As soon as the last number ends with a hair-rising rendition of "Let the Sun Shine In" at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, the audience spontaneously springs to their feet with a rousing standing ovation for the talented cast of the 60's Musical Revival.
Minutes later - without much urging from the actors - ecstatic theatre-goers dash up on to the festive stage to partake in a mystical ritual of dancing and clapping at the close of the well-written Musical.
The Stage Revival - now on tour around the country - is definitely a celebration of life!
In one ribald scene, where the cast sing out joyously about having - "my teeth", glorious "hair", and a hot a** - it is quite evident that the rock musical is also an insightful foray into the elusive world of the inner confines (and erotic fantasies) of mind, body, and soul.
And - the message of LOVE and PEACE resonates just as soundly today - as it did over forty years ago when it first hit the Broadway Stage in NYC.
When the storyline drifts into controversial territory - on such thought-provoking issues as the draft and an unpopular War - Hair delivers up a punch that offers up relevant commentary that smacks of the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Talk about timely!
The horrors of War still impact!
To the instinctive heads of that era - it was quite apparent in their own naive way - that it was intrinsically wrong to rampantly rape, pillage, kill, - and pit Nation against Nation - in the name of protecting the free world!
In contrast, the visionary material also uncannily manages to underscore how different the youth of today are compared to the "hippies" of that bygone era.
After all, in the wake of 9/11 - honor, duty, and serving one's country - became values worth fighting for!
Although some of the references to LBJ (a former U.S. President) and IBM (long before Bill Gates sauntered into the PC Marketplace with compact desktop computers) date the material - in their context - they appear to matter little to enthusiastic theatre-goers who have been packing the house since opening night.
Although some of the directing is a bit pedestrian at times - Hair is a delightful production - that would have benefitted from a bit of judicious pruning here-and-there with the ultimate aim of moving along the pace a tad.
A couple of stand-out poignant ballads are show-stoppers, too!
Members of the audience are particuarly thrilled with the interaction that goes on between the cast and ticket-holders each night once the show gets underway.
At one point - two characters in the stage hit- step out of the Orchestra to offer up a segment of comic relief that is both dazzling and entertaining.
Hair was quite the personal experience for me!
In fact, I got a little teary-eyed.
Ah, the memories!
Readers of the Tattler may recall that I posted a promo for the two-act musical in which I recalled my friendship with Book & Lyric contributor Gerome Ragni.
Post: 12/26/10
http://ijulian.blogspot.com/2010/12/hairmemories-of-gerome-ragni-rock.html
Both Jerry & I lived and breathed the engaging material - hence - the reason why the words jump out from the page and touch musical-lovers magically in what has proven to be a memorable Stage experience that will not be long forgotten.
In fact, a number of the lyrics are catchy, amusing, and insightful!
Rush Tickets may be purchased on the night of the performance for $25.00.
Such a deal!
Catch it if you can, you won't regret it.
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