The Rock Musical Hair Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Rock Musical Hair - Essay Example The songs that originated from that idea are about letting your hair grow long, wild and free with lyrics like "My hair like Jesus wore it, Hallelujah, I adore it, Here, Baby, There, Mama, everywhere, Daddy, Daddy, Hair, Hair, Hair, Hair! Keep on growin', Keep it flowin' my Hair!" The music was loud, joyous, soulful, angry and celebratory, capturing the spirit of the New Generation of Baby Boomers who were rebelling against their parent's generation of values that stood for right-wing conservatism. The musical Hair debuted on Broadway in April 1968. It had undergone a transformation with new staging and 12 new songs added. Hair was unusual in it's staging in that it had the performers running into the audience, handing out flowers, and inviting them to participate at the end of the performance in a big "be-in" on stage. It was also unique in that much of the cast, dressed as Hippies, was scantily dressed or even appeared nude. They even had some staging where performers swung from ropes over the audience and the stage, while singing. In The New York Times, Clive Barnes wrote an enthusiastic review, praising the original production: "Mr. O'Horgan has worked wonders. He makes the show vibrate from the first slow-burn opening - with half-naked hippies statuesquely slow-parading down the center aisle - to the all-hands-together, anti-patriotic finale." 1 The unique stagin