Hair stands the test of time, offers message of peace
By Kat Brady
STAFF WRITER
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Photos by Allison Kowalski, LIFESTYLES EDITOR The Be-In took place in the Union Mall Monday, April 21. Hairbraiding, singing and guitar playing were available for students to enjoy. |
Containing anti-government sentiment, drug use, homosexuality, nudity, interracial relationships, environmental concerns and the realities of hippie culture, Hair: America’s tribal rock musical literally rocked Broadway when it opened April 29, 1968. Marking 40 years of “The Age of Aquarius,” Brockport’s first-ever production of Hair premiers Friday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Tower Fine Arts Center Mainstage.
“The show is upbeat and colorful,” director Michael Krickmire said. “It was, and still really is, politically current and topical. [Hair] is definitely not just a boring afternoon or evening at the theater.”
Originally recommended by a student, the theatre department’s play-reading committee selected the musical from several possible productions to take place this spring.
According to Krickmire, the students were ecstatic about the project and have been extremely involved from the start. Rehearsals began in the middle of February, he said, and the cast and crew have been working enthusiastically alongside himself, musical director Carol Brown and choreographer Gailyn Walker, a Brockport graduate student, toward making the production’s anniversary run a success.
The setting of the musical is bohemian East Village, Manhattan during the late 1960s. It was a time when the American public searched for love, peace and happiness in the midst of a controversial war — a time where growing numbers of college students broke the mold of apathy, exercising their social and political voice. It is this context in which we meet “the tribe,” a young group of pacifists eager to turn the tides of tyrannical conservatism.
“Hair represents a period of our history in which people of college-age were politically and environmentally aware and active,” Krickmire said. “The message is that youth can make a difference; and the musical calls for people to leave the theater and make that change right then and there.”
The year following the “summer of love” was a time of civil unrest that impacted the course of American history. As the modern world continues to find itself in a state of uncertainty, the youthful, idealistic messages of this counterculture musical remain relevant to its contemporary audiences.
The formula for Hair’s enduring success has been not only its simplistic messages of peace and freedom, nor the controversy which has perpetually surrounded the show, but also the music itself. Krickmire refers to the show as the “granddaddy of rock musicals;” a progressive production which revolutionized musical theater by modernizing the musical score. The perception of the musical changed and so did its audience as rock ’n’ roll, the music of the youth, bled into the mainstream culture.
“This is a show that broke through numerous boundaries, not the least of which was shattering the idea that a new Broadway musical needed to the Rodgers and Hammerstein mold,” Brockport producer Frank Kuhn said. “Musically speaking, it captured the essence of 1968’s popular rock music; the sort that was starting to be played on the radio with more frequency.”
When actors James Rado and Gerry Ragni began to pen the script and lyrics for this musical, they, according to Rado’s account, “envisioned that the score of Hair would be something new for Broadway, a kind of pop rock/showtune hybrid.” The success of this innovative approach paved the way for a younger, less traditional, socially aware breed of theater.
“Musicals are often thought of as banal,” Krickmire said. “But the sort of societal commentaries that have made shows like Rent and Spring Awakening … resound with Generation X or Y can all trace their roots back to Hair. Even 40 years later, Hair still matters.”
Krickmire and the cast planned a “Be-in” on campus in conjunction with BSG in celebration of the play’s opening. The Be-in, according to Krickmire, captured the spirit of the 1960s by providing a place for students to come together and just exist. April 21, guitar playing, singing, juggling, Frisbee, dancing and a number of other activities recreated the social climate of the counterculture era.
Brockport’s production of Hair will be April 25 and 26 at 7:30 p.m., April 27 at 2 p.m., and May 1 to 3 at 7 p.m. The Sunday, April 27 performance will be sign- language interpreted for the hearing impaired. The show will be $8 for Brockport students, $12 for general admission and $10 for seniors. Tickets are available at the Tower Fine Arts Center Box office (395-ARTS) or at any local Wegman’s.
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