Forty years ago today, the musical Hair opened on Broadway.
It was a phenomenon, to say the least, and became an artistic icon of its very peculiar and self-obsessed generation (of which I am one). Whatever opinions you hold of that generation, and whatever memories or fantasies you have about those times, it was a generation with its own music, and Hair was a major element in its repertoire.
I made a comment recently in another context that seems applicable here:
We could teach the history of the 20th century through the pop music that gave voice, for better or worse, to every social whim and cultural upheaval. But young people today share music primarily in the technological sense. Music does not give them a common voice; they all have their individualized playlists.
Jim Rado maintains the official web site for Hair with lots of pictures, history, and some sound files.
HAIR was created as an original idea by Gerome Ragni (Jerry) and, myself, James Rado (Jim). We collaborated on the story, text, characters, dialogue and lyrics over the years 1965, 1966 and 1967. From the start, I envisioned that the score of HAIR would be something new for Broadway, a kind of pop rock/showtune hybrid. At first we had considerable difficulty, and we rejected several composers, until finally, in early 1967, we found the music for our lyrics. It was a case of love at first hearing. The composer was Galt MacDermot. It was more than a fulfillment of a dream. I would call it a clear illustration of a marriage made in heaven.
HAIR has played pretty much continuously ever since its opening at Broadway’s Biltmore Theatre on West 47th Street in 1968, and it was translated into many languages and produced around the world, from Japan and Australia to South & Central America, from Europe to Israel. Once the initial popularity waned, it seemed for a spell that HAIR was not an especially viable commodity; there was a major slump of interest in it from around the mid 1970s into the early 80s, to my recollection. But then, in the mid-80s, a new interest arose which took hold and grew.
Visit the site and reminisce.
April 29th, 2008
Posted by
Fitzroy |
Music, Theater |
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The Erfurt Opera charts new lows.
We have become painfully aware lately that you can’t poke fun at Islam, but you can still demonstrate your sophistication in Europe by satirizing victims of radical Islam. The rubble of ground zero and some 3,000 dead souls make a trendy setting for Verdi’s A Masked Ball and a great occasion for pointing out the flaws in democracy and capitalism. (It was our fault, you know, and the operatic chickens have come home to roost.)
Austrian director Johann Kresnik’s version of Verdi’s opera, complete with naked cast wearing nothing but Mickey Mouse masks, debuts tomorrow at the Erfurt Theater. The Telegraph reports:
“It will be a different, a provocative masked ball on the ruins of the World Trade Centre,” [Kresnik] told reporters before Saturday’s premiere. “The naked stand for people without means, the victims of capitalism, the underclass, who don’t have anything anymore.”
As for those who do not belong to the underclass, for instance people who fly on airplanes or work in New York skyscrapers . . . well, who cares? Kresnik’s production will sell tickets and insure that Kresnik himself does not sink into the lower economic echelons.
“One has to introduce new elements,” he said. “Otherwise it is difficult to attract new theatregoers.”
No American capitalist trampling on the less fortunate could say it better! Kresnik has apparently succeeded; the production is nearly sold out. Those “new theatergoers” will line up to see fat naked men in Mickey Mouse masks.
“It’s a very beautiful, poetic scene,” said Guy Montavon, the theatre’s general manager.
We can only hope that a few in the audience will notice the contrast between the beauty of Verdi’s music and the hideous vision of the director.
Kresnik’s critique of American society makes one relieved to be an American.
April 11th, 2008
Posted by
Fitzroy |
Music, Theater |
one comment
Amanda Shaw reviews Macbeth in First Things.
The director, Rupert Goold, masterfully depicts the evil of power and, more terrifying, the power of evil-yet he doesn’t go about this in any traditional, warty-nosed-witch sort of way. His production, starring Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood, debuted last year in England and, after finishing its run in Brooklyn, will be moving on to Broadway.
* * *
[T]his production is somehow both awe-full and terrifying. Bestial behavior and violence can cause us to feel pity or disgust. It is when they are shrouded in feigned ignorance and quotidian merriment-when they wear human faces-that they become truly horrible. Stars, hide your fires, says Macbeth. Let not light see my black and deep desires: / The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be, / Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.
I am skeptical of the Stalinist setting; I find such anachronisms frequently distracting. But the review suggests that the setting may have been put to good use here and offers other good reasons to keep an eye on this production.
March 18th, 2008
Posted by
Fitzroy |
Theater |
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