'Hair' Today

Hippie musical 'Hair' returns to New York's Public Theatre. Far out!

The Public Theatre in NYC is reviving the musical that opened their theatre 41 years ago, the counterculture classic 'Hair'. I wonder how this musical plays now. The Peace Movement now has a very different image; the longhairs and the hippie lifestyle is not the fashion. And the music of 'Hair' (though I would argue it's not real rock n roll) is certainly of another time and place altogether. So how will it play to new audiences? Certainly we can find parallels to our current war here, but is the success of this production more caught up in 60's nostalgia than the war itself? Is the Public's multi-million-dollar production banking off the country's anti-war sentiment?

Also, do plays based around issues, which arrive in theatres long after the era they depict (Angels in America, for instance) still have enough resonance? Is there a shelf life for the issues? A post-AIDS or post-9/11 piece could be passe at this point. Are we fatigued by the issues, or have we moved on?

Is it possible, also, that some works of art come out before we have had a chance to heal? Are the best plays about this current war destined to debut long after the conflict is resolved? Is it possible to be too current?

Click on this to read a preview in the Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/theater/05hair.html?ref=theater