MB Hair

Hello, Cybertribe,

Just wanted to say how much we enjoyed the 38th anniversary get together in Los Angeles. It was great meeting friends from various tribes, and getting to meet new ones.

In reading this site, I saw that there were productions of HAiR opening in Lancaster and Port Hueneme, California. Hebe and I, joined by her brother, just saw the Lancaster production.

WARNING:Â This site lists the production as:

Extensions Performing Arts Academy
Lancaster, CA
October 27 – November 5, 2006

Searching this group out, I found that they are located at 2765 West Avenue L, Lancaster, California and their phone number is (661) 722-6203. I phoned in my reservations, and was told that there were two different theater productions going on simultaneously that night so things would be tight in the parking lot behind the theaters, but that we could also park behind one of the two near-by local banks.

When we arrived at the address (Extensions —), we found the facility to be totally dark, which we took as strange even though we were one and one-half hours early. Furthermore, there was absolutely no mention of any HAiR production anywhere around the facility! When we called the listed phone number (the number from which I had ordered the tickets) I heard a recorded message describing registration details for their classes, but not a single mention of HAiR! Panic set in.

I inquired about the production at a couple of the local businesses, but they knew nothing about any productions. Finally, I asked a waitress at one of the restaurants about whether the city had a performing arts complex somewhere, and she provided some directions.

We finally found the Lancaster Performing Arts Center, a beautiful, new theater complex, and, indeed, HAiR was performing there! We took our seats just before opening.

The Lancaster Performing Arts Center is located at:
750 West Lancaster Boulevard, Lancaster, California 93534
Telephone: (661) 723-6087
Web: www.lpac.org

This center has a very impressive program. In just the last two months (September and October) they have presented Stanley Clark and George Duke, Dwight Yoakam, Taj Mahal, The Oak Ridge Boys, Davide Cabassi, Kenny Loggins, and Joan Baez, among others, and Forever Plaid was running simultaneously with HAiR!

HAiR was presented in their smaller theater, a quite spectacular theater in the three-quarters round. It featured an excellent seven-member band (the program only lists six) and a five member singing group called “The Atomic Orgasm” in addition to the 16-member cast. The production was listed as strictly “adults only,” and one of the lead actresses voiced her concerns to us after the show about having to appear on stage almost naked. (She wore jeans and a halter top in the show, so her navel and midriff were bared.) This was the extent of the nudity in the production except for a flash of Berger’s underwear-covered butt.

The cast featured a few quite talented singers and dancers, although, in a first in my theater experience, the only standing ovation (100% standing, at that!) was reserved for the band!

WARNING:Â This production is NOT for anyone who considers themselves a HAiR “purist” – or anyone else who labors under the mistaken idea that having a “copyright” means anything more than having the right to place a little “c” in a circle on your work!
Much of the show has been cut-up and re-arranged with new dialog liberally inserted. Songs and dialog have been divided up among several characters and have been altered with repeats, etc. Vital pieces have been eliminated. And, finally, a new song has been added entitled “Candle of Love” (ASCAP) written by Dennis Russell, copyright 1997!

A couple of the more egregious examples of scene re-writing
:
1) After Claude has pulled his Draft Card back from the fire, and has finished singing “Where Do I Go?”, he apparently has a change of heart and decides to burn it anyway. Before the card catches fire (due to Claude’s nervous shaking and problems getting the cigarette lighter’s flame stable, you here the feds(?) intervene by declaring that the card is government property. The tribe shows their disapproval by circling him on two occasions while screaming “killer” and “traitor” at him.

2) In Claude’s Trip, after “Abie Baby” is sung, Claude machine-guns first Abraham Lincoln, and then the rest of the tribe. He then puts his rifle barrel in his own mouth and hesitates in pulling the trigger. Two “angels” (complete with feathered wings) descend (after having sung “What a Piece of Work is Man”) and intervene before Claude can pull the trigger.

Needless to say, this is a quite different show from the HAiRs that I have become accustomed to, and I was extremely shocked that such a professional venue would authorize these changes. Is it possible that Jim has lost his marbles and allowed these changes? IMPOSSIBLE!

This current production of HAiR is credited to Dr. Richard Roemer (Director), John Gaylord (Choreographer/ Assistant Director), Laura Hemenway (Music Director), Jonet Leighton (Technical Director), Perry Self (Assistant Director), Lara Arnaiz (Co-Choreographer) and Cait Polis (Stage Manager). Apparently, they all were also involved in the 1997 production of HAiR at Antelope Valley College upon which this production was based.

Well, next week it is off to Port Hueneme. Lets hope that the show that they put on is HAiR!