Musicals Blog

Hair

by Claire J Rottenberg


"Hair" was the next rock and roll musical to revolutionize musical theater. It represented the open, free, "flower children" of the late 1960s and it created a new kind of musical theater.

The creators of "Hair," James Rado and Gerome Regni, began working on the play in 1965 but it took three years before it was completed and ready for Broadway. In 1966, they started a collaboration with composer Galt MacDermot to turn their concept for the play into a musical. The work was too radical for Broadway producers, but Joseph Papp, director and producer of the New York Shakespeare Festival, agreed to produce "Hair" in Greenwich Village. This first production was a disaster.

The play was revised and "Hair" opened off-Broadway in 1967 for a limited six week run. Audiences loved it but the critics did not. The rights to the play were then purchased by businessman Michael Butler who felt it could be a success on Broadway. "Hair" didn't, however, go straight to Broadway. Instead, it opened at a discoteque on 53rd Street and Broadway. It played for 45 performances and then closed in January, 1968.

"Hair" went through major revisions and 13 new songs were added, including the future hit, "Let The Sun Shine In." At this point, Papp left the production and Butler took it to Broadway where "Hair" opened in April,1968.

"Hair" was a smash hit on Broadway, running for four years and 1,750 performances. Although audiences loved it, the play did not win any Tony awards. "Hair" created huge controversy with its themes of drugs and sex and its loosely designed plot. The score, also, went against the grain of musical theater, with over 30 songs, many of which combined rock music sounds with the sounds of African music. The innovative score yielded three enormously popular hit songs: "Aquarius," "Let The Sun Shine In" and "Good Morning, Starshine."

A film adaptation of "Hair" was released in 1979. It had a new, tighter screenplay, written by Michael Weller, and it was directed by Milos Forman. New choreography was created for the film by Twyla Tharp and the film starred Treat Williams, John Savage and Nell Carter. Significant changes were made for the film version and the show's original creators, Rado and Ragni, were dissatisfied with the final result which, according to them, did not match the play's original concept. The film did not receive any Academy Award nominations and, although it was initially successful with audiences, it did not become a classic film like "Grease" did.