rock_musicals
|
| Brother Marvin Hinten, S. wrote: | | And then in 1990, Rado, Ragni, and a few others were pushing for a national tour leading to a Bway revival, something Rado has been REALLY pushing for lately. |
Well, a brief history of Hair.
Hair opened a the Public Theater in 1967 with Walker Daniels and Gerome Ragni in the lead roles. Then, it was going to Broadway in 1968. the show was changed QUITE a bit, with new songs and arrangements,a nd many songs and verses dropped. The Broadway opened in 1968 wit the writers in the main roles. It went to München, Germany later and was a huge hit in Germany. It opened in Mexico in 1968 [?] and after one performance, the governmant shut it down, and the cast members were forced to hide in the mountains near Mexico City or else they would be arrested. A full cast album [with dialogue] was recorded of the Mexican Cast. It opened in London in 1969 [I think] and had Paul Nicholas as Claude. In 1970, an album titled "DisinHAIRited" was recorded. It consists of songs dropped from the Broadway and off Broadway productions. The London cast recorded a similar album titled "Fresh Hair". It opened in Rome in 1970, and was quickly shut down after being condemned by The Pope. Hair was performed at many movements and marches, and was performed at things like the Earth Day Party in Central park, and the Rally for 18 year olds to vote. Another revival was in Germany in 1970 with Jürgen Marcus [!] as Claude, Harry Wieser as Berger, and Freya Weghofer as Sheila. It was a success in Argentina when it opened in Buenos Aires in 1971. In 1972, it closed on Broadway. A revival opened on Broadway in 1977, but flopped. In 1979, the film was made. the story was dramatically changed. In 1980, Richard Haase directed a hit revival Off-Broadway. In 1990 the writers and composer started to update it. It was produced by the Broadway Musical touring Company from 1991 to 1996. Two live albums were made of this production. Co-Author Gerome Ragni died in 1991 of cancer. In 1993, it had a failed revival in London. In the early 1990's, free love could only mean one thing: AIDS. Although the 1993 London Revival was a flop, the 1993 German Revival was a huge hit. It starred punk goddess Nina Hagen. Also in the show were Ronnie Williams [who also played Hud in the 1968 München production], Udo Lindenberg, Uwe Ochsenknecht, an Anna Luis.
In in 1996, James Rado published a revised version of the script. Almost every year or even twice a year, James Rado put out a new version. In 1997, a popular Danish revival opened in Copenhagen. In 2001 a dramaticlly updated version opened in Vienna. It took place in the 1960's, but the cast were more late 1970's punk kids than hippies. In 2005, a largely, extremeley updated version opened at the Gate Theatre in London. Later, there was a benefit concert of Hair for the Actor's Benefit Fund of America.
So far Hair was been in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Great Britain, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, The Czech Republic, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovia, Israel, Lebanon, Tanzania [Africa! Which is rare for any musical], Japan, The Phillipines, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and other places.
|
