Mercury Theater Chicago HAIR Extended By Popular Demand

Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport Avenue - has announced the extension of our rousing rock musical HAIR: THE AMERICAN TRIBAL LOVE-ROCK MUSICAL through September 24th due to popular demand.

HAIR has received an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from critics and audience members alike. Not only are people praising the technical chops of the cast and crew, but also the genuine love shared between them and with the audience during each performance.

"This is a celebration of humanity, sharing, community and love with an earnest plea for the end of war, for harmony, understanding and peace," said director Brenda Didier.

Exploring ideas of identity, community, global responsibility and peace, HAIR remains relevant as ever as it examines what it means to be a young person in a changing world. A celebration of love, life, and freedom and a passionate cry for hope and change, HAIR defined one generation and continues to inspire today. To an infectiously energetic rock beat, the show wows audiences with songs like "Aquarius," "Good Morning Starshine," "Hair," "I Got Life," and "Let The Sun Shine In."

Mercury Theater Chicago and the company of HAIR are contributing to social justice both on and off the stage. They have begun collecting donations for different non-profit organizations every week. In the first week of collections, over $2,500 was raised for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. In the coming weeks, there will be collections for the Southern Poverty Law Center and Wounded Warriors.

HAIR brought the passion and revolution of the late 1960s to audiences around the world. After an off-Broadway debut in October 1967, the show opened on Broadway in April 1968 and ran for 1,750 performances. Since then, numerous productions have been staged around the world. Some of the songs from its score became Top 10 hits, and a feature film adaptation was released in 1979. A Broadway revival opened in 2009, earning rave reviews and winning the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for 2009 Best Revival of a Musical. In 2008, Time magazine wrote, "Today HAIR seems, if anything, more daring than ever."

HAIR was written by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, with music by Galt MacDermot. The production was led by Jeff Award winners Brenda Didier (Director) and Eugene Dizon (Musical Director) with choreography by Christopher Carter. The scenic design is by Jeffrey Kmiec with costume design by Robert Kuhn, lighting design by Nick Belley, sound design by Carl Wahlstrom and properties design by Mealah Heidenreich. The production stage manager is Kristi J. Martens with assistance by Hannah Wichmann.

HAIR features video projections designed by Peter Guither, Artistic Director of The Living Canvas, which tell compelling stories with performers' bodies clothed with the textures of projected images. The Living Canvas celebrates the beauty and expressive power of the human form through performance art and photography, nurturing a sense of body acceptance for performer and audience. It is spectacle and storytelling, utilizing creative lighting, sound, and multi-media imagery that interact with the human canvas.

HAIR features a talented cast of Chicago artists featuring Matt Keffer as "Berger" and Liam Quealy as "Claude." The tribe also includes Caleb Baze, Chuckie Benson, Aaron M. Davidson, Candace C. Edwards, Lucy Godinez, Michelle Lauto, Miciah Long, Andrew Lund, Mallory Maedke, Evan Tyrone Martin, Cherise Thomas, Leryn Turlington, Marco Tzunux and Craig Underwood.

The beautifully renovated Mercury Theater Chicago is an intimate jewel box of a theater in the heart of the Southport Corridor, a sophisticated neighborhood of restaurants and boutiques just steps from Wrigley Field. A delightful theater destination, Mercury Theater Chicago takes care of its guests from the moment they arrive with valet service and dining at its adjoining restaurant, Grassroots.

The performance schedule for HAIR is Wednesdays at 8pm, Thursdays at 8pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm and Sundays at 3pm. HAIR runs approximately 2 hours, 10 minutes. We recommend this production for theatergoers over the age of 12. The production contains scenes that briefly depict profanity, nudity and simulated drug use.

Individual tickets range from $30-$65, and are available online at www.MercuryTheaterChicago.com, over the phone at 773.325.1700, or in person at 3745 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago.

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