[Mb-hair] HAiR At CSUN

[John Zuehlke]

Hi, Cybertribe,

I just saw the opening night of the HAiR production at California State 
University, Northridge. I had gone expecting an excellent production, but 
what the Waabi Kiizis Tribe, under the direction of Garry Lennon, created on 
stage was nothing short of spectacular! The love in the tribe was palpable, 
and it communicated easily to the most appreciative audience.

Technically, the production was probably the best that I have seen (and I've 
seen at least 12 tribes since the Aquarius and San Francisco companies of 
the late '60's. The choral work was phenomenal! Even the songs with rather 
difficult lyrics were so clearly enunciated that every word was crystal 
clear from where I sat, and there was not a weak singer in the tribe. Since 
no choral director was listed, I assume that the tribe was coached by Mr. 
Lennon and the Musical Director, Mr. Paul Taylor. The latter also conducted 
the excellent orchestra. One small note: The orchestra was in the pit. I 
would have loved to see them onstage since they are such an integral part of 
HAiR. Ms. Christine Chrest's choreography was very natural and greatly 
enhanced the production.

There were many innovative staging ideas, some that I had never seen before, 
and some that were novel variants on previous productions.

1) "Don't Put It Down" had the hippies trying to put a segmented American 
Flag correctly back together while the KKK showed their displeasure by 
pointing guns at them. I saw this as a powerfully patriotic symbol: The 
hippies were the ones trying to make sense of the fragmented nation and put 
it back together again.

2) The serial killing pantomime in Claude's hallucination was drastically 
changed, and, IMHO, with considerable improvement. Instead of the 
traditional, strobe-lit, triply-repeated sequence of one group killing 
another, and, in turn, being killed by a third group, the Waabi Kiizis tribe 
instead had (white) military men progressively killing Native Americans, 
followed by Orientals and East Indians, etc. and finally ending with Arabs. 
But each group becomes progressively harder to kill than those who had died 
before, and the scene culminates with the dying Arabs also killing the 
(American) soldiers by suicide bombing. This was one powerful, and 
contemporarily relevant, scene!

3) The close of Act I had a naked Claude emerging through a hole in the 
center of a parachute to sing "Where Do I Go?," which reminded me of Venus' 
birth on the half-shell. His nakedness really pointed out his vulnerability, 
and worked perfectly with the song.

4) "Let The Sunshine In," which, in most productions, progresses from a 
dirge mourning Clause's death to a happy celebration, in this production, 
ends up as a moving challenge to the audience. This worked especially well 
in this medium-sized, proscenium, auditorium where it would not be practical 
nor safe to bring audience members up on stage for dancing with the tribe.

I could try to point out some stand-out performances in the show - I was 
especially impressed with Crissy's "Frank Mills", as well as the very 
emotional "What A Piece Of Work Is Man" and "Easy To Be Hard", etc., etc. - 
but that would only be my first impression since each and every performer 
was exceptional. This is a tribe that really "gets it!"

The Waabi Kiizis tribe surely killed off any doubts about HAiR's resonance 
with today's youth or its relevance to a contemporary audience. The answer 
is a resounding "No Problem!"

I truly believe that Director Garry Lennon and the Waabi Kiizis Tribe have 
created a benchmark HAiR for this new century.



Blessed be with peace, love, freedom, and joy!

John