"Hair" - Artistic Differences - Midnight Show - May 19, 2007

Left: A party atmosphere prevails just minutes before the start of Artistic Difference's midnight showing of "Hair". A few guests were seated virtually on-stage for "Hair", including the talented (and highly-visible, for lack thereof) Roger Clark and Kevin Caravalho, at left.


Wow! Everybody tried to come! Normally it's difficult to rope all the community-theater people into one venue, because they have shows of their own to do, but there are many determined night-owls in the various groups and they all wanted to see this landmark show while they could. Turtle was there from Magic Circle, and from DMTC, Steve, Jan, Dannette, Monique, myself, as well as Tev, and from RSP, Robin, Jason, Amber, Tristan?, Karen, Dave, etc., and from River Stage, Maggie, Francesca, Kevin, Scott, just to name a few - a cornucopia of actors!

Prior to the show's start, the atmosphere of fun was elevated by Nic Candito (Woof) handing out sugar cubes at the door. The cubes were innocent, but one couldn't tell unless one tried them! Several times in the show, the scent of (false) MJ could be detected - another theatrical gimmick! The effort to generate the thrill of illicitness was very helpful to establishing the mood of the show.

Craig Howard made a video cameo as Officer Titus, explaining where the exits were located, and trying to balance on the knife edge of irony and information.

"Hair" is a great success, artistically and politically. Some of the best people in Sacramento were involved in the acting, music, and design. Nevertheless, certain things struck me as strange about the show. Gay themes were stressed, reflecting less about concerns prevalent in the 1960's than about today's concerns. In the counterculture, clothing styles changed so abruptly and so radically in the late Sixties that it is possible to pin styles down by individual year. So, looking at the cast, I thought "Hmmm, not quite right .... that look is SO 1969, and why are styles from the early seventies bleeding into this 1967/68 show?" Verisimilitude is a bitch, I suppose, but when it comes to some things, place some trust among those over age 30! The set was functional and sturdy, but non-specific to exact locale (which was NYC's Greenwich Village).

(Looking at the program just now, I suddenly realized Ryan Adame's hilarious but tolerant character of 'Milty' is based directly on comedian Milton Berle's female impersonations. I missed that connection during the show, since it's been several decades since he was on the air, and I don't watch much TV anymore anyway. Milton Berle's television variety show was very popular in the 60's, but Berle's female impersonations drove my dad - as well as all others in his cohort of WWII - absolutely ballistic with sputtering rage, because Berle's impersonations were too close to....you know.... homosexuality!)

Nudity in a musical is rarely practiced, which makes it all the more interesting when it's done. Nudity is an extreme state, usually reflecting extreme emotion, thus attracting actors like a moth to a flame. In history, nudity is explosive. For example, the Puritans of New England went to Sunday church in their best finery, with a steady gradation of dress from the best-dressed people sitting in the front, to farmers dressed in homespun sitting in the back. When the Quakers, who detested all gradations of grace, appeared in New England, they would sometimes walk into these churches on Sunday morning stark naked, which upset the Puritan Elders for the rest of the week (source: college lectures regarding American Cultural History as taught by Dr. Ferenc Szasz, perhaps remembered imperfectly 30 years later).

An aside - Gabe has asked for more detail regarding Quaker attitudes to nudity and its inspiration to the more-flamboyant hippies - here is what I've 'uncovered':

The Quakers were an extreme Puritan sect founded in 1650 by George Fox, so extreme, in fact, that they almost ceased to be related to other Protestants. They rejected priests, rituals, and the sacraments. A de-emphasis on church hierarchy and the idea that no mediator was needed for the individual to talk to God were principles held by all Puritans. But the Quakers rejected even baptism and communion, which are mandated by Scripture. They also believed in the "inner light," God's direct revelation to each individual, and thought that through the "inner light" everyone had the ability to overcome sin, whether they had heard the Gospel or not. In stark contrast to most Puritans, the Quakers thought human nature naturally virtuous. Thus, in their view, there was really no need for formal religious institutions of any kind.

The "Friends" took pride in their drab appearance, believing outward adornment to be a frivolous distraction from the pursuit of virtuous deeds. Some of the more extreme Quakers chose to live in the nude, a sight especially distasteful to Puritans (and most other people). One Quaker woman entered the church in Newbury, Massachusetts, stark naked and strolled down the aisle shouting insults at the minister. After her arrest, she explained that she was trying to illustrate the nakedness of Puritan religious practices.

Nudity is also used for political protest. The Doukhobor Russian immigrants in Canada, no hedonists they, have been known to resort to nudity under provocation. Nudity can also be a form of theater - streaking, for example, or the recent mass photo shoot in Mexico City featuring 15,000 people.

Nudity was used three times in "Hair", first just before intermission ('Where Do I Go?'), in a presentational tableaux, then later, in an amazing, ecstatic, bacchanalian way that was just great, just great, because it illustrated extreme emotion perfectly. Finally, Woof sat naked for exposition, but the nudity seemed unnecessary (see comments!)

My understanding is that the character of Claude (Christian St. Croix) was written to be white, but here, he's black. Nevertheless, this inspired casting works very well, particularly when he yearns for magical invisiblity, and ultimately succeeds. My understanding is that the character of Berger (Jerry Lee) is written to be straight, but the bisexual edge here caused confusion for me (not even thinking about the confusion among the rest of the Tribe).

The song 'Air' featured great singing by Joelle Wirth! Lindsay Grimes is perfect as Sheila Franklin, displaying once again her amazing versatility as an actress (after her hilarious rendition of 'Tessie Tura' at Magic Circle, and as Rita in 'Prelude To A Kiss' at Chautauqua Playhouse).

The White Boys/Black Boys number was not as unsettling in the show itself as it had been for me when I saw Act II in rehearsal several weeks ago, probably because I was better-prepared this time around. It makes me wonder if it should be the first musical number in the show, in order to get maximum punch. Of all the songs in the show, it is by far the most subversive, because of the delightfully-wicked play with racial and sexual issues. I suppose it's too abrupt to start with, but there's nothing like it to shake your world!

Just prior to the show, presiding from above and almost lost in the lights, I espied Choreographer Darryl Strohl. Afterwards, I asked him how he managed the movement, as I had gotten lost trying to keep up with the repeated coalescence of coherent movement from apparent chaos, and it's dissolution back into randomness. He said he gave the cast very common movements to work with, then told them, 'here's what I want; here's what we are working towards', then relied on the talented cast's ability to innovate within the constraints of time and place. A very good job there!

Left: 2:40 a.m. Sunday morning, and the happy theater-goers depart. Striding across the stage is Artistic Difference's Producer Erik Daniells (left). Watching in the foreground right is Musical Director Elaine Lord.