[Mb-hair] HAiR Alert - Grant High School

[Michael Butler]

What a shame to miss. Hope for a great time.
Michael




> Hi tribe.
> 
> Just found out that HAiR is being performed at my local high school for
> three days only!
> 
> Ulysses S. Grant High School
> 
> 13000 Oxnard Boulevard
> 
> Van Nuys, California
> 
> The school is located in the North-East corner of the Los Angeles Valley
> (Community) College campus area, and the auditorium/multi-purpose room is
> accessible from the east side of the campus from a small service driveway
> that is located just west of-, and parallel to-, Coldwater Canyon Boulevard.
> The service drive may be entered from Oxnard Boulevard.
> 
> Opened Friday, April 28, 2006 at 7pm
> 
> Remaining performances:
> 
> Saturday, April 29, 2006 at 3pm and 7pm
> 
> Sunday, April 30, 2006 at 3pm and 7pm
> 
> All performances are $5.00, and tickets may be purchased at the auditorium
> door.
> 
> Hebe and I ran out to the opening performance, and we really enjoyed
> ourselves. Since this event is mostly unpublicized (I only found out about
> it - on the day of its opening - from a notice in a small, directly-mailed,
> community newsletter) I believe that the audience consisted mostly of the
> parents and siblings of the tribe and the tribe's fellow students. This made
> for a much younger audience than I usually see at HAiR shows.
> 
> The production is directed by a STUDENT (who also played Jeanie) and was
> backed by an excellent band - or should I say, small orchestra since there
> were 8 members and the only synthesizer to be seen was at the sound mixing
> table!
> 
> The school's (sole?) drama teacher delivered a cautionary disclaimer before
> the start of the show, explaining that, because it was a high-school troop,
> the nude scene(s) had been cut along with a lot of the other sensitive
> material. He did announce that it still contained very controversial
> material that would surely shock and offend members of the audience, but
> that any further cuts would have rendered the show meaningless. He announced
> that there would be a discussion forum following the performance to try to
> address audience concerns with such material being presented in a high
> school.
> 
> With these caveats presented, the show began.
> 
> The first thing that I noticed was the singing. Although several of the
> soloists had some vocal difficulties with the score's demands (a problem
> exacerbated by major problems with the sound-reinforcement equipment), the
> ensemble songs were performed wonderfully, with excellent feeling, tonality,
> and extremely crisp diction. The 16 year old black girl who played Chrissy
> delivered a "Frank Mills" that ranks among the best renditions that I have
> heard (plus she could act!). Despite obvious opening-night jitters and some
> quite slow moments caused by forgotten cues and a scene blocking that had
> most of the cast running off stage only to have to run back on to deliver
> their lines, the show really was HAiR.
> 
> The youthful audience appeared to have little problem understanding the show
> even though it had been cut into a two hour long one-act by eliminating
> almost all of the script's text! They sang almost all of the songs, cutting,
> I believe, only "Hippie Life", "Abie Baby", "The Bed", and "Don't Put It
> Down" and they appeared not to have altered/softened any lyrics like they
> did in the recent Orange County college production. Incidentally, "Don't Put
> It Down" was listed to be performed on the program. The cutting of the whole
> Abraham Lincoln and following scenes did disappoint me as I was especially
> waiting to see how The Ulysses S. Grant number would go over in a school
> named after him.
> 
> The discussion after the show was quite interesting. Even with multiple
> attempts to prod the audience into voicing their offence at the material
> (even the tribe tried to evoke some response) no one said anything negative!
> I know that this was not quite the case, since there was a major gasp from
> the audience followed by a couple of audience members calling out ("Bye,
> bye" and "You're Outta' Here". if I recall correctly) when Berger slapped
> Sheila's face. I have never heard such a loud gasp, let alone any vocal
> catcall, from an audience ever before. Curiously, the face slap was
> performed so gently it could even have been mistaken for a caress!
> Interesting how audience sensibilities have changed over the years!
> 
> 
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