Monday, June 15, 2009

Hair: Show It, Flow It

I took my mom to see Hair for her birthday yesterday, thinking that it would probably be a little bit risque/eye-cringing seeing the show next to your mom, but honestly, not as awkward as I would have thought. I was expecting more nudity, more orgies, and way more drug use. That said, the lyrics and simulated sex made me wish I was somewhere on the other side of the theatre, but I think the show has definitely been toned down since the 60s. There was only like 10 seconds of nudity in the near-dark right at the end of the first act. My mom said that the first time she saw this show (with my grandmother, her mother-in-law ::cringe::) there were literally naked people climbing over the scenery. None of that on Broadway this time though.

I really enjoyed the show overall, though it was not at all what I was expecting. I don't really know what I was expecting since I knew very little about the show going in. At its heart, I think that the show is a story about friendship and how friends were torn apart by the draft and the Vietnam War in general. The cast did a really amazing job of showing these friendships and how deeply the hippies were able to care about each other.

I also was not expecting the depth in the character of Claude and the sadness and conflict that follows the character through the show right to the end. He is definitely the most developed character, probably intentionally, but I really felt like he was really heartbreaking and I kept waiting for him to come back to the front of the stage. Whether that is a testament to the show or the actor, I'm not sure, but either way, Nice Work, Gavin Creel.

The whole cast was really amazing and I totally respect the amount of energy they have to have to do a show like that. The "tribe" literally never leaves the stage for more than a few seconds, and when they're on stage their constantly moving and changing position or dancing and singing. It was really incredible to see them on stage and running out into the audience playing with people's hair. Really unlike anything I've seen before (p.s. if you're wondering where Lea Michelle is keeping herself this summer, I think she's in the tribe of Hair. Either that, or her twin is running around on that stage! it was creepy).

So, I did enjoy the show a lot. I think that it was also really relevant to today's time in that the youth of today are very much the opposite of the hippies. Students are not rising up to protest the way that they did in the 60s. Seeing Hair really makes me wonder what would happen if there were hippies today the way that they were in the 60s. Do we just know too much now to be that idealistic?

On a much less serious note, I'm live blogging The Bachelorette tonight. Hope you stop by.

-lara

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