This month Clef
Notes is taking a look at the history of musical theater. This week, we’ve
reached the post Golden-Age musicals, those musicals created roughly between
1967 and 1990. Today, I’d like to focus in on one famous and innovative musical
from this period: Hair.
Hair
emerged from a
workshop approach to theater that depended on collective input and group
improvisation rather than a fixed idea to create a production. Workshop
productions explore nonverbal communication and break down the barrier between
the stage and the audience. Hair began
in the Open Theater’s Workshop with Gerome Ragni and James Rado—two actors who
aimed to explore the baby-boomer generation of the 1960s. Hair revolved around the energetic, hippy-youth movement who were anti-war
and promoters of civil rights.
Hair
eventually
moved to Broadway after being reworked by director Tom O’Horgan, who aimed to
violate as many norms as he could by including nudity, allowing actors to
mingle with audience members, using hand-held mics, and incorporating a rock
idiom. You can view a scene from Hair below.
Can you see why this musical was considered shocking by some?
