[Mb-hair] HAiR At CSUN

[Michael Butler]

John,
Thanks so much for your report. I am going Thursday and Saturday, doing a
seminar that afternoon.
Trust I will see you at one of those.
Peace and Love,
Michael




> 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
> 
> 
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