If there ever was a musical that was a product of its time, Hair would have to be it. The musical had its Broadway premiere in 1968, an epochal year in American history to which whole books have been devoted. A brilliant revival of Hair is currently on Broadway.    

It is difficult to imagine Hair being created in any era other than the late 1960's.  The post World War II baby-boom generation was in full flower (almost literally with the emergence of hippie flower children).  The country was being rocked by assassinations, the civil rights movement, and of course the war in Vietnam.  The musical is a celebration of a psychedelic era in which traditional social structures of an older generation were being challenged. The term "generation gap" emerged in the 1960's. The very title of the musical references a symbol that was central to the decade. Long, free-flowing hairstyles, particularly for men, usually indicated that the individual was a  member of the counter-culture movement. A short hair-cut generally meant that its bearer followed more conventional values.    

The original version of Hair was produced under the auspices of Joseph Papp and the New York Shakespeare Festival and had its first performance at the Public Theatre in 1967. (Interestingly, one of Hamlet's monologues - "What a piece of work is man"- is set to music in the play). A revised and expanded version of Hair opened on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre on April 29, 1968. To get a sense of the terrible stresses that America was experiencing at the time, a month before Hair's Broadway opening President Johnson withdrew from the presidential race because of the unpopularity of the Vietnam War. Twenty-five days before Hair's premiere, civil rights leader Martin Luther King was assassinated and six weeks later Senator Robert Kennedy would meet the same fate in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, an average of 300 American soldiers were being killed every week in Vietnam. At the same time, America was experiencing a level of prosperity unprecedented in its history. The musical captures the turmoil of an exuberant society undermined by violence, generational conflict, demonstrations and rampant civil unrest.            

The music to Hair was written by Galt MacDermot with book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Radd. The musical's famous, mysterious opening number "Aquarius" augurs the emergence of a new set of social values that will have an unsettling effect on society. (Interestingly, no less than Carl Jung wrote a whole book, Aion, that deals with the same subject as the lyrics of "Aquarius":  the astrological transition of the Piscean to the Aquarian age with the possible effects this would have on cultural and social mores.) Other memorable  tunes from the musical are "Good Morning Starshine" and "Let the Sun Shine In."  

The sub-title to Hair is "The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical." The play follows a band of hippies led by Berger, performed authoritatively by Ace Young.  Berger's friend, Claude, has received a draft notice. Claude must decide whether he will agree to be inducted in the armed services (and sent to Vietnam) or follow the advice of his counter-cultural friends and resist the draft. The tension of this decision provides the basic plot of the musical. Claude is performed by Kyle Riabko.  He projects a certain callowness and vulnerability which makes the outcome of his decision seem all the more tragic.  It is easy to see why Hair won the 2009 Tony award for Best Revival of a Musical. The leads and the entire cast perform the musical with a spontaneity and vitality that is more consistent with a first-run theatre piece than a revival.    

A generation that was confronting traditional social conventions would almost inevitably challenge traditional theatre convention - and Hair does just that. The musical functions more as a 60's style "love-in,"  "sit-in" or even demonstration.  The fourth wall is virtually non-existent. The band is on the stage and the proscenium itself is frequently used as a pad for the actors to launch into the seating area of the theatre, including the balcony. The musical is an anthem to a generation which produced the saying, "Never trust anyone over 30" and, "Turn on, tune in, drop out."

I expected Hair to seem dated. It is not. Although it functions as a musical and dramatic time capsule of the late 1960's,  the musical still resonates.  The cultural conflicts of the '60's still reverberate decades later and have yet to be fully resolved, if they ever will be. Whether one is of the right or the left, you are likely to get caught up in the infectious, Dionysian energy of the evening. To top it all off,  at the end of the show you will have the opportunity to meet, speak to and dance with cast members on stage. Happily breaking those conventions right to the very end!