musical premiere hair, the musical that revolutionized the world of 1967

Hair, subtitled The American Tribal Love / Rock Musical, is a beat opera about
the hippie culture of the 1960s in the United States, including love, peace,
sexual freedom or drug use, all of which produced some impact at the time,
including the full nudity of all the actors in some scenes. Beyond all this,
the musical Hair has left some of the best known songs around the world to
this day, such as "Aquarius" or "Let the Sunshine in", despite the fact that
many people do not know the musical to which they belong.

The play was originally written by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and they
created the lyrics for the songs for which Galt MacDermot composed the music.

The first performances, as a test, were held in 1967 in a club called The
Cheetah, to go on to premiere at the Off-Broadway Public Theater on October
17, 1967 with considerable success and finally move to the Biltmore Theater on
Broadway on October 17, 1967. April 29, 1968 where he stayed for 1,472
performances. The London premiere took place on September 27, 1968 at the
Shaftesbury Theater, and 1998 performances were held until forced closure by
the collapse of the theater's roof in July 1973. The play has been performed
multiple times around the world and to the present day.

In 1979 a film was produced based on the musical and with the same name
(Hair), directed by Miloš Forman and starring Treat Williams, Beverly D'Angelo
and John Savage. The soundtrack, both of the play and of the film, has been
edited in the different formats that have existed since its premiere.
https://muckrack.com/kprinceinnocent-were/bio olitical and cultural significance The play defied many of the "norms"
established by Western society at the time and caused controversy since its
premiere, generating much publicity at the end of Act I, in which actors and
actresses appeared naked on stage. This became a legal issue when the
performance went on tour in the United States, because theatrical nude was
acceptable in New York at the time, but was unknown elsewhere. The work was
also prosecuted for contempt for the American flag and for the use of obscene
language, reaching the Supreme Court. In the United Kingdom, the controversy
generated around the musical Hair meant the end of censorship in the
theatrical stages of the country.https://www.mydigoo.com/forums-topicdetail-254694.html Cast The original New York hippie "tribe" included James Rado, Gerome Ragni,
Shelley Plimpton, Kim Milford, Melba Moore, Paul Jabara, Ben Vereen, Meat
Loaf, Jobriath and Diane Keaton (in a small role). The original "tribe" from
Buenos Aires (Argentina) included Valeria Lynch, Horacio Fontova, Rubén Rada,
Mirta Busnelli, Carola Cutaia, and Cristina Bustamante (the girl from the song
"Girl (Paper Eyes)"). Represented between 1971-1974. The original London
"tribe" included Paul Nicholas, Richard O'Brien, Melba Moore, Elaine Paige,
Tim Curry, Marsha Hunt and Alex Harvey. The original Berlin "tribe" included
Donna Summer. Latest productions James Rado has blessed an update of the
lyrics to put it in the context of the 2003 Gulf War rather than the Vietnam
War, and the premiere took place on September 12, 2005 at the Gate London
Theater. Gate Theater website Original producer Michael Butler is
collaborating with the La Guardia High School of Music & Art and Performing
Arts in New York to launch a production of Hair in December 2005. La Guardia
High School website. It premiered again in March 2009 on Broadway, with Gavin
Creel in the role of Claude In 2019, commemorating its 50th anniversary, the
Argentine version premiered at the Konex Cultural City under the direction of
Pablo Gorlero, with Agustín Iannone at the the role of Claude, Diego Rodríguez
as Berger, Belén Ucar in the role of Sheila, Mariel Percossi in the role of
Jeanie, and a great cast. playlist Aquarius Sodomy Donna / Hashish Colored
Spade Manchester Abie Baby / Fourscore I'm Black / Is not Got No Air Party
Music My Conviction I Got Life Frank Mills Hair LBJ Electric Blues / Old
Fashioned Melody Hare Krishna Where Do I Go? Black Boys White Boys Walking in
Space Easy to be Hard 3-5-0-0 Good Morning Starshine What a Piece of Work is
Man Somebody to Love Don't Put it Down The Flesh Failures / Let the Sunshine
in

It is half a century since the premiere of one of the musicals that
revolutionized public opinion. Hair was much more than a show. It was an ode
to freedom and peace and a song to the spirit of change and revolution that
mobilized young people from all over the planet. Today at Gente Yold we pay
tribute to the show that turned Aquarius and Let the sunshine in into
international anthems of peace.

1968 was the year of the social and political revolution, but also of an
important cultural movement. The Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Jacques
Lanzmann… front-line singers spread the seeds of movement and revolution
throughout the world. Rock & roll was one of the main hallmarks of the
hippies, a group that led this social movement for change, the image of
insurgency and nonconformity.

The work in one of the 1971 performances (Arkivfoto)

In this context the musical Hair was born, a fervent symbol of that 1968
movement, a claim for freedom, free love and an expression of a new world.