In 1967 the musical “HAIR” burst onto Broadway from the downtown Public Theater. It was hailed as a breath of fresh air in contrast to the increasingly moribund musicals that were playing ‘The Great White Way’. Whereas at one time the pop songs that dominated the airwaves in America mostly came from Broadway shows, perhaps only the title tunes from “Hello Dolly” or “Cabaret” had had any mainstream success by the mid to late sixties. Since the late fifties, most popular music came from rock ‘n’ roll, Motown, folk or dozens of other styles that the ‘Baby Boom’ generation found and embraced. Young people had their music and their parents had “Fiddler on the Roof”. (The ‘soundtrack’ of many a Jewish household, including my own.)
“HAIR” brought the generations together for a communal love fest of peace and, perhaps, understanding. Those middle-class parents, who worried that their sons were letting their hair get too long and their daughters were wearing outfits too skimpy, could see that beneath it all, they were the same children going though a healthy rebellious phase. Why the music they thought of as ‘just noise’ was actually very pretty and melodic, even if the lyrics were slightly naughty. Was it any coincidence that the hit songs from “HAIR” were popularized by ‘The Cowsils’, a band made up of family members, and ‘The Fifth Dimension’, with its two married couples? In 1967, “HAIR’s” most provocative claim to fame was that it featured some of these kids taking off all their clothes on stage! (Gasps and titters, ‘Look Maude, boobs!’)
The other ‘revolutionary’ thing about “HAIR” was that it had no real plot to speak of, just a series of charming, sometimes off-color ditties, kinda addressing the major dilemma of the time, the Vietnam War. Should our nominal hero, Claude, burn his draft card in protest or will he give in to parental pressure and shape up? Mix nudity, soft rock music, and a provocative theme together, and Broadway finally had its entre into the ‘Baby Boom’ generation. Of course, it couldn’t offend its core audience too much or else they would stay away, insulted and hurt. “HAIR” has it both ways. Sort of a Toostie Roll pop musical.
I remember thinking this, when I first saw “HAIR” in Chicago in 1968 at the Shubert Theater, with my then girlfriend Paula. There was a real inconsistency with what was happening onstage (and in those scary aisles where dancers would approach us in character), and the fact I had paid $11.50 a ticket to sit in a beautiful gold rococo auditorium in deep blue velvet cushioned seats. By the end though, I had given in to the cheerfulness and camaraderie of “HAIR” and Paula and I ended up on stage singing and dancing ‘Let the Sunshine In’ with pure joy and excitement. Several months later, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated and the Democratic National Convention was rocking my Chicago. The next year “Woodstock” took place (no I was not there) and the real ‘soundtrack for a generation’ came about. “HAIR” quickly became a period piece. Last year’s news.
Now “HAIR” is playing in Central Park at the Delacorte Theater where I caught it last Friday night. Because it was not only free, but also a beautiful summer night, I was able to sit back and look at “HAIR” as a revival of a famous Broadway show, much like “No No Nanette” was.
The ‘story’ revolves around two friends, Berger, the rebellious high school senior, played by Will Swenson (straight from the ‘Stockard Channing High School’) and cautious Claude, performed beatifically by Jonathan Groff in his most disarming boyish style. They, along with their friends, hang out in Washington Square Park, singing and dancing the joys and woes of being young and pretty in a turbulent world. Perhaps the most non-traditional aspect of “HAIR” is the fact that there isn’t a love story that the audience could focus on, no matter how tangentially. (Zack and Cassie anyone?) Smartly, the director Dianne Paulus, has not tried to link the ’67’ Vietnam Conflict with the current war in Iraq. Instead what we get is a large group of youngish good-looking actors playing their version of 60’s ‘hippies’. They are all adorable. For most of the time it was like watching “The Puppy Bowl” (Each year, on the day of the Super Bowl, Animal Planet shows lots of puppies playing in a yard constructed to look like a stadium. The effect is very calming.)
Galt MacDermot’s music with lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado hark back to a time when Broadway actually thought it was being radical by giving us a soft rock beat with bawdy, racy words. (Though the other night I found myself singing Claude’s first act finale song “Where Do I Go” and ended up with “Sweet Charity’s” big second act number “Where Am I Going?” Try keeping those separate in your mind, I dare ya.) It was a pleasure listening to all the familiar hit tunes like some kind of K-Tel record ‘Treasures from the Summer of Love’. (Missing only ‘When You’re Going to San Francisco’)
I loved looking at all the sixties-style costumes that have since gone in and out of fashion several times over in the last forty years, and it was cool to see the same bell-bottomed jeans with flower patches that I remember wearing in high school. (In full disclosure, my parents owned the largest bead and novelty store in Chicago and this exploding fashion allowed them to go from lower middle-class to a very comfortable middle-class, thank you “HAIR” very much!)
The great Modern choreographer, Karole Armitage, creates dances that are a wonderful merging of innocent street-life and high Broadway style. Her way of grouping the large cast made me wish that the movie producers of “Momma Mia!” had spent a few bucks and done the same to those flat-footed island villagers.
Like the recent “Damn Yankees”, “HAIR” doesn’t have much more on its mind then giving us an enjoyable summer night, this time in Central Park. Unlike forty years ago, I didn’t feel the same queasy condescension, though there were two discordant notes that seem to be inherent in any production of the show. First, the second act begins to slow down to a crawl, as our puppies start tiring out. Secondly, the heavy-handed irony of the protagonist, Claude, whose first act anthem is “I Got Life”, becomes representative of all the young men who decide that it’s better to man-up and go to war than to live in a confusing world of moral ambiguities and decadence. This leads to his death, and Claude’s body on an American flag is the last visual we see. He is alone under a spotlight, devoid of friends and family.
Could this be the response of the creators of “HAIR” to America’s inability to separate the Viet Nam War from its soldiers in the sixties and early seventies? Gee thanks guys, I’m feeling crappy. Fortunately the moment passes very quickly and we are back to ‘Let The Sun Shine In’. And, wouldn’t you know it, just like I did forty years ago in Chicago, I and my friends rushed onto the stage, sang loudly, danced badly and left the Delacorte Theater happy.
“HAIR” really didn’t change much in the world of Broadway. The winner of best musical the year it opened was “1776” and the next year it was “Applause”!!! Musicals were determined to stay put, smack in the middle of the 20th Century, and it’s only recently that they are being dragged into the 21st.. But “HAIR” is still a pleasant way to spend a warm summer night under the stars.
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