Review: HAIR at The Premiere Playhouse

The opening night performance of HAIR at The Premiere Playhouse was a loud, proud and purposeful showing of rock music artistry with some technical elements that unfortunately overshadowed the actors on stage at various points in the show. 

The “haze” noted in the program, probably should have been part of the “early warnings” published for potential ticket buyers, because it was overpowering and obstructed the view of the stage. People with breathing issues may want to sit in the last row of the balcony to avoid the effects of that technical element.

The lighting and set design, while being interesting to the eye; creating an authentic dingy lower east side NYC  feel was a little crowded on the stage floor. With the band  in the “thick of it,”  it created a sound problem for this production. A whole lot of distortion in the sound balance made for an unintelligible listening experience for the audience well into the first act and beyond at times. The band is most certainly accomplished; and is comprised of some remarkable musicians. Clay Ackerman on guitar, Bill Gibson on Trombone, and Gavin Wigg on trumpet were standouts in a very cohesive ensemble.  They all deserved to be elevated on some kind of platform and not stuffed into a corner on the stage floor. 

The costume and wig choices were colorful and mostly authentic to the period, with the exception of a few “misses”; some of those being due to uncharacteristically clean costumes and some to fashions not being“true to period.” The costumes that were of the  formerly colorful, but faded out, worn and “lived in” looks were quite impressive. The puppetry was interesting at times and completely confusing at others. What were those orange things?

   

The plot line is pretty thin in the musical HAIR, by current theatrical standards.  Hippies living in the streets of NYC in the 60’s, experiencing the nascent freedoms of a counterculture revolution,that would color the ways that generations of people would view everything in the world for multiple generations. The protests and subsequent tragedies of war are unfortunately timely.  At the time it premiered on Broadway, it was very controversial, and the elements of nudity (not present in this production), drug use, sexual depictions and vulgar lanquage was pretty tough to swallow for the theater audiences of the times. But, the music of HAIR was part of the soundtrack of life in the 60’s with such commercially popular hits as “Aquarius”, “Hair”, “Easy To Be Hard”, “Good Morning Sunshine” and musical phrasings of “Let the Sun Shine” providing anthems for a new generation.  All of these commercial hits from the 60’s were delivered with finesse by a cast of energetic actors.  The choreography was not at all  “stagey”, and had a very purposeful vibe about it. It was truly interesting to focus in on a particular character and see how “in it” they were. Ultimately, all of the individually committed and physically interesting movements of this ensemble cast created an artistic level of mastery in this production.  

Some of more  notable performances of the evening were delivered by Ebony Shanklin in “Aquarius”, Alex Newcomb Weiland in all of her solos and scene work, Jackson Heiberger in scene work, Josiah Southall in his gentle characterization of Claude, Maddie Lukomski as the groovy pregnant chick Jeanie, and Luke Humke in his movement and scene work. Last but most certainly not least,  Tyler Peters, a newcomer to the local theater scene as Berger. Tyler’s energy and commitment to character were a driving force to the pace on stage and a refreshing introduction to his talent on stage. The cast as an ensemble was impressive in their ability to create a tribal feel amongst themselves on stage. The only things getting in their way of creating some really lovely stage pictures for the audience were technical in nature. Kudos to the cast of HAIR, you deliver a very authentic “hippie vibe” in your production and audiences who want to “rock” with you will certainly find satisfaction with your performances.

HAIR plays June 13-23 at The Premiere Playhouse at 315 N. Phillips Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD. Tickets are available by phone at 605-367-6000 ( Washington Pavilion Box Office,) and at the theater before the performances, or online at https://thepremiereplayhouse.com/productions/the-premiere-premieres/.  

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