rousing opener, "Aquarius," which pleads for a time when, "... peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars." Lyrics aside, it's more about MacDermont's melodies, infectious with insistent eclectic rhythms that impose themselves effectively over the orchestrations. Director Diane Paulus was resilient in her focus and her mission to bring a relevance to this production. Hair is dated, but Paulus keeps the pace moving like a freight train, using the front rows, aisles, and balconies. Flowers are passed out, Karole Armitage's nonstop choreography is vigorous, and the audience is actively drawn into the communal spirit. Kevin Adams' lighting with the punches of sound are dramatically jolting. Scott Pask's set design is simple but effective: a brick wall backdrop and a green carpet, with hanging colored lamps for the "Be-In" protest. Costumes by Michael McDonald are, well, predictably fringe, beads, jeans. The finale is stunning with a tight ensemble singing "Let the Sun Shine In," urging hope in a dark world. At the end, the company breaks away and Claude is lying on a flag, killed for his country. It is a moment of hard memories of the unpopular wars and political cynicism that followed. At curtain call, the audience is ready to let their hair down and crowd on stage to party on and groove to the songs that defined the era of rebellion. (Pictured: Gavin Creel and Will Swenson; photo by Joan Marcus) Elizabeth Ahlfors Cabaret Scenes April 4, 2009 www.cabaretscenes.org

Hair

Al Hirschfeld Theatre New York, NY

Al Hirschfeld Theatre
New York, NY