[Mb-hair] HAIR at The Gallery Players

[Michael Butler]

Jeff,

Thanks for your comments.
Nice seeing you last night.

Michael

> I saw the Gallery Players production on the same night as Nina, Michael,
> Robert, Bill and Annie.  I was on the waiting list and got the absolute very
> last available ticket (from about 60 people waiting!) -- how lucky was
> that??!! The gods of HAiR were smiling upon me that night  :)
> 
> As for the original staging, others know more than I, but the nude scene was
> done full on (not done so much these days), and the acid trip, where the
> nuns kill the Vietnamese , who are then killed by the indians, and etc etc
> under a black light and then the whole scene is done in reverse and again
> three times is part of the original staging, no? They did it FLAWLESSY.
> Also, Electric Blues, where Chrissy comes out with a Victrola  playing
> "White Cliffs of Dover" before the song starts, with the tribe holding
> flashlights, was from the old days, no?  (My least favorite staging
> personally but archivally correct I think...)
> 
> Nina, I didn't even notice that they didn't do Going Down or The Bed, as I
> was so goddamn happy to be seeing such a great production of HAiR!! But they
> DID do Dead End which is not usually part of he lineup, since this cast had
> a decent racial mix, and some songs (like Dead End) are best sung by black
> voices.  The woman in the seat next to me told me she had been in three
> productions of HAiR, evidenced by the fact that she, singing along (as was
> I), knew the whole complicated list of Ain't Got No's.  And My personal high
> point was dancing in the aisles with the Japanese chick from the tribe for
> Good Morning Starshine. Finally after 35 years I am part of a performance of
> HAiR !  Whooooeeeee!!
> 
> I can only hope that Steven Smeltzer gets to direct HAiR again some day in a
> bigger venue.  He made it fresh and new and very moving.  And he was a
> FAAAABulous Margaret Mead to boot!!!  Everyone did such a WONDERFUL job!!!!
> It was a sort of three-ring circus atmosphere at the beginning of the show,
> and then as it got more heavy in Act 2 the actors were tuned in to the
> complexity of the situation and the emotions involved.  Starshine as I
> mentione=d had us dancing in the aisles but was somewhat somber at first
> (appropriately so).  And by the end I had cried about five times (always the
> litmus test for my enjoyment -- go figure!)
> 
> On another note I just went to the party for the Jobriath cd release.  Mark
> Petrocca, who is making a documentary about Jobriath, had a preview trailer
> of the film, which looks great!  Looking forward to seeing a finished film!
> The cds were not available to buy there but are in stores now as I
> understand.  Michael B made an appearance, also Jayne County and other
> luminaries.  It was fun...
> 
> And on another side note, those of you in the NYC area (RJ are you
> listening?) MUST go see "Aint Supposed to Die A Natural Death", the
> Classical Theatre of Harlem revival of Melvin Van Peebles 1971 musical of
> ghetto life.  Less than six degrees of separation:  Harold Wheeler who did
> the original music for the 1971 production, and a master funkster himself,
> played on several of Galt MacDermot's albums.  The show is extended to Nov
> 21 I think.
> 
> love you all (though I keep on the down low)
> 
> Jeff
> 
> 
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