With a score including such enduring musical numbers as "Let the Sunshine In," "Aquarius," "Hair" and "Good Morning Starshine," Hair depicts the the birth of a cultural movement in the 60's and 70's that changed America forever: the musical follows a group of hopeful, free-spirited young people who advocate a lifestyle of pacifism and free-love in a society riddled with intolerance and brutality during the Vietnam War. As they explore sexual identity, challenge racism, experiment with drugs and burn draft cards, the "tribe" in Hair creates an irresistable message of 'hope' that continues to resonate with audiences 40 years later.
This acclaimed production played Central Park last summer.
Without those terrific little pop tarts (as they're dubbed by a tourist character in the show), Hair would be little more than a trippy rock concert. It lacks a strong story line: Claude gets drafted, Claude goes to Vietnam, let the sun shine in. The sheer diversity of Galt MacDermot's music — folk, pop, R&B, acid rock — can be jarring, groundbreaking as it was in 1967. And the protracted Act 2 hallucination — featuring Abe Lincoln, Aretha Franklin, and a trio of homicidal nuns — will harsh anyone's buzz. Yet the antiwar message still resonates all too well, as do Gerome Ragni and James Rado's lyrics, Timothy Leary references notwithstanding. (Pity that so much is overamplified, because you want to hear the irreverent words of 'Sodomy' and 'Black Boys.')
If anything, the transfer indoors produces more heat than last summer in the open-air Delacorte. The walls fairly shudder with Galt MacDermot’s polymorphously perverse rock score, and the stage gets a thorough pounding from the cast’s nonstop dancing, stomping and sprawling. Directed with tireless inventiveness and intensity by Diane Paulus and groovily choreographed by Karole Armitage, Hair speaks to a new generation faced with unpopular wars and a cynical society.
1967 | Off-Broadway |
Original Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
1968 | Broadway |
Broadway Transfer Broadway |
1968 | West End |
London Production West End |
1969 | Australia |
Australian Production Australia |
1977 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
1993 | West End |
London Revival West End |
2001 | Off-Broadway |
Encores! Concert Off-Broadway |
2004 | Broadway |
Actors' Fund Concert Broadway |
2005 | London Fringe |
London Revival London Fringe |
2008 | Off-Broadway |
Shakespeare In The Park Revival Off-Broadway |
2009 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
2010 | West End |
London Revival West End |
2010 | US Tour |
National Tour US Tour |
2011 | Broadway |
National Tour [Broadway Return Engagement] Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Hair |
2009 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Will Swenson |
2009 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Karole Armitage |
2009 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Costume Design | Michael McDonald |
2009 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Diane Paulus |
2009 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Bryce Ryness |
2009 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Set Design of a Musical | Scott Pask |
2009 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Karole Armitage |
2009 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Diane Paulus |
2009 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design | Kevin Adams |
2009 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical | 0 |
2009 | The Hewes Awards | Lighting Design | Kevin Adams |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Choreography | Karole Armitage |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Musical | Michael McDonald |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Musical | Diane Paulus |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Musical | Kevin Adams |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | Will Swenson |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | Gavin Creel |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Jam Theatricals |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | The Public Theater |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Elizabeth Ireland McCann |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Joey Parnes |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Jujamcyn Theaters |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | The Weinstein Company/Norton Herrick |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Andrew D. Hamingson |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Andy Sandberg |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | JK Productions/Terry Schnuck |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Barbara Manocherian/Wencarlar Productions |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Broadway Across America |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Marc Frankel |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Fran Kirmser Productions/Jed Bernstein |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Nederlander Productions, Inc. |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Kathleen K. Johnson |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Gary Goddard Entertainment |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Jerry Frankel |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Jeffrey Richards |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Musical | Acme Sound Partners |
2009 | Tony Awards | Revival (Musical) | Oskar Eustis |
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