<div dir="ltr"><br><span style="color:rgb(255,153,0)">•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••</span><br><br>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style><span style="font-family:Palatino">No bombs greet this version of HAIR, just heat and
a simulation of an era</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Roy Berko</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">(member, Cleveland
Critics Circle, American Theatre Critics Association)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Theatre is representative
of the era from which it comes.<span style>
</span>Seeing a play that reflects a specific time period can reveal the
cultural attitudes of the people and society of that period.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Seeing HAIR, </span><span style="font-family:Palatino">“The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical,” can give a film clip of the
1960s and early 70s in the U.S.<span style> </span>It
was the era of the anti-war movement and rebellion against traditional societal
patterns.<span style> </span>It was the time of
sit-ins on college campuses, hippie communes, flower children, pot smoking,
tie-dyed clothing, long hair, swearing and public nudity. <span style> </span>It was a period of rage against the
military-industrial complex. It was the time of a clear generational
divide.<span style> </span>If the young people could
find a way to upset their elders, it was the “in” thing to do.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Written by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, the show’s
book was put to music by Galt MacDermot.<span style>
</span>Its slim story was based on the authors’ personal experiences.<span style> </span>It centers on Claude, a member of
the hippie community, who sells out and allows himself to be taken into the
Army rather than burn his draft card or flee to Canada. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">When the show first opened, it engendered strong
protests.<span style> </span>Yes, protests about the
protests.<span style> </span>On </span><span style="font-family:Palatino">April 25, 1971, for example, a bomb exploded
in front of Cleveland’s Hanna Theatre during the Age of Aquarius show’s run at
that venue.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">HAIR broke all sorts of theatrical
traditions.<span style> </span>Members of the cast,
known as the “tribe,” constantly jumped off the stage and interacted with
members of the audience, invited patrons to dance with them, and they gave flowers
and hugs to<span style> </span>the unsuspecting.<span style> </span>The U.S. flag was used as parts of
costumes and burned. <span style> </span>There was
full-frontal nudity and simulation of sexual acts.<span style> </span>There was an intentional ignoring of theater’s proverbial
“fourth wall,” a separation of the stage actions from the audience. <span style> </span>This was a musical that broke from
the tradition of the “nice” musical and took on controversy and started a trend
in musical theatre of taking on contemporary and controversial issues.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">This is not a well-written book musical.<span style> </span>The plot meanders, some of the songs
don’t fit into the story, often do nothing to move the plot along.<span style> </span>Again, a break from the traditional
musical of the day. Though often referred to as the “grand daddy of the rock
musicals,” it’s a mélange of music and imagery.<span style> </span>The sounds change from rock to country to ballad to African
American rhythms. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The highlight of action centers on Claude’s
hallucinatory drug trip in Act II where a series of horrifying visions, loaded
with historical figures, are presented in the oddest contexts. It’s a microcosm
of the whole show, which essentially unfolds like a tune-filled acid trip that
gives HAIR its distinctive period edge.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">So, how does the show wear over all those years?<span style> </span>The times they have changed.<span style> </span>Reaction to swearing, smoking of pot,
nudity, and protest are mundane by today’s standards.<span style> </span>Many of the references are beyond the knowledge of the
younger members of the audience.<span style>
</span>Unless you are an uptight conservative or an evangelical, who are not
candidates to attend this show, the goings on won’t evoke much reaction.<span style> </span>Only the wonder of “what was all the
fuss about?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Some of the music has lost its luster.<span style> </span><i style>Aquarius</i>
didn’t send me off onto a journey of effervescence. <span style> </span><i style>Hashish</i>, in this
age of rampant drug usage, is just a song.<span style> </span>On the other hand, <i style>I
Believe in Love</i>, <i style>Easy to be Hard</i>,
and <i style>Good Morning Starshine</i>, have held
up due to their timelessness. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The Blank Canvas cast, under the direction of
Patrick Ciamacco, was enjoyable, with two glaring flaws.<span style> </span>First, Ciamacco states in his
director’s notes:<span style> </span>“I was drawn to
produce “Hair” because I feel our country is going through a very similar
movement as we did in the 60’s.”<span style>
</span>Sorry, my naïve young man, since the you were not yet born when the
anti-war demonstrations and flower-child rebellions were going on, you are not
aware of the dynamics, power, and out-of-control motivations that lead to whole
college campuses shut down due to sit-ins, and the take-over of buildings due the
anti-war vehemence.<span style> </span>Nationally,
buildings were burned, students were shot for civil-disobedience (e.g., the
Kent State massacre).<span style> </span>There may be
some uprisings and protests today due to individual events, but the 60’s
movements were national events.<span style>
</span>The portrayals by the young cast, not imbued with the true feelings the
play reflects, were on the surface, acting what they thought their characters
went through, but not identifying with the real motivations, therefore not
feeling the actual angst.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Second, the small space, over sold-out audience,
sweating actor’s bodies, real smoking, and 80+ degrees of heat outside, led to
a sweltering theatre. <span style> </span>When the
cast shed their clothing at the end of the first act, many in the audience were
tempted to join them, just to get some personal heat reduction.<span style> </span>Either the theatre needs to find a way
to cool the space more effectively, or change its schedule and avoid producing
summer time shows.<span style> </span>Whew!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Brad Wyner and his band were excellent, wisely
avoiding letting loose with the heavy rock sound and drowning out the
singers.<span style> </span>Jessie Cope Miller’s
choreography was creative, especially considering that she was working with a
large cast on a postage stamp sized stage.<span style> </span>The moves on “Abie Baby” were, in era language, “mellow.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Perren Hedderson’s projections added to the creation
of visual realism.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Though the choral vocal sounds were mostly volume
over blendings, there were both individual strong singing and acting
performances.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Scott Esposito was well focused as Claude.<span style> </span>Who knew that this stalwart of local
dramas (he gave a ”bravo” performance last season in Ensemble’s “The Normal
Heart”) could sing so well?<span style>
</span>Becca Frick (Jeanie) did a nice job with “Air,” Jessie Cope Miller, she
of big and well-toned voice, wailed in “I Believe in Love” and “Good Morning
Starshine.” Neely Gevaart (Chrissy) tenderly sang “Frank Mills.”<span style> </span>“What a Piece of Work Is Man” was the
show’s musical highlight.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style><span style="font-family:Palatino">CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: HAIR is a classic
musical, which entered the theatre into an era of reflection of the turbulent
era of the 60s and broke many traditional theatrical formats.<span style> </span>For those who want to relive the era,
or who want to generally get an idea of what was going on during those times,
the Blank Canvas staging gives an opportunity to take a seldom reprised trip
through the times.<span style> </span>Due to a
generation gap in understanding the true angst of the era, this isn’t a great
production, but it is entertaining.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Tickets for HAIR, which
runs through September 13, can be ordered at </span><span style="font-family:Palatino">440-941-0458 or</span><span style="font-family:Palatino"> <a href="http://www.blankcanvastheatre.com/"><span style="color:windowtext">www.blankcanvastheatre.com</span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br><span style="font-family:Palatino"><a href="http://www.blankcanvastheatre.com/"><span style="color:windowtext"></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(255,153,0)"><span style="font-family:Palatino"><a href="http://www.blankcanvastheatre.com/">•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••</a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br><span style="color:rgb(255,153,0)"><span style="font-family:Palatino"></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(255,153,0)"><span style="font-family:Palatino"><a href="http://www.blankcanvastheatre.com/"><br></a></span></span></p><br></div>