‘Hair’: flashback to a former age at Forestburgh

By TOM KANE

FORESTBURGH, NY — Those of us who lived through the 1960s can often look upon that age as a time of marked division, but also a time of significant change.

What was changing was the commonly accepted mores regarding race, war, freedom, sex and our faith in institutions like the government, the church, the nuclear family, accepted social customs and the format of society in general.

When the ‘60s ended, I wasn’t the same person that I was when it started.

All these notions and the feeling surrounding them came to mind as I watched the Forestburgh Playhouse’s production of the then-revolutionary musical “Hair.”

“Hair” was created by two out-of-work actors named James Rado and Gerome Ragni who were aware of the traditional Broadway format, but wanted to create something new, something different, something that translated to the stage the wonderful excitement of what was happening in the streets of New York City and San Francisco.

The two writers joined forces with composer Galt MacDermot, and “Hair” opened at Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater on October 17, 1967—right at the time of the civil rights movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement. The unconventional “Hair” hit an unconventional nerve like nothing else seen on Broadway.

The Forestburgh production, with its youthful cast of talented dancers and singers, caught some of the frenetic and strident energy of that era.

The action begins with three of the main characters—Berger, Dionne and Claude, played by James Donegan, Jihyen Park and Adam Halpin—setting the tone of the show with the inspirational number “Aquarius.”

The authors of the show drew upon the spirit of the Age of Aquarius, which had just “dawned” according to astrological charts. Against the backdrop of war and racial strife was projected the hope for the future that the new age introduced: “Harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding and the mind’s true liberation! Aquarius! Aquarius!”

The three lead actors pumped up the rest of the cast into a sometimes frantic, sometimes near out-of-control mass.

There then followed one energized number after another: “Donna,” “Hashish,” “Sodomy,” “Manchester.” One rousing number—“I Got Life,” sung by Claude and company—lists the few things that he has that he feels good about, among which are his soul, his liver and his backside.

The action is interrupted by a stuffy couple: the outrageous, sacrilegious, but inspired Richard Amelius, the director and choreographer, playing a transvestite, and her/his castrated husband, who condescend to ask them why they do the unconventional things they do. The answer is blustered out by the entire company as they sing the main hit of the show, “Hair!” Part of “Hair’s” 1967 shock value was its iconic on-stage nudity, and the Forestburgh production pays homage to this legacy with a muted, brief nude scene at the end of act one.

The second act cuts to the heart of the plot with Claude’s dilemma of how he will face being drafted into the Army. Wrenching as this part of the plot is, we hear some of the most moving and exuberant music of the show with “Easy To Be Hard,” “Good Morning Starshine,” and “Let the Sunshine In.”

The ending of the show, with Claude dressed in his army khakis ready to go to war, somehow doesn’t quite match with the rest.

Dated as the show is, it still can stir the blood and move the spirit, especially with this unconventional cast of actors, singers and dancers who very much fit the part — even though most of them weren’t even born in the ‘60s.

“Hair” can still be seen at the Forestburgh and, if you’re nostalgic and especially if you are of a certain age, you’ll really enjoy it.

For information and tickets, call the playhouse at 845/794-1194.