Planet Earth Theatre's Hair: The American Tribal Love Rock Musical
(out of 
)Mark S.P. Turvin
(home office) (602) 912-0117
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@goldfishpublishers.com
Reviewed 4/14/00
(out of )In the spring of 1968, revolution was in the air. Protests by African Americans and Flower Children rocked the conservative values of middle America, while a terribly unpopular war sapped its peculiar brand of patriotism, causing everyone to question everything. It was in this climate that the ground-breaking musical, Hair, was born in Joseph Papp's Public Theatre. It was both loved and reviled, as revolutionary literature must be. It pushed every hot-button topic and broke every theatrical and societal rule, while speaking to a new generation of disenfranchised theatre-goers. Its free-floating plot, references to race relations, drugs, free love, peace and the questioning of authority, and overwhelmingly positive message make it an oddity in this generation of ultra-violent video games, information overload, school shootings, and pandering politics. Just how much of an oddity is made clear by watching a group of youngsters, most of whom weren't alive when this 32-year old musical opened, attempt to capture the naïve hippie-spirit at Planet Earth Theatre. Unfortunately, the result is generally as unbelievable as the wigs many of the men wear over their faddishly short hair.
Planet Earth Theatre's new Artistic Director, Greg London, who may or may not have been around during this turbulent time, appears to have done as much as he can to evoke this overwhelming era. It seems from the program that he attempted to form his ensemble into a communal group, a wise first step to mounting this show. Unfortunately, this attempt did not work, as most of the group (save for a very believable performance by Kristen Gifford as the pregnant Jeannie) seem more to play at, rather than be, the dropped-out, tuned-in characters that populate this show. Also, as director, he missed on several other accounts, casting non-singers in many of the singing roles, and limited-skill actors in some of the acting roles. The choreographer, Laurie Case, has created many bits of inappropriate movement for this musical, offering some weird hybrid of Busby Berkeley and Up With People where individual whirling dervishes and free-form celebration are called for. Finally, only the opening and closing five minutes of the production offer something excitingly new to this evening, making the intervening time feel more like nostalgia than necessity. That final five minutes contain such an inspired image, it helps raise this generally sub-par presentation to a higher level.
At the center of this be-in are narcissist Berger (Denny McNamara) and soon-to-be-inducted Claude (Trever Loren). While Mr. McNamara trips over-the-top and commands the stage as only Berger can, Mr. Loren's limited vocal skills were sadly apparent as they deteriorated the opening Friday, leaving him to croak his final songs and undercutting his performance. This holds true for many of the others in the ensemble, until the beautiful solo by Sheila (Lynn M. Jones) of "Easy To Be Hard" three-quarters of the way through the first act allows a true singer to capture the audience.
Despite the bevy of letdowns and failed attempts at evoking this period, there are some great moments that balance. Examples of this include the powerful, true-to-era "Walking In Space" and the especially potent song "What a Piece of Work is Man," featuring Mr. McNamara and Jaymie Garner.
Music Director Alan J. Plado does a great job with his four-person band, which features Mr. London on the electric bass guitar. Costume designer Bethany was generally on, though the first act costumes seemed more period than those of the second act. The unbilled set and lighting designers were also generally on-target.
When mounting a potential museum-piece like Hair, it would be nice to have more than reminiscence as a motivation. The initial setting gave hope of this, but failed to sustain until the impressive finale. While it's nice to view an era which I honestly wish I had been a part of, this is one case where total immersion and a consistent hook would have raised this production to mind-blowing proportions.
Production Details:
Hair Book and Lyrics by Gerome
Ragni and James Rado, Music by Galt MacDermot
Planet Earth Theatre, Phoenix
(602) 252-8497
April 13th - 29th, 2000
