Lightning Bolt Productions Presents HAIR At West Boca Performing Arts Center At West Boca High

Lightning Bolt Productions will present Hair at the West Boca Performing Arts Center at West Boca High School from July 26th through August 4th.

When Hair first opened in 1967 it was called shocking, radical, and outrageous. Audiences were warned about its content - racism, drugs, 'disrespecting' the flag, and nudity, among other things. But over the past fifty plus years, Hair - with its iconic songs, and messages of love and freedom has become part of the American lexicon. New York Times critic Clive Barnes' words (quoted above) were prescient - the musical has stood the test of time and is as relevant today as it was then.

Jessie Hoffman, Lightning Bolt's founder and Artistic Director, who recently directed the company's well received production of Young Frankenstein, will once again take on dual duties for the production - as the show's Director, as well as the role of Jeanie.

"Hair tells the story of the "tribe", a group of politically active, long-haired hippies of the "Age of Aquarius" living a bohemian life in New York City and fighting against conscription into the Vietnam War," Hoffman explains. "Claude, his good friend Berger, their roommate Sheila and their friends struggle to balance their young lives, loves, and the sexual revolution with their rebellion against the war and their conservative parents and society. Ultimately, Claude must decide whether to resist the draft as his friends have done, or to succumb to the pressures of his parents (and conservative America) to serve in Vietnam, compromising his pacifist principles and risking his life.

"As the daughter of a man who served this country during the very war this show references, I really wanted the chance to tell this story," she continues. "Especially now when it's not only the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, but when we're living in a time that isn't all that different from the time these characters were living in. Somehow, everything has changed since then, and yet nothing has changed since then, and Hair is a piece that people in the audience, and the people up on that stage as well, are going to be able to relate to, and the material will resonate with everyone in that theater just as much as it did when the show first opened. Not many shows can do that, but Hair is a rare exception."

Along with Hoffman as Jeanie, the cast of Lightning Bolt's Hair cast includes Adrian Machado as Berger, Serena Concepcion as Sheila, Daniel Nohrden as Claude, Sorangel Munoz as Dionne, Jeffery Cason Jr. as Hud, Victoria Kuhns as Crissy, Giorgio Garcia as Woof, Logan Larroque as Margaret Mead, Nikki Dikun as Leata, Brian Heredia as Steve, Shannon Motherwell as Marjorie, Mark Hernandez as Paul, Kali Clougherty as Emmaretta Alec Taylor as Tim, Annaya Osborne as Mary, Ryan Crout as Hiram, Maria Broom as Suzannah, Doriyan Caty as Gerome, and Jade Dyer as Natalie.

Ryan Crout will provide Musical Direction for Hair, and Daniel Nohrden will serve as the show's Choreographer. Hair's Assistant Artistic Director is Sven Ballarte, the show's Stage Manager is Kaelea Murphy, and Shannon Motherwell will serve as Dramaturg.

Tickets for Hair are on sale now and can be purchased on line at www.lightningbolttheatre.com or by phone at 561-886-8286. Tickets are $35; student tickets ($20 with valid ID) and group rates ($20 with a purchase of 6 tickets or more) are also available.

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