""Hair"" is a rock musical depicting the values, character and overall essence of the 1960s hippie generation. But that's not why it's famous. ""Hair"" has earned the pseudonym of ""that naked musical"" because it features completely uncensored full-frontal nudity.
I have to admit I spent a good amount of time in the opening numbers wondering, ""Which of these people would I most like to see naked?""
The key question looming over this psychedelic musical, however, transcends the shallowness of who can bare it all better than the rest. Rather, we should be asking if this form of cheap fame guided ""Hair"" through decades of revivals, or if the quality alone would have been enough to stand on its own.
The answer isn't entirely clear. While ""Hair"" features a few highly recognizable songs such as ""Aquarius"" and ""Let The Sun Shine In,"" a fulfilling plot is lacking.
The first act consists mostly of one-dimensional characters singing about how they are hippies. They pound this into your head so frequently that it can invoke hallucinations of punching hippies, and eventually guilt for thinking violently in such a peace-promoting atmosphere. Guilt before intermission is never a good sign.
""Hair"" portrays one large group of friends, credited as ""the tribe,"" who are war-hating, free-loving, drug-tripping hippies. Toward the beginning of the musical, Claude, a member of the tribe, is drafted into the army and, for the remainder of the show, tries to figure out how to get out of it. This plot is loose and by no means absorbs the show.
An elaborate plot was clearly not what the writer of ""Hair"" was after. Instead, he set out to illustrate the spirit of the flower-power movement, and in this he succeeded phenomenally. Although the ""I love drugs and free love"" motif feels trite at certain points, ""Hair"" captures the hippie scene in its delicate balance of passion and nonchalance, encased in a major acid trip.
The entire musical feels like one giant trip. It bounces from war protests to intolerant parents to casual conversations within the group, with no real transitions. Yet it works because none of the scenes are convoluted plot-wise, but serve only to add to the sketch of the times with a simplistic but thematic element. The disorganization is symbolic for the anything-goes attitude of the generation.
Regardless of the inclusion of characters outside of the tribe, ""Hair"" gives the impression that the entire musical takes place in one spot where a group of hippies have congregated to hang out and get high. While outsiders, such as parents, make an appearance, members of the tribe put on and take off wigs on the stage to play these characters, implying that these scenes are actually part of one long conversation.
Although ""Hair"" predominantly resembles a tribute to the ideals of the hippie era, it subtly reflects the hint of hypocrisy encapsulated in this historical movement. The close-knit group of friends that cares so passionately about social injustice, in this musical and other depictions of the time, it seems that they treat each other with a significant amount of indifference and lack of concern for one another's feelings.
As is consistent with the rest of the musical, the songs don't dance around the issues within the play by adding metaphors and fancy language, but deliver thier messages in the most concise way possible. This unusual approach engages the audience because it allows them access free from a superfluous intellectual tax.
But the community feels it can't be entirely attributed to the nature of the musical. The intimate setting of the Bartell Theatre combined with an enthusiastic local audience, that even included people who dressed the part with tie-dyed bandanas and peace sign necklaces, contributes to the welcoming atmosphere.
For the most part, the cast of ""Hair"" fulfills any expectations one might have for community theater actors. Their singing and acting abilities by no means reflect professional standards, but they have all embraced their roles with admirable fervor.
The nude scene represented the vulnerability and quest for truth that was characteristic of the hippie generation. In that sense, ""Hair"" succeeds in providing a reason for its continued production because it puts everything out there—including the realities of the era and the unclothed genitals.
