Sunday, February 8, 2009

A Broadway Revival of Hair

Hair was one of the must culturally influential plays that ever hit Broadway. In 2007 The New York Times wrote that "Hair was one of the last Broadway musicals to saturate the culture as shows from the golden age once regularly did."

Most Broadway plays are almost unknown to people who have never seen them. But Hair was different. By the 1970's everyone knew and heard of Hair:

* Four songs from Hair made it to the top of the charts and became standards.
* Hair was nominated for two Tony Awards.
* Hair was one of the first main-stream plays to feature nudity and so it was widely discussed.
* Hair was incredibly controversial. During its run in Cleveland, dynamite was found in the theater and a bomb was thrown. A suspicious fire in the hotel where the cast was saying cost the lives of four family members.
* In 1979, Hollywood released a movie version of the musical.

Next month there will be a Broadway revival of Hair. For my 99th Squidoo lens, I have created a tribute to Hair the Musical. If I were living in or near New York, I am pretty sure I would go see it.

I would love to know your thoughts and memories of Hair, even if you are younger than the play. Did you see the play? Did you watch the movie? What have you heard of it? What do you remember of it? Would you like to see it? My guess is that 41 years later Hair still remains widely controversial.

1 comment:

  1. My husband was in the movie, Hair. He played one of the military guys. Even got to say one word.

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