When "Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock
Musical" first opened off-Broadway at the Public Theater
in 1967, long hair, pot, incense, pseudo-mysticism and political
activism were the staples of a generation that thought it was
about to change the world forever. Watching the shenanigans of
the shaggy crew onstage in the Gallery Players’ revival, it’s
easy to see why they were so wrong.
This is not to say that Gerome Ragni and James Rado, who wrote
the book and lyrics for the musical, were unaware of the hypocrisy
beneath the flowers and the love-ins. Songs like "Easy to
Be Hard," which addresses the mean-spiritedness of people
who care about strangers but not the people who love them, or
"Frank Mills," the lament of an abandoned girlfriend,
make the darker side of the hippie movement abundantly clear.
But the writing is so confused and the plot so incoherent it’s
impossible to tell which side the writers are coming down on
– or if they even know themselves. Still, if the dialogue is
inane and dated, much of Galt MacDermot’s music still sparkles
and many of the lyrics are quite moving.
Director Steven Smeltzer has put a big cast of talented singers,
dancers and actors on the small Gallery Players’ stage. In fact,
there are so many people on the stage at one time it can be difficult
to distinguish the choreography from the crowd. What’s more,
the sound system is so poor and the band is so loud, it’s often
hard to hear the words over the music.
Nonetheless, the cast has a great deal of youthful energy, and
numbers like "I Got Life," "Good Morning Sunshine"
and "Let the Sunshine In" will still send shivers down
the spines of aging baby boomers.
It’s curious to note that while "Hair" has been praised
and condemned for many different reasons, little mention has
been made of its homoerotic and misogynic overtones – both of
which were emphasized (perhaps unintentionally) in this production
(and, for that matter, perhaps on Broadway too, something this
18-year-old future reviewer didn’t get at the time).
When the guys – Claude (Paul Lane), Berger (Barrett Hall), Hubert
(Keith Broughton) – preen and flirt, it’s mostly for other guys.
The women are by and large pitiful – Sheila (Logan Tracey) is
abused by Berger, the guy she is "hung up" on, and
Jeanie (Aly Wirth) is pregnant.
When the Supremes, who were the sexiest things on six legs in
their prime, are depicted in "Hair," those lovely bodies
are made into Siamese triplets attached by the one shapeless
dress they wear. And at least one male makes it perfectly clear
the object of his lust is Mick Jagger.
There’s a lot of pawing and prancing in "Hair." But
there’s little real emotion and certainly no love. More than
anything else, "Hair" is like the erotic fantasy of
a gay college kid.
So what does "Hair" have? Well, there’s some great
music, a few funny scenes ("Abie Baby," "White
Boys" and "Black Boys" – when you can catch the
words), tons of high jinx (an uptight middle-America couple turns
out to be something very different than expected; during Claude’s
trip to Washington, D.C., he meets George Washington, John Wilkes
Booth and Scarlett O’Hara) and lots of shock value (name the
obscenity and it’s probably here).
There are also those who will take comfort in the musical’s anti-war
message. But they will find no guidance here for our own woes.
The cry of these kids is more like howling at the moon than a
call to action.
If the first weekend of "Hair’s" run is any indication
of the future, the production will be quite successful. Life
is always a little rosier in retrospect, especially for those
who were so stoned at the time they don’t have much memory anyway.
And as for those too young to remember the ’60s, it’s nice to
know your parents were once doing all those things they’re now
afraid their children may be doing.
The Gallery Players’ production of "Hair"
runs through Nov. 7, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm and
Sundays at 3 pm. Tickets are $15 adults, $12 children under 12
and seniors. The Gallery Players are located at 199 14th St.
between Fourth and Fifth avenues in Park Slope. For more information,
call (718) 595-0547.
