After entering and losing the lottery for the Shakespeare in the Park production of "Hair" for two weeks straight, and with opening night and the extra attention the show would get from the reviews looming, I finally decided to take advantage of the moderate weather today and try my hand at the cancellation line. I got to the park at 6:15pm this afternoon, sat on jacket, read my book, and at 7:40 was rewarded for my trouble with a ticket. This was my first time actually waiting on line for a ticket (instead of "buying" one with a donation to the Public, or getting one through work), but based on my success today, I don't really know why anyone bothers to camp out all night for tickets. Now, I've never been a big "Hair" fan. I saw it when they did it at Encores, and didn't like it, and then I bought the highlights cd and cringed every time it came up in my parents' car's cd changer. But with buzz of the show eying Broadway, and the price being right, I figured why not. And my reaction to the show is still pretty much a shrug.
The first act, which seemed to just be one tuneful hit song after another, was fun enough as fluff. It's basically just hippies dancing around and singing happy songs, but I can dig that. I will say, I did get a bit tired of the seemingly never ending supply of list songs (like "Ain't got no home home, ain't got no shoes, ain't got no money, ain't got no class" or "I want it long, straight, curly, fuzzy, snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty..."). My overall impression after the first act was that the show reminded me of "Cats" or "Mamma Mia!" - a show even someone who didn't speak English could watch and have fun, just listening to the melodies and watching the actors bop around.
Oh, one minor hitch in act one - the weather. Around the middle of the first act, I think when they were singing "Air," it started to rain. Wasn't too bad at first, but they made an announcement that the "tribe should return to their dressing rooms," and they pulled a clear plastic curtain around the band to keep them dry (they already had a roof). However, soon the drizzle turned to a torrential downpour, and I thanked my lucky stars that I threw an umbrella in my bag completely on a whim. About half the audience went outside to seek shelter, and the rest of us stuck it out in our seats - which turned out to be a good thing, because my butt kept my seat dry - the people who left had to contend with wet seats on their return. Anyway, the rain eventually let up, and I kid you not... two stagehands came out with these little red rags, and on their hands and knees started to mop up the grass (or rather astroturf) that covered the entire stage. I mean, surely there must have been a more efficient way to dry off the stage. Whatever. I say you've not had the complete Shakepeare in the Park experience until you've done it in the rain.
Anway, I returned from intermission, and was sort of looking forward to the second act. Maybe. Well, it started off okay, but not too deep in, Claude goes on a long drug trip, and for me anyway, the show never recovered from the increasingly tedious and boring set of scenes. It's made up of all of the show's non-hit songs, in quick succession, coupled with stale attempts at satire. It just seemed to go on and on, and when it finally ended, I was so bored out of my mind that even the peppy "Good Morning Starshine" or the not so peppy, but still tuneful "Let the Sun Shine In" could salvage the show for me. Because the show ends on a down note (on purpose), to get the audience leaving happy, they include a bizarre finale that involves the inviting the audience to storm the stage (which they do), and dance around and sing "Let The Sun Shine" in, while the rest of the audience stands and watches, and sings along while waving their arms in the air. I don't know... seeing all of these people stand on the stage in what becomes basically a mosh pit, and having everyone around me sing and waves their arms, all while I was standing there totally baffled - it struck me as kind of disturbing. Like "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" in "Cabaret," except with a more peaceful message. I guess that sort of large scale group-think mentality creeps me out.
As for the cast, I thought they did a fine job. The one weakish link was Jonathon Groff, who just seemed a bit bland as Claude. Like he was still playing Melchior. Will Swenson made for a good Berger, though, and the always dependable Meghan Lawrence made for some fine comic relief in her slew of roles.
I will say that buzz leaving the theatre was extremely positive, and both the young and older danced together on stage at the end, so I'm likely in the minority opinion on the production. Not like that hasn't happed before.
One last thing on the show.
Supposedly the reason for dusting "Hair" off some 40 years after it was written, is that it's just so fresh and relevant today because of Iraq, and how it's just as unpopular as Vietnam. Sorry, but I just don't see it. I mean, I see how both wars were unpopular, but without a draft dragging us young folk against our will out there, I don't see the connection there. Unless it's supposed to warn us that if we don't stop the war soon, this may happen to us too. But even that seems a bit of a stretch. "Hair," well, just seems like a museum piece to me - a half fun one - though unfortunately for me, the wrong half. Methinks it's really only relevant in the eyes of the aging hippies who were behind this revival - who want to bask in the nostalgia, and feel like they're doing something politically conscious. As a young person who is I guess supposed to get riled up by watching this, and want to run home and make anti-war posters, well, it just didn't do it for me. *Shrug*
On the other hand, a show that did speak to me was what I saw this afternoon - [title of show]. Fifth time seeing it, though only the second on Broadway. I was in the mezz this time, and with a crowd not made up of 95% [tossers] as it was at the first Broadway preview, so I was curious to see how it would play under "normal" circumstances. Well, even if every little joke didn't cause the audience to go into over-the-top hysterics to the point where the uninitiated couldn't hear the punchlines,the audience seemed to be genuinely enjoying it, and the reaction at the end was quite warm (full standing ovation in the orchestra, partial in the mezz - though we all know that standing o's mean nothing). As for being further away from the action in the mezz, as opposed to orchestra, I didn't really feel removed from the action at all by being up there. The Lyceum's not that large of a theatre, and the actors are well directed to take the folks up in the air into account, so I was quite satisfied with my seat - other than the leg room, but luckily the people next to me moved further up, so I had some stretch room. I loved the show just as much as I did other four times, and I look forward to seeing it again. Because I'm obsessed.
