‘HAIR’ revives spirit of ‘60s
usavanguard.com | Apr 26th 2011 7:04 PM
As the curtain rises April 29 at the premiere for “HAIR: The American Tribal
Love-Rock Musical,” jaws will drop, and so will some of the actors’ clothes.
The Drama department’s production of the controversial play “HAIR”, a rock
musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt
Dermot, has everyone asking, “What about the nude scene?”
“HAIR” tells the story of the “tribe,” a group of politically active,
long-haired hippies of the “Age of Aquarius” living a bohemian life in New York
City and fighting against conscription into the Vietnam War. Claude, his good
friend Berger, their roommate Sheila and their friends struggle to balance
their young lives, loves and the sexual revolution with their rebellion against
the war and their conservative parents and society.
The controversial play premiered in 1967, and over 40 years later it still has
the power to shock audiences.
“We’re cautioning everybody that the show contains explicit language and
shocking stuff,” Dr. Leon Van Dyke, producer and chair of dramatic arts, said.
“HAIR” is the first rock musical that the dramatic arts department has produced
during Van Dyke’s time at the University. While the dramatic arts department
has done other shows that are equally shocking, they cannot compete with the
popularity of “HAIR,” Van Dyke said.
“A lot of people haven’t seen it, but a lot more people have heard of it,” Van
Dyke said.
For Director T. Fulton Burns, “HAIR” is the most controversial play he has
directed in his three seasons at the department.
“Is it controversial? Yes. We’ve had the most colorful language this stage has
ever seen. The issues of sexual identity are addressed; drugs, going after
political figures and taking political stands are taking place. Even religious
ideas happening within the text are so powerful,” said the Drama assistant
professor.
The biggest challenge for Burns was getting into the mind set of what it was
like in the 1960s.
“The people, who are in this day and time, cannot relate to the 1960s like we’d
want to be able to relate,” Burns said.
Burns prepared the tribe for the show by bringing in Dr. John Coker, chair of
philosophy, to speak to the students about all of the issues addressed in the
script to bring understanding of what ideas were happening at that time.
“There were all these strong ideas and people trying to come together to stand
against these ideas,” Burns said.
“HAIR” will challenge the beliefs of the audience, bringing up questions about
feelings toward military conflicts, the environment and other current issues.
Constance R. Smith, scenic and poster designer, said the issues in the play
foreshadow the issues we are dealing with today.
“It’s an absolutely pertinent piece. Here is a generation rebelling, fighting,
paying attention to what’s going on. Here’s this play primarily about
protesting this horrific war and their friends being shipped off randomly
seemingly. So, they protest this, and they were very vocal about and they
fought back. But today, we’re in two or three depending on the day, and nobody
is saying much about it, nobody is paying attention,” Smith said.
Smith carefully constructed the set with authentic 1960s memorabilia to give an
understanding of how “far out” the tribe was from the societal norm at the
time.
“I wanted to stay very true to representing the ‘60s, the whole ‘60s. When most
people think of the ‘60s they think of this little hippie group and they sort
of color the entire decade that way, which is not the case at all. … I wanted
to juxtapose what they were fighting against to remind everyone what the rest
of the ‘60s looked like. The main idea was inspired by looking at ads from the
‘60s from a magazine from 1968,” Smith said.
The infamous “nude scene” was the biggest concern for the faculty. There was no
nudity in the first two productions of the play; the inspiration to include
nudity in the Broadway version came when the authors saw an anti-war
demonstration in Central Park where two men stripped naked as an expression of
defiance and freedom.
“We have to be respectful of Mobile, Ala. There are people in Mobile who
absolutely, positively do not want that to take place… but then there are other
individuals who are purist and know the piece and their thought is you have to
do it, otherwise you’re not staying true to the play either,” Burns said.
“Anytime you get up and do anything in front of people, some people like it,
some people don’t,” Van Dyke said.
Members of the tribe have confirmed there is a nude scene, but they refused to
go into detail about just how much nudity the audience can expect.
“Clothes will be coming off. Could be a shoe, could be pants, people will have
to come see and figure out themselves,” Ellen Johnson, a tribe member, said.
“I think when the audience comes and sees it they’ll find that in many ways
we’ve addressed both issues respectfully and artistically, the way that it
should take place,” Burns said.
The lobby of Laidlaw Performing Arts Center will be turned into an art gallery
displaying student art installations. Rachel Wright’s class and two of Rick
Schneider’s classes used “HAIR” as a project, making interpretations in their
art pieces based on issues brought up in the play.
“With all of those issues I’m bringing up, I certainly hope that a production
like ‘HAIR’ brings those things to light, that we still do need to consider
those things,” Burns said.
Editor’s note: For specific time and date information about “HAIR” showings,
turn to Happenings on p. 2 of this issue.
Original Page:
http://www.usavanguard.com/arts-entertainment/hair-revives-spirit-of-60s-1.2198144
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