"Hair": A Psychedlic Trip Back to the 1960s

    The musical revival “Hair” is a psychedelic trip back to the 1960s with each scene depicting the typical life of a hippie and their beliefs. 

     The opening scene is of a group of hippies singing and walking towards the stage. Their costumes were very unique. Berger, one of the main characters, wore a ripped pair of jeans and a suede vest (which he later removed to bare his naked body).     

    Along with their long, beautiful hair, many of the girls wore flower dresses and head bands that wrapped around their foreheads. 

    The characters show their love for each other and try to get the audience to understand that there is enough love around for everyone. 

    â€œHair,”created by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, based the show on a group of kids that Rado met in the East Village. The kids were being kicked out of school for having long hair. Rado was inspired by the excitement of these hippies he saw in the streets of New York City. He thought that if he could incorporate this feeling into a show it would be a great performance. 

    

    The show, which follows a group of hippies living in Central Park, was made for Broadway, and the writers certainly thought it belonged there. They presented their idea to many producers and were rejected many times until Joseph Papp, a producer, decided to produce Hair at the New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater. The music was written by Galt MacDermot. After the show was produced, many other production companies staged the show all over the world. “Hair” finally opened on Broadway in 1968. 

Based on the sexual revolution and the hippie culture,  many of the musical’s songs became anthems for the anti-Vietnam War peace movement. Some scenes caused a lot of controversy, such as the nude scenes, when it first came out. Their voice is the voice of the idealistic peace and love hippies. They make the government the bad guy due to the Vietnam War and all the violence.The hippies make fun of political officials and perceive each religion as something amusing.

    The characters fight to prevent their friend Claude from joining the war. Claude needs to figure out whether he is going to resist the draft or risk his life in order to serve his country.  Berger,a good friend of Claude’s, Shelia, Berger’sgirlfriend, and their friends scrabble to balance out their lives and figure out how to deal with love, the revolution, drugs and their parents.

    The musical is filled with harmonious tunes and colorful costumes with characters so lively it looks as though they actually are on a trip to the fourth dimension. The actors look like they are having the time of their lives, which makes it difficult not to run up on stage with them. And luckily for all those dancing in their seats, at the end of the show the hippies invite the audience up on stage to dance with them to the classic “Let the Sun Shine In.” 

    The show was very entertaining but might not be the right show for a conservative audience.

     There are many scenes with nudity, sexuality and drugs but the characters make all those things look very appealing. During the song “Walking inSpace,” they were passing around a joint in the middle of Central Park. They felt happy and together. Reality was no longer real for them. That sense of happiness transcended into the audience.

     There is one line in the song that talks about what it’s like to be high and their anti-war beliefs. “All the clouds are cumuloft/ walking in space/ oh my god your skin is soft/ I love your face/ how dare they try to end this beauty?” 

    This question may be referring to the Vietnam War, but it is as timely now. “Hair” successfully manages to both instigate social thought and bring pure enjoyment to the audience.