Like the tangled strands of an unruly mane, "Hair" celebrates life while mourning deaths, and it echoes the present in the past.
But it's the unbridled liveliness that stands out in the Barn Theatre's fifth production of the 1969 rock musical.
Tuesday's near-full house of about 450 clapped along to the music in some spots, and, by the final curtain call, a dozen or so audience members joined the cast dancing on stage.
Through most of the scenes, about 30 bell-bottom- and bead-clad actors are on stage, their pelvises set to repeated thrust mode and irreverent energy oozing from every pore.
Director Brendan Ragotzy has done a good job of managing such a large and active cast. They stream down the aisles, scale ladders along the sides of the stage, writhe on the floor and cluster on multilevel scaffolding.
Enthusiastic ensemble
Every cast member, even those tucked in the background, managed to be "on" all the time, creating personalities more than most ensemble shows.
Accompanied by a small, onstage band, the cast rolled out one hit song after another, with most of the solo voices strong and clear. Since there is little spoken dialogue, the song lyrics are particularly important, and cast members made sure every word was understood.
Most of the songs are upbeat and playful, but the several serious numbers protesting war and pollution were powerfully done.
The story focuses on Claude and his free-spirited, hippie friends as they sing about their loves and concerns. Claude is trying to decide whether to burn his draft card or join the establishment.
Barn summer stock regular Eric Parker is quite convincing as the conflicted Claude, and his strong voice leads on the title song, a spirited "I Got Life" and the poignant "Where Do I Go?"
Eric Peterson is bright-eyed and animated as the naughty ring leader Berger. Ryan Stutz is fun as pretty-boy Woof. And Kelley Bray lends her rich voice to some of the show's most memorable selections, "Easy to be Hard" and "Good Morning Starshine."
Guest artists Allan Louis, Yassmin Alers, Arbender Robinson, Calvin Perry, Donica Lynn and Rebecca Covington create a soulful black tribe, with great harmonies on "Dead End," "White Boys" and "Abie Baby."
Without a doubt, though, the highlight of the show was the series of "establishment" characters portrayed by Joe Aiello and Scott Burkell, especially Burkell's sweet little ol' lady Margaret Meade.
The Barn production includes the famous Act I finale, a nude scene where all but Claude shed their robes in symbolic unity and openness. The scene is brief and dimly lit. The Barn also uses one nude male in a later scene, which is a little longer and better lit but fairly artfully done.
The Barn goes all out to re-create the '60s with beads, tie-dye and posters decorating the entire auditorium and bold tie-dye shirts for sale.
Serious side of it all
I have to admit I felt some mixed reactions to seeing the show again after so many years. I loved hearing the songs again, even the totally nonsensical ones such as "Frank Mills." But I found myself more troubled by the issues raised 36 years ago and less willing to shrug it off and just "Let the Sunshine In."
In one scene, the ensemble pantomimes a parade of one culture after another attacking and killing each other in Vietnam. Then, using a strobe light, the scene rewinds and plays again. In the past two years, more than 1,800 Americans have been killed in Iraq, and protesters are camped outside the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas. "Hair" seems to be rewinding again.
AUGUSTA -- Several questions may arise for those going to see a revival of ``Hair.'' How does this material play almost 37 years down the road? Is it merely a quaint and humorous artifact of a bygone era? Or can ``The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical'' hold the stage today?
The Barn Theatre answers the final question resoundingly in the affirmative with a big, brassy, bold production. This show will please and entertain its audience, but it will also quite literally get in the theatergoer's face. The key is a cast that is fully committed to both the seductive musical score, as well as to the sketchy characters and improbable situations of Ragni and Rado's script.
From his initial entrance, Eric Parker brings a strong presence to Claude, a young runaway flirting with dodging the draft. Serious moments are hard to come by in the raucous drug-induced state of most of the tribe's members. Parker, nevertheless, establishes a Claude worth caring about in Act I. This pays high dividends in Act II as we watch him choose between facing the draft board and losing face before his peers.
Eric Petersen, as Berger, Claude's friend and counterpoint, provides a bawdy master of ceremonies for the evening's revelries and political commentary. Though he could get by with a few less bumps and grinds, Petersen is effective in holding our attention between numbers and in providing focus within the unwashed mass of hippies.
Because ``Hair'' contains more than 30 songs, some viewers will find themselves pleasantly surprised by lyrics they once knew, forgot and then suddenly remember again. In addition to the popular hits (``Good Morning Starshine,'' ``Easy to Be Hard,'' ``Aquarius'' and ``Let the Sunshine In.''), some other standouts are ``I Got Life'' (led by Eric Parker), ``Air,'' performed by Sarah R. Sapperstein, ``Walking in Space,'' by Yassmin Alers, and the Shakespearean duet ``What a Piece of Work is Man,'' by Kevin Field and Arbender Robinson.
The evening's funniest moments belong to Scott Burkell in his portrayal of Claude's mother and of a shameless and brazen Margaret Mead. Joe Aiello provides admirable support for both characters.
Finally, a word of mild warning to those who might think they will be seeing a bland and inoffensive episode of ``That Sixties Show.'' ``Hair'' was meant to challenge the sensibilities and conventions of its viewers. For many who see this production, there will be no statute of limitations on the shock value of nudity, sexuality, language, drug usage or politically incorrect humor and situations.
Credit the Barn for pulling no punches and for not trying to pretty up or update scenes for the sake of political correctness. They do ``Hair'' straight up, in your face, with no apologies -- the way it was meant to be done.
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