Hair (musical)

For the movie of the same name, see Hair.

Hair, subtitled The American Tribal Love/Rock Musical, is a beat opera about the < culture i>hippie of the 1960s in the United States, including love, peace, sexual freedom or drug use, all of which had a certain impact on the time, including full nudity of all the actors in some scenes. Beyond all this, the musical Hair has left some of the best-known songs in the world to this day, and which became anthems of peace, such as "Aquarius" or "Let the Sunshine in", despite the fact that many people do not know the musical to which they belong.

The work was originally written by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and they created the lyrics for the songs for which Galt MacDermot composed the music.

The first performances, as a test, were held in 1967 at a New York club called The Cheetah. It then premiered at the Public Theater on off-Broadway October 17, 1967 with considerable success; and finally moved to the Biltmore Theater on Broadway on April 29, 1968, where it ran for 1,750 performances. The London premiere took place on September 27, 1968 at the Shaftesbury Theatre, and ran for 1,998 performances until its forced closure by the collapse of the theater roof in July 1973. The play has been performed multiple times around the world and to this day. The premiere in Spain was in 1975 in Barcelona and Madrid, in English and with the title " Classic rock from the 60's. The Spanish version was released in 1977 and already with the original name.

In 1979, a film based on the musical and with the same name (Hair) was produced, directed by Miloš Forman and starring Treat Williams, Beverly D'Angelo and John Savage.

The soundtrack, both of the play and the film, has been released in the different formats since its premiere.

Political and cultural significance

The work challenged many of the "norms" established by Western society at that time and caused controversy since its premiere, generating a lot of publicity at the end of Act I, in which actors and actresses appeared naked on stage. This became a legal issue when the performance toured the United States, because theatrical nudity was acceptable in New York at the time, but was unknown elsewhere. The work was also judicially accused of contempt for the American flag and the use of obscene language, with the case reaching the Supreme Court. In the United Kingdom, the controversy generated around the musical Hair meant the end of censorship on stage. theaters of the country.

Distribution

• New York's original "tribu" hippie included James Rado, Gerome Ragni, Shelley Plimpton, Kim Milford, Melba Moore, Paul Jabara, Ben Vereen, Meat Loaf, Jobriath and Diane Keaton (on a small paper).
• The original "tribu" of Buenos Aires (Argentina) included Valeria Lynch, Horacio Fontova, Rubén Rada, Mirta Busnelli, Carola Cutaia and Cristina Bustamante (the girl of the song "Muchacha (Ojos de papel)"). Represented from 1971-1974.
• London's original "tribu" included Paul Nicholas, Richard O'Brien, Melba Moore, Elaine Paige, Tim Curry, Marsha Hunt and Alex Harvey.
• Berlin's original "tribu" included Donna Summer.

Latest productions

• James Rado has given his blessing to an update of the lyrics to put it in the context of the Gulf War 2003 instead of the Vietnam War, and the premiere took place on 12 September 2005 at the London Theatre Gate. Web del Gate Theatre

• The original producer Michael Butler is collaborating with La Guardia High School of Music " Art and Performing Arts New York to launch a production Hair in December 2005. Web de La Guardia High School.

• It was released again in March 2009 on Broadway, with Gavin Creel on the role of Claude

• In 2019, with its 50th anniversary, it premiered the Argentine version, in the Cultural City Konex under the direction of Pablo Gorlero, with Agustín Iannone in the role of Claude, Diego Rodríguez as Berger, Bethlehem Ucar in the role of Sheila, Mariel Percossi in the role of Jeanie, and great cast.

Topic List

• Aquarius
• Sodomy
• Donna/Hashish
• Colored Spade
• Manchester
• Abie Baby/Fourscore
• I'm Black/Ain't Got No
• Air
• Party Music
• My Conviction
• I Got Life
• Frank Mills
• Hair
• L. B. J.
• Electric Blues/Old Fashioned Melody
• Hare Krishna
• Where Do I Go?
• Black Boys
• White Boys
• Walking in Space
• Easy to be Hard
• 3-5-0-0
• Good Morning Starshine
• What a Piece of Work is Man
• Someone to Love
• Don't Put it Down
• The Flesh Failures/Let the Sunshine in