[Mb-hair] Re- Re- HAiR - Questions regarding Revised Script

[John Zuehlke]

Thank you, Nina, for your most thoughtful and diligently researched answers
to my questions.  As usual, you went far beyond "the call of duty" in your
response.  To call you a "gem" would be a gross understatement; you are more
like HAiR's diamond tiara!

Nina wrote:

>The Broadway production had a "character" who was painted with >dayglow
paint and carried off stage during the song Oh Great >God of Power. Claude
entered from the back of the house in a >gorilla suit (originally on a
motorcycle!) down the center >aisle.

Wow!  I do not recall ever having seen Claude in a gorilla suit, much less
on a motorcycle, in all of the many West-coast HAiR productions that I have
seen (starting with the Aquarius and the San Francisco productions).  Really
sounds like a hoot!

Nina continued:

>I have seen many recent productions that cut all of this, but >had a nude
or semi nude person morph into Claude for his >enterance. The BRoaddway
script (1966/69) reads like this after >the explosion that ends Electric
BLues:

>"The Tribe comes from rear of house, singing [Oh Great God of >Power]. They
carry candles, wind chimes, moon oysters, and >incense sticks. One MEMBER of
the TRIBE appears on the stage, >is disrobed, bathed, and/or touched and
fondled, lifted aloft >and carried slowly offstage in the ritual"

Wow, again!  The disrobing and bathing of a person followed by
touching/fondling and carrying aloft sounds very much like a standard pagan
(wiccan) ritual, or one of the desensitization and trust-building exercises
practiced at facilities such as the Esalen Institute.  I didn't know that
these practices were commonly known back when HAiR was originally written,
and, even today, I believe that it is rarely known outside pagan or
professional sex-therapy circles.  Needless to say, I have never seen this
scene performed in a HAiR production.  Incidentally, I assume that the tribe
member being bathed, etc. is someone other than the member playing Aquarius
because it seems to make more sense that the "water bearer" would be
involved in bathing someone else.

Nina continued:

>The 2001 script starts out similarly, but then reads:

>"One MEMBER of the TRIBE appears on the stage, naked, painted >in dayglow,
as the Aquarian water ritual takes place. HE is >lifted from the floor and
carried over to be bound in dark net >material"

Does the 2001 script describe "the Aquarian water ritual"?  Is this the same
as the "disrobing, bathing, touching/fondling, and carrying aloft" that you
described earlier, or is it different?  I have never seen any water ritual
performed, even in the James Rado-directed Candlefish production; as I
recall, they had a tribe member (Tiffany?) dancing and swinging what looked
like an incenser on a long chain.

>Interesting that the dayglow paint is not mentioned in the >Broadway
script, although it was used in every performance I >ever was at. The 2001
script continues:

>"The naked Aquarian runs off as the lights bump up to bright. >The TRIBE
greets CLUADE who now stands in the Aquarian's stead, >carrying a small
duffle bag with BRitish flag on it."

I also don't recall ever seeing dayglow or other ultraviolet light effects
being used in this scene.

Probably because of never having seen any "water ritual" performed (although
I might be suffering from some "senior moments"), both Hebe (my girlfriend)
and I had no inkling that anyone had appeared as Aquarius in any production
that we saw up until the "Act This!" production at Los Angeles Valley
College.  In fact, the only production where we clearly understood the tribe
member represented Aquarius was the most recent production that we saw at
Glendale Community College!

I don't know if it is relevant, but I find it curious that the two
productions where we understood the Aquarius reference featured nude actors:
the former one a female and the latter one a male.  As for the gender of the
tribe member playing Aquarius, I guess that, if we use the Greek
mythological references, the Water Bearer was originally the goddess Hebe
who was later (after a "wardrobe malfunction") replaced by the rather
androgynous male youth, Ganymede.  I still prefer a female Aquarius because,
aside from the fact that my girlfriend is named Hebe, water (in the Tarot
represented by the suit of "Cups", and modern playing cards, "hearts") is a
traditionally female symbol.

Thanks, again, for your detailed and scholarly reply to my posting. I hope
to have the pleasure of meeting you in person.


Blessed be with peace, love, freedom, and happiness!
John