Review: HAIR- THE TRIBAL LOVE ROCK MUSICAL at Seacoast Repertory Theatre

It is hard to believe that “Hair-The Tribal Love Rock Musical” made its debut 55 years ago. Think about this.  The groundbreaking, highly controversial musical is 55 years old this year.

The show shattered the musical theater scene with a production far different than any before its time.  It had rock music; that was a first. It had themes far from the mainstream including mind altering drugs, cries against social injustice, glimpses of racial inequity, questioning of gender identities, and rallying cries for peace, love and sexual freedom.

And it didn’t end there as it took on the antiwar sentiment of the Vietnam era. Burning draft cards became a regular happening. Avoiding the draft or escaping to Canada became commonplace.

And perhaps, the most memorable thing of all, it featured nudity. That’s right. The last scene of the first act had full frontal nudity on stage. Musical theater would never be the same.

The Seacoast Repertory Theatre production of the milestone musical is a brilliantly layered masterpiece that keeps the original flair of the musical with an edgy, contemporary take on the issues of the 1960s. (It is ironic that the issues raised so long ago are still highly relevant news items of the 2020s.)

The show explodes with the energy and the feel of the 60s. From ushers dressed in “groovy” garb to an onstage band playing a Jimi Hendrix tune, you know you are set to experience a psychedelic overload. Oriental carpets adorn the walls, zodiac signs are everywhere, and elements of Hari Krishna worship are ever present. The setting looks like a cluttered warehouse where the tribe (the actors) takes residence to wax eloquent about their hopes, fears and desires. With the pounding rhythms of the 60s vibe, you have been transformed to another time and place. The only thing missing is the musky smell of marijuana.

The show begins at present time in what could easily be the basement of a suburban home. A grandfatherly George (Bill Humphreys) finds a souvenir box with protest signs, drug paraphernalia and even an unrolled stash of weed and a bit of LSD.  With the toke of a perfectly rolled joint, George is transported to the memories of his youth.

The show centers around the flower children, the tribe, confronting their time and place. The tribe is inspired by Berger (Sean Mullaney), a brazen and spirited high school flunkey and Claude (Jason Faria), a mild mannered British lad whose draft number is up next. Claude is truly vulnerable and conflicted as he is generally scared of either path he faces, either burning his draft card and going to jail, or being shipped off to Vietnam. Sheila (Alyssa Dumas), seemingly everyone’s love interest, is a social activist at her core and a strong female force in the production.

The threesome are friends to an array of wanderlust souls. Woof (Jacob Anspach) is an oversexed flirt and free spirit, Jeanie (Morgan Kyle) is pregnant and pining for Berger who is not the father of her child she says, Hud (Christopher Hobson) is a volatile black man ready to confront societal racism, and Crissy (Heather Conti-Clark) is one of the youngest and most innocent members of the tribe.

There is a long list of other tribe members who rollick their way through this show. Most are the recurring performers that fill the Seacoast roster on a regular basis.

The first act is a rapidly paced hodgepodge of 21 musical numbers each portraying a slice of the 60s personified. (The act has the feel of another stage show, “Godspell,” with each number playing like a parable.) There’s familiar territory with the more popular tunes from the show, “Aquarius” sung by Shaina Shwartz, “Hair” by Mullaney, and “Easy to be Hard” by Dumas.  I really liked the lesser known tunes, “I Believe in Love,” by Dumas, “Manchester England” by Faria looking like one of the British Invasion songsters, and an outrageously funny number, “My Conviction,” wonderfully played by Aidan Campbell as the socially relevant anthropologist, Margaret Mead. The first act, for the most part, is lighthearted, very animated and mostly fun.

The second act starts with a highly charged “Electric Blues,” rock number, reflecting the more turbulent times in the 60s. The fun and frolic turn to the realities of the Vietnam War with peace rallies. Slogans like “Hell no, we won’t go” bring back memories of a conflict that was broadcast daily on the evening news. Racial inequity played out in those broadcasts, too, and images of soldiers being brought home in coffins still linger today.

And while the second act is disturbing to watch, it is a perfect representation of that tumultuous time in our American history. The book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado are genuine and the show directors Ben Hart and Brandon James play out the themes with strong elements of truth, love and respect.

The behind-the-scenes tech crew is solid with imaginative staging and lighting. Seacoast choreographers, Alyssa Dumas and Jason Faria show their usual brilliance giving the cast a boisterous workout. Music directors, Jason Faria (he is a busy fellow), Aidan Campbell, and Walter “Bobby” McCoy (the orchestra conductor), replicate the sounds of my formative years to perfection.

The show also features Bri LeBuff, and Nicholas LaPenn, who perform as Cirque by Full Time Fools. LeBuff shows her gymnastic skills on the yoga silks while LaPenn is the master of spinning on a large metal ring. It adds a nice fresh element to the show.

And what about that nudity scene?  

It lasts for about 10 seconds and is done on a very darkened stage, so you aren’t seeing much. The show doesn’t rise or fall on the nudity scene as it really doesn’t offer much to the storytelling. But it wouldn’t be a production of “Hair” without that liberating moment that changed the theater world forever in 1968.     

Be warned that the show is a bit lengthy and lags at times especially during Claude’s hallucination scenes. Because there is so little dialogue, you also need to pay attention to the lyrics in every song so as not to miss a moment of the intense storytelling. And the uplifting “Let the Sunshine In” tune that we know from pop culture fame is far different in a more somber ending to the show.

“Hair” is well worth seeing especially for those who lived through the 60s era and for those who know it only from history books.

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