Hair Off-Broadway
Opening Night: August 8, 2008
Closing: August 31, 2008
Theater: The Public Theater
The musical that created history by bringing rock n’roll to the theatrical stage, Hair defines the ’60’s generation by examining a group of young adults struggling for generational and personal identity, dealing with the Vietnam War,drugs, and teenage pregnancy. Dynamic score includes "Let the Sunshine In," "Aquarius," and "Good Morning, Starshine."
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August 8, 2008
"It is deep summer in the late 1960s in Central Park, and nobody is keeping off the grass. A heady concentration of anarchic youth has come out to play, flooding the shaggy green patch of turf that has been made of the stage at the open-air Delacorte Theater".
READ THE REVIEWAugust 8, 2008
Central Park is the perfect setting for a revival of that instant time capsule of a musical, Hair. Central Park was the setting for a Be-In and it doesn’t take long to get into the right hippie dippie mood: some audience members show up for the free show wearing tie-dyed shirts and some kids even have their faces painted with peace symbols and the such. I never realized it but theater kids must LOVE Hair — they get to dance around and improvise their asses off and interact with the audience and beg for attention. In short, they get to do what actors love to do, especially under the vigorously entertaining direction of Diane Paulus. As a free concert in the perfect setting (extended through September 14, with Christopher J. Hanke taking over for Jonathon Groff, who had a prior commitment), Hair is a lot of fun.
READ THE REVIEWJuly 29, 2008
I have just returned from the first preview of Hair in Central Park, and I can report that no, not all of them are unclothed, at least not most of time. But sure, some of the cast is briefly bare-assed, I think, though I’m not 100 percent positive since the stage lights are low and staring at naked flesh in public makes me blush and hide my face. But more on this earth-shattering subject later.
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August 8, 2008
Contrary to the popular saying, timing isn’t actually everything. There’s little question that the quintessential anti-war musical Hair retains its political relevance as America finds itself once more in the midst of a divisive war. But tackling this often tricky, often joyous, and occasionally heartbreaking piece of theater four decades after its Off-Broadway debut comes complete with an obstacle course of directorial challenges. Fortunately, Diane Paulus overcomes the hurdles in her crowd-pleasing and remarkably satisfying Shakespeare in the Park production at the Delacorte Theatre.
READ THE REVIEWAugust 8, 2008
There’s a be-in taking place in Central Park this month, and all are invited thanks to Shakespeare in the Park’s egalitarian ticket distribution policy, which allows interested parties to line up each day of performances for free tickets. Don’t know what a be-in is? It doesn’t matter. The jubilant band of hippies that make up the cast of Shakespeare in the Park’s revival of the self-proclaimed "American tribal love-rock musical" Hair will clarify.
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